Premium
Unintended consequences of performance specifications for the reliability of military weapon systems
Author(s) -
Kujawski Edouard
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
systems engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.474
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1520-6858
pISSN - 1098-1241
DOI - 10.1002/sys.20152
Subject(s) - derating , weapon system , reliability engineering , reliability (semiconductor) , mean time between failures , engineering , unintended consequences , military engineer , operations research , computer security , computer science , failure rate , military science , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics , astronomy , voltage , political science , law , electrical engineering , management , economics
The use of performance specifications became a key US Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition reform in the 1990s. Gone were the detailed military specifications for parts and materials selection, workmanship, derating, and fault tolerance. Maximum use was to be made of commercial specs. Reliability would be specified only in quantitative terms such as Mean‐Time‐To‐Failure (MTTF) and/or the reliability R( t ). However, there are significant differences between commercial and military weapon systems whereby performance specifications might bring in significantly greater mission risk. Reliability data from 1996 to 2000 might be an indicator of negative unintended consequences of the cancellation of military specifications. The acquisition of successful military systems requires a mix of performance and prescriptive reliability requirements that depend on the application, technology maturity, and complexity. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng