Four European Nations, France, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands, signed the Design and Development (D&D) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the year 1990, to launch the NH90 Programme. Preceding studies in NATO proved that the operational requirements of Armies, Air Forces and Navies for a medium-sized helicopter could be optimally fulfilled by building a common, basic helicopter (H/C) and integrating dedicated mission systems.

The Design and Development (D&D) contract, signed in 1992, between NATO Helicopter Management Agency (NAHEMA) and NHIndustires (NHI), aims for two basic versions of the NH90. The Armies and Air Forces will use the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH). The Navies will use the NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH), for a total requirement of about 650 Helicopters. Several variants of the two basic versions are envisioned to be produced under the Production Investment/ Production 1st batch contract that is presently being negotiated.

NAHEMA and NHI, collocated in Aixen-Provence, France, are the Managing Agencies of the Nations and of the participating industries Agusta, Eurocopter Deutschland, Eurocopter and Fokker.

All of the foreseen five prototypes are operational. D&D is progressing, so that the Productionization and Production MoU and contract can be signed this year with the objective to deliver the first H/C in 2003.

Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) and LSA

The Nations strongly requested, from the early planning stages for the Programme, that supportability of the H/C be considered as an inherent design goal. Equal emphasis must be allocated to performance, RAMT (reliability, availability, maintainability and testability) and cost in order to minimize the Life Cycle Cost (LCC). Consequently, ILS/RAMT are integral parts of the D&D contract. In particular, they are parts of Weapon System Development Specification (WSDS), Statement of Work (SOW), Qualification, Programme Management Specification (PMS), Milestones and Work- and CostSharing. Moreover, the contract allocates the responsibility for both ILS and RAMT to the ILS Managers of NAHEMA and NHI. Their involvement in the design was assured from the very beginning of the Programme. By common understanding, the Nations and Industries identified LSA to be at the core of all ILS activities. The resulting LSA database is recognized as the indispensable repository to collect all necessary information to build an ILS system for operation and support of the H/C for the In-Service phase.

The contractual reference to define the LSA process was Mil-Std 1388. For the D&D's Request for Proposal (RfP), Nations and Industries started tailoring the standard. They finally agreed on a considerable reduction of the LSA tasks list in 1388. Rough calculations/estimates of the number of LSA Data Elements (DE) and LSA candidates were performed for the estimate of the LSA effort. The results of the NH90 Feasibility Study and the NH90 Pre-Definition Phase, both with dedicated ILS SOW down to the delivery of an ILS/RAMT Plan, provided valuable information. The LSA Plan itself was established early in D&D.

Writing the LSA Plan

Writing and agreeing with the LSA Plan was a lengthy and painful process. In the end, each party had to compromise, limiting the requirements and expectations to the needed essentials and the allocated budget.

In particular, establishing the Common Logistic Scenario as the guideline for the Industries' activities was a major task for the ILS WG (Working Group). Its purpose was to harmonize strongly diverging national peculiarities and operational requirements of the 10 participating services (Armies, Air Forces and Navies). Its intent was also to allow all services to find themselves in the scenario and to expect to be able to use the results of LSA for national purposes.

The ILS WG performed field visits to representative operational locations, from which the NH90 will be deployed. These visits were performed in order to identify and document the supportability factors (resources, manpower, readiness and operational requirements), to which the design of the H/C should comply. The first issue of a Use Study and the Common Logistic Scenario was delivered as input to the plan within the first month after the contract signing.

Lengthy discussions took place for the selection of LSA DEs. Other armament programs, which also performed LSA, provided diversified experiences. In the NH90 view, the tailoring had either gone too far or not far enough. In particular, the choice of DEs for interfaces to RAMT and the other ILS elements (Material Support, Aerospace Ground Equipment [AGE], Technical Publication, Training) were not considered sufficient. On Nations' side, the logisticians had the perception that crossdisciplinary processes (as CALS proposes) should be aimed for at the end. Fortunately, the Industries joined in that aim when it became obvious that such an approach would provide a win-win situation. At the end, 126 DEs were selected.

It should be noted, that the NH90 LSA Plan is a living document which allows updating with future contractual requirements. Changes, however, are subject to mutual agreement.

Analysis Tasks

Even though the LSA activities will be accomplished by the Industries, close cooperation with NAHEMA and the Nations to assess the qualitative and quantitative results of the process has been consistently applied. LSA is performed as an iterative process comprising of a step-bystep review process. Only after having passed all four steps of the review, is the data of any LSA candidate considered validated.

The following points only discuss these elements of the LSA Process which are noteworthy and exemplary.

1) LSA Candidate Items (CI) Selection

The aim of the selection is to identify these items or general activities that generate logistic support needs at all maintenance levels.

For the selection process, a LSA Control Number (LCN) structure is created in order to identify the items which can be physically replaced, repaired or discarded upon failure. The LCN structure is developed from engineering drawings and based on hardware breakdown structure. It is used for the selection of the LSA CIs.

The CIs are classified as "Full" and "Partial." "Full" CIs are all Line Replaceable Units and all repairable items at all maintenance levels. "Partial" CIs are mainly items which have to be removed to provide access to "full" candidates, or which create general activities like jacking or parking. A total of approximately 1200 CIs (850 Full and 350 Partial) were selected. This selection is also considered as "living" to allow adaptation for eventual design changes.

2) LORA

LORAs constitute the second step of the iterative LSA process. LORAs are performed on a selection of significant CIs (120 items) with the purpose to provide a first orientation to maintenance levels, at which the required maintenance tasks should economically be performed. In fact, the LORA results represent a preliminary maintenance concept, based on rather limited knowledge of the design at this early stage of the Programme. With a non-objection statement of the Nations, the LORA is considered as guidance to develop the def mite maintenance concepts for each CI.

3) Maintenance Concept

The maintenance concept development is the third step of the LSA process. It will identify the maintenance tasks at all maintenance levels which are necessary to fulfill the operational requirements of the system and the equipment.

The results of the Failure Mode and Effect Criticality Analysis (FMECA) are used to identify and document maintenance tasks. The allocation of these tasks to corrective or preventive maintenance is made by applying the selection logic of the Maintenance System Guide (MSG)-3. Specific MSG-3 reports allow the assessment of the results of this step.

4) Maintenance Task Analysis (MTA)

The MTA is the final and most important step of the LSA process. It leads to the identification of the logistic resources (e.g. Human Resources, Training, Support Equipment, Documentation, Spares and Facilities). These resources are needed to perform the identified maintenance activities. At the time of MTA performance, the design should be frozen. The MTA will provide a comprehensive view of the supportability characteristics and the logistic resources requirement. This will be documented in the maintenance plan. Important inputs to all other ILS elements, in particular the maintenance task description for the Technical Documentation, are by-products of MTA. With approval of the maintenance plans for all items, the LSA will be concluded. The sum of the maintenance plans for each CI form the overall maintenance plan for the HIC. The validation of the final LSA results is part of the overall qualification process for D&D.

5) Maintenance Demonstrations

Industry and Nations agreed to perform Maintenance Demonstrations, mainly to enhance the LSA process, which are basically "paperwork" with additional visibility and credibility. They are performed in two sessions. One of them uses 3-dimensional digital "Mock-Ups" which are supported by the Computer Aided Design (CAD) tool of the NH90 Industries. Here, the maintainability and maintenance features of the chosen item are presented and assessed. In the second session, the verification of the mock-up results on real hardware is performed. With the performed demonstrations, Nations have gained confidence in the approach and execution of the LSA process.

6) Software Support Analysis

The description of the LSA process, so far, is hardware oriented. The complexity of the NH90, and in particular of the mission systems, convinced the ILS community that a similar process should be applied for software as well. Therefore, a separate Software Support Analysis Plan describes the SSA process. In principle, this plan follows the same rationale as the LSA Plan.

7) LSA Reference Data Base

From the beginning of the LSA process, the results were documented in the LSA Reference Data Base. This database was established at NHI with access for dedicated workstations at NHI and NAHEMA. Thus, Customer and Contractor are able to work independently on the LSA results. This is considered as a first small step to a "Shared Data Environment." In any case, it assures an identical status of information on both sides and considerably eases communication. The database presently holds more than 150 MB of LSA data.

8) LSA Data Exchange

For communication with the Nations, the database is presently delivered to the Nations via CD ROMs. However, the commenting process is performed via Internet.

9) LSA Review Process

As mentioned above, the LSA process is performed in four steps. The review process also defines four review types, denominated A to D. The subject of review A is the LSA Candidate Item List. Review B deals with LORAs and Guidance for the Maintenance Concept. Review C, in turn, contains the presentation of Maintenance Concepts including MSG-3 reports. Finally, review D provides the Maintenance Task Analysis including the maintenance plan.

It should be noted that the reviews have to be announced in accordance to strictly defined schedules. This holds true as well for the delivery of the list of CIs and the supporting data, which are foreseen to be reviewed. Thus, sufficient time is allowed for the commenting process and the adequate preparation of both parties. Furthermore, the review sessions can be limited to those items which need further discussion or substantiation.

For the delivery to, and preparation of, each type of review, a list of the LSA DEs, respectively to be reviewed, was established and agreed. Industry additionally created "Ad-Hoc" reports for each type of review to ease the review process.

A major objective of the review process is reviewing and validating the LSA DEs, which are presented at the respective review. The verification of the results for consistency to the overall ILS Programme objectives is also a major objective.

10) Reporting

NAHEMA, NHI, the Nations and the NH90 Industries are all equipped with compatible LSA software tools to read each issue of the LSA database. Because Industry provides additional "Ad-Hoc" report templates for each Review type, there is practically no need for the delivery of standard reports of Mil-Std 1388. Every participant of the LSA process produces reports for his own specific needs. Another simplification of LSA!

Summary

It is expected, that by mid 2001, the LSA for the NH90 will be complete. The LSA data will allow Nations/Services to prepare the In-Service Support on the basis of sound information. There is presently no other armament program in Europe which runs LSA in such a successful way (e.g. producing complete information in due time with limited budget). The processes run smoothly because of a common view and understanding of LSA as the core for all further ILS activities.

Participants regard the LSA process as a full success. It has been decided, therefore, to apply an identical approach and review process for the analysis and identification of AGE requirements.

Lessons Learned

The participating Nations started the NH90 Programme with the common objective to reduce LCC in comparison to presently operated H/C. They agreed to focus on the reduction of the cost of ownership (e.g. Operation and Support). This is the biggest factor in LCC and, hence, suggests the largest benefits.

On account of allocation of an ILS budget in all contracts and at all phases of the Programme, ILS activities got an early start. This provided a firm guidance to Industry and Nations as to where to put the emphasis of activities.

The Use Study, which is considered to enlighten the operational and support requirements, was not easily understood by Industry, and needed repeated discussions. It is advisable to invite Industry to participate in the Field Visits in order to assure a better understanding of the military views and requirements from the start.

To establish the LSA process, it took a considerable amount of time and effort. Only when every participant is convinced of the approach, can the process successfully be installed and completed.

The most important, strenuous and timeconsuming task at the beginning was the tailoring of the process to the specific requirements of all participants of both contractual parties. But good results can only be expected on the basis of a good and thorough tailoring.

LSA should not be considered as a stand-alone tool. LSA is only one of the analysis tools, even if it is the central and most important one for logistics. Other analysis tools (e.g. FMECA and Safety Analysis) need to be assessed for logistics as well.

Cross-functional processes (in the sense of concurrent engineering) of which logistic engineering is one element, must be kept in view as the ultimate goal.

Even changes of standards and requirements beyond the contractual agreement are accepted, provided that honest and fair conduct is shown by both parties. These changes must also result in a win-win situation.

The amount of information should be maintained for, and updated during, the InService phase, in particular with RAMT data resulting from operational use of the H/C. This will enable the performance of so called "Hot LSA" in case of design changes or up-grades of the NH90 during the expected In-Service life of 30 years.

by Heinz Honeck, LTC. rtd., German Air Force Aeronautical Engineer and Logistician, Former Project Manager TTH and tLS Manager NAHEMA

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