Condition based maintenance of military ground vehicles

The performance of military ground vehicle systems quickly degrades due to high operation tempo and extreme environments while performing in-theater service. Current maintenance methods associated with this degradation are not sufficiently optimized for cost and performance. To address this issue, the United States Army is implementing a policy of Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) and being supported by the Army Materiel System Analysis Activity (AMSAA). CBM is a plan of maintenance for a system based upon the actual condition of the system as enabled by the application of usage, diagnostic and prognostic processes executed on a Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS). AMSAA has developed and is implementing a CBM system for ground vehicles. This development process has included the development of a robust military-grade HUMS in conjunction with the Aberdeen Test Center and the development of data collection, reduction, analysis, and reporting processes. A key requirement underlying these processes is a thorough understanding of both the ways in which system condition is degenerated and the ability of the HUMS to detect, identify, and communicate all conditions that requires maintenance in a timely manner. AMSAA and the US Army Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) have jointly initiated testing and applications as the critical means of filling this requirement.