Operations Support and Sustainment Technology (OSST) Program to Enable Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM)

Current Army aviation maintenance is reactive to faults, not proactive, resulting in an excessive logistics support burden and high operations and sustainment (O&S) costs. One of the Army's science and technology goals is to mature and transition advanced technologies to enable condition-based maintenance (CBM). In 2007, the US Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) initiated a program with Bell Helicopter to develop and demonstrate an integrated set of diagnostic, prognostic, and system health assessment technologies to support Army objectives and enable transition to a condition-based maintenance philosophy. Specifically, the program developed an integrated set of technologies to enable reduction of inspections and preventative maintenance; expansion of serviceability criteria; extension of life or time between overhaul; and prediction of failure with sufficient fidelity to allow scheduling of maintenance. This paper will provide an overview of the program results.