The Maintenance & Sustainment strategy is developed from the projected system’s reliability and the preliminary sustainment Concept of Operations (CONOPS) to meet the operational requirement during the Technology Development (TD) Phase. It’s used to determine the supply chain performance requirements (Core Capability Planning and Analysis), along with the key enabling features needed to implement the strategy. These enablers can range from system design features to supply chain features. The details should be described in sufficient detail to provide assurance that risks are understood and the gaps can be filled. [1]
Core logistics and repair sources are critical elements in establishing appropriate repair and support capability. New and emerging systems may lack mature data at the TD Phase, but by using data from similar current systems and subsystems, planning for a sustainment strategy can evolve. Key activities should include establishing the baseline for Trade Studies by identifying notional maintenance levels and activities for major subsystems, taking into account system/subsystems with a core capability. [1]
The gaps between the current state of the art and current sustainment/maintenance capabilities versus what is required (along with the risk) should be used to identify technologies needing to be developed and demonstrated in subsequent phases. They should also be used in developing the implementation plan for proceeding with the best value alternative and summarized in the Life-Cycle Sustainment Plan (LCSP). The following are key considerations in developing the performance/cost/schedule/ sustainment and risk tradeoff analysis: [1]
- The relative cost vs. benefits of different support strategies
- The methods and rationale used to quantify benefits and costs
- Data required to support and justify the best value support strategy
- The sensitivity of the data to change
- Analysis and classification of risks
AcqLinks and References:
- Defense Acquisition Guidebook (DAG) – Chapter 5
- MIL-HDBK-502A “Product Support Analysis” – 8 Mar 2013
- DoD Product Support Manager Guidebook – April 2011
Updated: 7/23/2021
Rank: G1
