The AF faces severe maintainer shortages and a fleet-wide mission capable rate of 70%. As the USAFs fleet ages, aircraft will need increasing amounts of repair, and the need to remove constraints in the maintenance process is a concern. The expediter was identified as the constraint and autonomous rovers as the solution. The researcher demonstrated through simulations of the maintenance process at JB MDL, the differences in efficiency between the current expediter transport process, to one augmented with autonomous delivery rovers. In 24 hours, the KC-10s expediter saw 29.9% reduction in utilization, gained 7.2 hours, and drove 107.4 miles less, while the C-17s expediter saw 7.9% reduction in transportation, gained 1.9 hours, and drove 21.1 miles less. The simulations demonstrated how rovers, as an emerging technology, can address the flight line constraint, and augment the expediter to significantly reduce time and transportation costs. In the intermediate, tools and parts need to be co-located as close to the aircraft as possible, with bench stock parts kept with the tools to create the most streamlined process. Once rover delivery is successfully demonstrated, the technology can be incorporated fleet-wide, and has valuable impact across the Department of Defense.


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