Zero-Sustainment Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force:

Air Force weapon system sustainment (WSS) costs are growing at more than 4 percent per year, while budgets have remained essentially flat. The cost growth is due partly to aging of the aircraft fleet and partly to the cost of supporting higher-performance aircraft and the new capabilities of more complex and sophisticated systems, such as the latest intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms. Furthermore, sustainment budgets are likely to decrease, so that the gap between budgets and sustainment needs will likely grow wider. The original intent of this 3-day workshop was to focus on ways that science and technology (S&T) could help the Air Force reduce sustainment costs. However, as the workshop evolved, discussions focused increasingly on Air Force leadership, management authority, and culture as the more critical factors that need to change in order to solve sustainment problems. Many participants felt that while S&T investments could certainly help—particularly if applied in the early stages of the product life cycle—it would be more useful to adopt a transformational management approach that defines the user-driven goals of the enterprise, empowers people to achieve them, and holds them accountable, down to the shop level.