Impact of an Autonomic Logistics System (ALS) on the sortie generation process

The current Air Force aircraft logistics system is reactive in nature, meaning that once a fault is detected, maintenance personnel must perform fault isolation procedures and then take steps to repair or replace the faulty item. The Autonomic Logistics System (ALS) concept changes this reactive process into a proactive one. This new approach to the logistics process shows the potential for cost savings, increased aircraft availability, and better system performance. With an ALS, certain logistics tasks can be handled autonomously such as ordering parts for a broken system, calling the right maintenance specialist to the right aircraft, or notifying the maintenance control center that a certain aircraft has a malfunctioning system and will not be available for the next sortie. This study employs an Arena 5.0 discrete-event simulation model to explore the effect of an ALS on the sortie generation process for a fighter squadron during day-to-day operations.