Aircraft design for through-life support

In a military context, the term ¿Through Life Support¿, among other definitions, is used to describe an arrangement between a service provider and a branch of the armed forces, where the responsibility, and risk, of operating an aircraft is delegated to the original system supplier or designated support partner. This trend sees defence moving away from acquiring a military system, to the acquisition of a military capability. With the acquisition of the hardware comes a guarantee that the supplied product will meet a list of specific criteria, including, for example, pre-determined levels of dispatch reliability and availability. This paper reports on continuing studies on the implications of design for through-life support on all the stakeholders. The new approach is likely to be a game-changer, and because it impacts the way the industry views acquisition and operation, it appears that it will have a profound impact upon each segment of the aircraft lifecycle. The aim of this paper is to present some background to the TLS concept, and identify some of the drivers and the essence of TLS. It also lists a series of thoughts and questions as part of an effort to develop a robust model of what TLS could look like in the future. The primary objective of this paper is to stimulate discussion and to achieve a general consensus within the aerospace community.