Depot Maintenance - Requirement to Update Maintenance Analyses Should Be Modified: Nsiad-93-163 (Paperback)

GAO reviewed the Air Force's implementation of reliability centered maintenance (RCM) analyses, focusing on: (1) Department of Defense (DOD) and service RCM policies; (2) the extent to which the services updated and applied RCM analyses to aircraft and aircraft engines; and (3) alternative programs the services utilize to ensure that preventative maintenance is performed. GAO found that: (1) the Army has not and does not plan to complete RCM analyses, the Navy plans to spend $16.6 million to complete RCM analyses of its operational aircraft systems and newer systems, and the Air Force has not recently updated its RCM analyses; (2) the cost for the Army to complete its RCM analyses would outweigh the expected benefits of reducing potential maintenance costs; (3) although the services have comparable programs to ensure operational systems maintenance, none of the programs include RCM logic procedures; (4) the Air Force has identified potential benefits from RCM analyses including reduced maintenance support costs, increased aircraft mission availability, reduced parts cost, and early identification of high-cost items requiring maintenance at short intervals; and (5) although transportation officials believe that RCM analyses are beneficial in the early stages of aircraft or aircraft engine program development, the cost-effectiveness of continued RCM analyses is questionable when reliable maintenance data are available to update maintenance tasks and intervals.