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Title: Aircraft Battle Damage Repair for
Operational Sustainability Author: C. J. Er Journal: Pointer, Vol 20. No 3, Jul - Sep 94 Aircraft Battle Damage Repair (ABDR) is the art form
of using existing resources for the quick fix of battle damage aircraft with
the aim of returning the aircraft to operational capability for at least one
more sortie in the shortest possible time. This art form is considered a
temporary repair and only practiced during combat situation as current
peacetime maintenance requires more time for all the damages that have to be
repaired and inevitably deprives the field commanders of valuable air assets.
ABDR therefore offers a quick fix solution and creates a force multiplier
that enables more aircraft missions. Since WWI, ABDR has evolved from simple quick fix to
a much higher level of sophistication today. This in part is due to the
complexity of modern aircraft and the advent of technology both in material
and system design. History has taught us to recognise ABDR as an important
operational logistics element. The lesson is still relevant mainly because
very often the damages are not necessarily caused by the enemy, but are
self-sustained, e.g. damage by rifle butts through frames, aircraft landing
damage, bird strikes and accidents [1]. Besides, with the escalating cost of
new aircraft (see Figure 1) air forces are no longer able to afford reserves
to replace aircraft lost in action. This further underscores the importance
of ABDR. |