An Analysis of Aircraft Operating and Support Cost Element Structures

As the cost of DoD Weapon Systems continue to increase, the ability to more accurately predict the Operating and Support (O&S) costs for the various weapon systems has become more vital for long run affordability. The investigation into the O&S arena has been overshadowed by the research and development (R&D) and acquisition fields. This research focuses on the O&S portion of the total life cycle costs, specifically the OSD-CAPE Cost Element Structure (CES) elements and sub-elements. The research investigates seven categories of 52 aircrafts and their cost expenditures within the CES from the years 1996-2016. The first portion of the analysis investigates the descriptive statistics for the 52 aircrafts and their respective categories. The second portion focused on utilizing statistical tests to compare and contrasts the findings from question one to illustrate the similarities and differences by cost expenditures depending on aircraft category. Lastly, we investigate if the elements/sub-elements could be used as metrics to each other through a multivariate correlation analysis. DoD Cost Estimators and stakeholders alike can benefit from this research by utilizing the results as baselines for future analogy based estimates

Delineating Operating and Support Costs in Aircraft Platforms

As the costs of Department of Defense (DoD) Weapon Systems increase, the ability to estimate the Operating and Support (O&S) costs accurately for the various weapon systems has become vital to long-term affordability. This research focuses on the O&S costs of the Air Force fixed-wing arsenal (i.e., platforms) for 1996–2016. First, the Cost Element Structure (CES) for 52 aircraft platforms and seven operational mission categories is analyzed to derive the descriptive statistics per aircraft category through examination of actual historical costs. Second, testing to identify statistical differences within the O&S CES construct across various Air Force aircraft categories is conducted. DoD cost estimators and stakeholders alike can benefit from this research by utilizing the results as cross-checks for predicting O&S costs through analogous-based estimates and as an in-depth analysis into categories of CES costs being incurred