In six older branches of the German Armed Forces alone, less than half of the available equipment is operational. One of the most common causes is a lack of spare parts, known as obsolete parts. What was ignored for many years because the world was believed to be free of direct threats is now coming back to haunt the armed forces – and damaging the entire country.
"Si vis pacem para bellum" is a supposed Latin proverb that translates as "If you want peace, prepare for war." This refers to the principle of deterrence, and unlike the wording quoted at the beginning, this principle can actually be found in Roman and even Greek writings.
Even today, credible deterrence is – once again – considered an important element in securing peace. However, "credible" is an essential condition for it to work. Whether the German Bundeswehr lives up to this claim was already called into question in the early 1960s, when Der Spiegel enraged the then Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauß with the headline "Bedingt abwehrbereit" (Conditionally ready for defense). And just a few years ago, the armed forces themselves made their shortcomings public: at the beginning of 2021, the average operational readiness of the Bundeswehr's 71 main weapon systems was 77 percent, with 11 even below 50 percent.
Desolate situation poses dangers
More than half of the least operational weapon types are considered obsolete systems. As an example, the "Report on Material Operational Readiness" cites various series of medium transport helicopters, which were found to have an operational readiness of only 40 percent. According to the analysis by the Ministry of Defense, operational flight operations can only be maintained at great expense and with considerable effort. In addition to age-related susceptibility to failure, it cites a "difficult spare parts situation in some areas" as a major reason for the shortcomings. The same applies, for example, to tanks of various classes and artillery pieces.
The consequences are fatal. On the one hand, such systems tie up considerable human and financial resources for maintenance and repair, which are then lacking elsewhere. In peacetime, the ability to train new personnel properly also suffers when the self-propelled howitzer cannot leave the yard and the helicopter has to remain on the ground. This in turn makes it difficult to find and retain applicants.
Furthermore, defense capabilities suffer when helicopters cannot deploy troops and equipment or when gaps appear in armed forces that rely on networked units – which can only operate effectively if they have the necessary equipment at their disposal. Last but not least, all of this weakens deterrence potential. Especially in the current world situation, where there are forces that rely on the "law of the strongest," we can least afford this – and must therefore seek solutions to ramp up not only troop strength but also operational readiness.
Previous strategies no longer viable
Components or assemblies are regularly discontinued, i.e., declared "obsolete" by the manufacturer, which means that they will no longer be produced in the foreseeable future. This is a constant problem for the armed forces. This is because weapon systems have life cycles of several decades in some cases, while the availability of components and assemblies is often barely more than ten years. One way to escape this dilemma is to convert or retrofit the systems to make them compatible with new parts that will be available for even longer.
However, this is an expensive and time-consuming process, which led, for example, to a navy captain ending his nearly two-year tour of duty on a frigate with "zero nautical miles" – the ship was in dry dock the entire time. This also meant no training at sea for the crews.
A second, equally expensive strategy was to order parts in bulk when they were discontinued so that the stockpiles could be used until the equipment was decommissioned and replaced by a successor system. However, even with new purchases, not everything runs smoothly, so that the planned service life of old systems is often exceeded by many years. For a long time, the problem was concealed by the ongoing reduction in troop numbers, which meant that less equipment was needed and surplus stocks could be cannibalized.
Now the warehouses are empty – both in terms of spare parts and equipment. At the same time, the armed forces are set to grow again and cannot afford to wait years for tanks, ships, and transport vehicles to be repaired. The realization that war is once again a possibility in Europe also means that a supply process must be established to ensure the availability of spare parts even in an emergency.
The challenge of the defense supply chain
Accordingly, a viable strategy for the availability of obsolete parts must be much broader than simply the question of where they can be sourced alternatively if the original manufacturer no longer supplies them. On the one hand, an early warning system is needed so that steps can be taken in good time to ensure availability. However, a risk analysis of the supply chains in the event of conflict is also essential, for example.
If no reliable source can be found, alternative ways must be found, such as developing alternative components or small-batch production by a service provider. If no digital product information is available, the missing data must first be collected using reverse engineering.
The industry already relies on such methods to extend the life cycle of machines, for example. There are proven processes here that take an acceptable amount of time. The situation is different in the military sector, however: special product requirements, separate standards for the production process, and complex coordination and approval processes between political and military actors and the service providers involved result in exceptionally long project durations. In other words, ad hoc responses to sudden shortages are practically impossible under these conditions.
Solution from a single source
A partner who offers all the necessary technical and production skills from a single source, thereby reducing communication and coordination processes to a minimum, provides significant efficiency advantages. However, other requirements must also be met, such as compliance with military standards and norms.
EDAG Defence is such a partner, one that can also reliably ensure the availability of obsolete parts for customers in the defense sector. The department masters all steps of the process, from engineering and validation to manufacturing and logistics, but also tasks such as market and supply chain analysis, strategic planning and digitalization of the supply chain, or complete project management. Based on this experience, EDAG has set up a model process for a complete defense supply chain:
Certifications in accordance with ISO 9100 series standards and compliance with military quality standards, such as the US military's MIL-STD standards, which are often also used as a basis for NATO projects, or AQAP (Allied Quality Assurance Publications) standards, round off the picture.
Are you also looking for a reliable source for obsolete parts? Are you interested in how to reduce effort and speed up procurement? Then talk to our defense expert Dietmar Bayerlein, Project Manager Integration & Validation at EDAG Engineering. Or download our white paper "Obsolete Parts – Keeping Tanks Rolling, Frigates Afloat, and Helicopters Flying" right here. In it, you will learn how to strategically plan the procurement process and what critical aspects need to be considered.
