Case Study

Optimizing Fleet Readiness

Washington D.C.

The US Navy routinely cycles its F/A-18 fighter jet inventory through maintenance and modification, rotates the jets among different squadrons, and simultaneously executes permanent transitions from F/A-18 to F-35 as the new jets become available.

This continuous logistical activity causes the F/A-18 program to exist in a dynamic state of change. Meanwhile, budget and planning cycles do not always align among various stakeholders, who consequently lack an authoritative baseline for use in enterprise decision-making.

Recognizing this planning challenge, SPA supports enterprise managers with state-of-the-art decision support. SPA developed the Naval Synchronization Toolset (NST) process to optimize decision support. NST’s success led to its expansion into other platforms and services, where it is known as IDSP—Inventory Decision Support Process. The IDSP/NST process is a powerful modeling and simulation capability that enables stakeholders to align budget and planning factors and examine different outcomes using “what-if analysis” before making a decision.

Using prescriptive analytics, NST-based forecasting and analysis enables F/A-18 program managers to achieve significant improvement in overall fighter jet readiness.

F/A-18 NST Highlights

$40M in savings

In a volatile budget environment, the Navy used NST’s forecasting ability to save nearly $40M in operations and maintenance funds from FY16-19.

Location and magnitude of risk

NST’s prescriptive analytics capabilities provided decision-makers with critical insights into the location and magnitude of future risks to aircraft readiness, allowing managers to allocate resources accurately.

Freed 375,000 hours

Using NST’s insight into which jets need more or less maintenance, the Navy freed up over 375,000 man-hours of F/A-18 maintenance depot time.

Optimized modification and transition schedule

The NST process forecasts optimal modification and transition schedules for a single view of long-term future readiness while providing an authoritative baseline for decision-making across the enterprise.