A demonstration of a helicopter health management information portal for U.S. Army aviation

The US Army relies heavily on their helicopter fleet to provide close air support, troop transport, reconnaissance and logistics support capabilities for a variety of mission profiles. High operational readiness and availability of the helicopter fleet is critical to achieving their mission objectives. The Army has developed and implemented helicopter health management technology known as the Vibration Management Enhancement Program (VMEP) in order to facilitate the effective and efficient maintenance and logistics support of these aircraft. The utility of this technology is realized by the creation of a shared maintenance and logistics data environment for fleets of helicopters that operate throughout the world in a variety of environmental conditions and different mission profiles. A computer based simulation demonstration of a helicopter management information portal has been developed to show the broad applicability of the VMEP technology for facilitating an effective advanced maintenance capability as well as the ability to flow maintenance information into the Army supply and logistics processes. The intent of the simulation demonstration is to show how health management technology can increase helicopter operational availability through more efficient maintenance scheduling and implementation, shorter part replacement delay times and improved mission planning capability. The focal point of the demonstration simulation is to show how helicopter health management information enables increased helicopter operational readiness and reliability by providing advanced capabilities for maintenance, logistics and command and control decision making.