DEVELOPMENT NT OF A SYSTEM MISSION AVAILABILITY MODEL FOR A FAMILY OF ARMOURED FIGHTING VEHICLES

Abstract

The increasing complexity of equipment in the present day Defence Services has bought into focus two aspects known as maintainability and reliability both of which are closely related to availability. If the reliability of the system is high then obviously the breakdowns will be less frequent and availability factor will also be high. Similarly, if the system is capable of being repaired easily i.e. if it has high maintainability factor then also availability will be high. In order that an equipment can perform its mission, it should have high degree of availability all the time. Forecasting of equipment availability :correctly for the required mission is important before the start of an operation, since planning of engineering support (i.e. assemblies/subassemblies, spares, SMTs, technical manpower, placement of repair echelones etc.) will be based on this. This dissertation deals with the developing of a 'system mission availability model' for Armoured Fighting Vehicles after processing raw data of failures and maintenance. The data is based on real time exploitation of an Infantry Combat Vehicle which is an important member of armoured fighting vehicles family. The dissertation further attempts to highlight the application and usefulness of the above system model for engineering support management in the Army.