Because traditional cost estimating relationships have proven inadequate for estimating maintenance manpower for advanced combat aircraft, Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) researchers developed a discrete-event simulation model in ExtendSim. The IDA Maintenance Estimation and Sortie Utilization Rate Evaluation (IMEASURE) model projects staffing needs within an aircraft squadron for propulsion, airframe, and avionics maintenance technicians.
IMEASURE has become an important tool in providing DoD sponsors with timely, high-quality estimates of life-cycle costs early in an aircraft’s development phase. It has been successfully applied in studies of advanced tactical aircraft, such as the Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22A, and in analyses of the upgraded UH-1 helicopter, the proposed unmanned combat air vehicle, and alternative designs for a new bomber.
This paper was published as a Roundtable Profile article in the August 2015 issue of OR/MS Today and is featured on the IDA in the Research Community .