Root cause analysis of BIT false alarms

Root cause analysis is an essential task to mature built-in-test (BIT) false alarm performance. Effectiveness of corrective actions is highly dependent upon how well engineers analyze false alarms and how well they understand the equipment's BIT mechanization into the weapon system. Therefore, a success-oriented engineering approach needs to be established in order to analyze false alarms and understand the reasons they occur. This paper identifies a seven-step process to perform root cause analysis on false alarms during the design and development phase in order to implement effective corrective actions prior to fleet delivery.