The Costs and Benefits of Aircraft Availability
Abstract
This paper contains estimates of the effects of research and development costs (through initial operational capability) and unit procurement costs on the mission-capable (MC) rates of eleven tactical aircraft models. These estimates are transformed into estimates of the marginal cost of increasing MC rates through, respectively, increased development or increased procurement expenditures. The benefits of higher MC rates are also computed. One benefit is that, with more reliable aircraft, the procurement quantity may be reduced. A second benefit is that more reliable aircraft have lower operations and maintenance (O&M) costs in the field. The magnitudes of these effects are also estimated. Finally, the costs and benefits are combined to compute optimal levels of investment in reliability, both for hypothetical aircraft models and for the eleven aircraft models used in the statistical analysis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA232660
Entities
People
- Karen W. Tyson
- Matthew S Goldberg
Organizations
- Institute for Defense Analyses