A brand new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report found that while the Navy Department uses two separate databases to trace aircraft availability the newer one is best at predicting actual flying hours.
The Navy uses each the older Decision Knowledge Programming for Logistics Evaluation and Technical Evaluation system (DECKPLATE) and Aviation Maintenance Supply Readiness Report system (AMSRR). DECKPLATE is an older system while AMSRR was introduced within the mid-2010s.
Within the report released July 17, CBO analyzed monthly aircraft-level data from 2017 to 2021 for the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and located the 2 systems used different methods to measure availability, AMSRR had higher availability rates than DECKPLATE, AMSRR’s rates were higher at predicting flying hours for the aircraft, and DECKPLATE included more data errors.
In keeping with the CBO’s evaluation, AMSRR is more forward-looking, which allows operational commanders to project whether their aircraft can fly that day, while DECKPLATE focuses on being retrospective and measures what number of hours an aircraft was available after the actual fact.
AMSRR’s average of Super Hornet availability rates was also higher than DECKPLATE, while the difference between the 2 rates widened in every year of the evaluation, CBO said.
“During that period, AMSRR’s availability rates were higher than DECKPLATE’s in 66 percent of the aircraft-month observations for individual Super Hornets.”
The report theorized when AMSRR showed the next rate it could have meant the aircraft needed just a few hours of day by day maintenance but was otherwise still available. Nevertheless, when AMSRR showed a lower rate than DECKPLATE, CBO said that might have been when the Super Hornet was available but commanders didn’t think it could have the opportunity to fly.
CBO said while each databases have errors in data integrity, DECKPLATE had many more errors. It noted AMSRR’s availability rates higher predict the actual flying hours of Super Hornets resulting from the larger errors in DECKPLATE.
“Although DECKPLATE’s availability rates are alleged to reflect the actual hours aircraft were available, CBO found what seem like data errors in DECKPLATE. In consequence, AMSRR’s availability rates more closely correlated with the actual hours that Super Hornets were flown,” the report said.
Nevertheless, it argued that if apparent errors in the info were faraway from DECKPLATE, its correlation between availability and actual flying hours could be similar or higher than AMSRR.
“DoN told CBO that the department is working to enhance the standard of its aircraft availability data. If the info in DECKPLATE were more accurate, that system’s measurements of availability might match actual flying hours just in addition to, and even higher than, AMSRR’s measurements do,” the report said.
Other differences include that AMSRR was more prone to show availability rates at zero or 100%, but DECKPLATE had many more monthly observations with rates between 10 and 60 percent. DECKPLATE reported only a few 100% availability or an aircraft for a month, “perhaps because aircraft were often receiving routine maintenance overnight.”
CBO noted AMSRR’s different approach was more prone to report 100% availability since it is predicated on aircraft expected to fly that date in comparison with DECKPLATE reporting the variety of hours every day an aircraft was available.
CBO said it used this evaluation to look into how the supply rates measured using the 2 systems in comparison with the period of time Super Hornets actually flew.
The office theorized an aircraft’s monthly availability rates could be positively correlated with flying hours in order that they would move in the identical direction. The evaluation concluded AMSRRs availability rates were more highly correlated with the flying hours than DECKPLATE, mostly resulting from the errors within the latter database.
Ultimately CBO found that from 2017 to 2021 annual flying hours per aircraft decreased regardless that AMSRR’s annual availability rates for Super Hornets rose from 2018 to 2021 while DECKPLATE had no major trends.
The report said this “occurred because total flying hours for Super Hornets became more evenly distributed across the fleet during that period.”
Over this era, fewer Super Hornets didn’t fly in any respect and fewer flew for giant numbers of hours. This meant total flying time decreased but the proportion of aircraft flying increased, reflected in AMSRR showing a rise in availability rates.