Materiel availability modeling and analysis for a complex Army weapon system

Materiel availability (A m ) is a new US Department of Defense Key Performance Parameter (KPP) implemented through a mandatory Sustainment Metric consisting of an Availability KPP and two supporting Key System Attributes (KSAs), materiel reliability and ownership cost. Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia), in conjunction with several US Army organizations, developed the analytical foundation, assumptions, and brigade-level modeling approach to support lifecycle, fleet-wide A m modeling and analysis of a complex Army weapon system. Like operational availability (A o ), A m is dependent on reliability, but A m is also affected by other factors that do not impact A o . The largest influences on A m are technology insertion and reset downtimes. A m is a different metric from A o . Whereas A o is an operational measure, A m is more of a programmatic measure that spans a much larger timeframe, additional sources of downtime, and add itional sources of unscheduled maintenance.