Table of
Contents
|
Table of Contents |
Joint STARS proved to be one of the most, if not the most, significant technological successes of the Persian Gulf War.
|
|
--LTC John W. Holmes |
Joint STARS GSMs were originally designed under a five-tier maintenance plan (operator, organizational, DS, GS, and depot). This chapter incorporates the five-tier plan into the two-tier maintenance process--field level and sustainment level.
MAINTENANCE |
The Block I GSM maintenance plan is designed to maximize "on-equipment" repair to rapidly restore the GSM to normal operation. On-equipment repair is maintenance performed on individual pieces of equipment within the GSM without removing the equipment from the shelter. On-equipment repair requires the minimum of maintenance tasks, support equipment, personnel, and repair facilities. TM 11-5865-299-20, Part Two, contains a maintenance allocation chart that defines grouping of components, assemblies, modules, component names, functions to be performed, active maintenance time requirements, and required maintenance equipment.
Field level maintenance consists of operator and organizational level maintenance tasks.
Operator Maintenance. Operator maintenance is the lowest level of maintenance performed on the GSM. It is normally initiated with operator PMCS. PMCS is conducted before, during, and after operation as well as weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually in accordance with the appropriate GSM technical manuals. The operator is responsible for initial fault detection and isolation. Since the Block I GSM is designed to facilitate modular replacement of components, the operator is authorized to remove and replace components as stated in the technical manual. To aid the operator in diagnostics, 90 percent of the equipment in the GSM has been designed with built-in-tests (BITs), which facilitate thorough fault isolation.
Organizational Level Maintenance. Organizational and unit level maintenance includes PMCS as discussed above, modular removal and replacement, replacement of line replaceable units (LRUs), and limited "off-equipment" maintenance. The main type of maintenance that is done at unit level is non-system maintenance, maintenance on the prime mover, support vehicles, generators, communications equipment, and COMSEC equipment.
Sustainment level maintenance consists of DS and GS repairs.
Direct Support Maintenance. DS maintenance provides both "on-equipment" and "off-equipment" maintenance. The on-equipment maintenance support will fault isolate the 10 percent of the faults detected but not isolated by the GSM operator. LRU removal and replacement restores the equipment to operational status. Off-equipment maintenance includes limited repair of electro-mechanical and mechanical devices. This also includes screening of GO and NO-GO circuit cards.
General Support Maintenance. GS maintenance performs "off-equipment" maintenance that exceeds the "time to repair" constraints or capability of DS maintenance. It includes further fault diagnosis and isolation of modules to internal shop replaceable unit components. Repairs will include adjustments, alignment, and repair in accordance with the government-furnished equipment (GFE) and GSM allocation charts.
Depot level maintenance is in accordance with procedures in the appropriate technical publications. GSM depot level maintenance is performed by the contractor at the contractor factory. The contractor provides common spares parts, replaceable modules, stock depot level GSM unique spares, and unique repair parts, as required.
The Communications-Electronic Command (CECOM) is responsible for initial purchase of system-related software. Software lifecycle support is dependent on future development of the Block I program. CECOM is responsible for evaluating and procuring replacement software and future upgraded GSM software. Table 6-1 lists the maintainability and testability characteristics and requirements of the hardware.
BDAR is designed to rapidly return disabled electronic equipment to operational status. This is done by repairing, bypassing, or alternating components to restore minimum functions required to support combat missions with the Block I GSM. BDAR is divided into two areas: BDA and battle damage repair. BDA is divided into three types of assessments: extent of damage, repairs needed, and location and method to repair. (See TM 11-5865-299-20 for task summaries.) Other pertinent BDAR information concerning the Block I GSM is in TM 11-5800-215-BD.
LOGISTICS |
Block I GSMs are supportable using the standard Army Logistics System. Initially the contractor field service representative will order those GSM peculiar parts needed to keep the system working. The GSM NCOIC will order and maintain proper accountability of all other supplies not peculiar to the GSM.
The GSM is transportable by all transportation modes (for example, highway, air, rail, and sea). There are no constraints involving the GSM. Transportability approval of the GSM is in accordance with AR 70-47, Appendix F, and appropriate technical manuals.
Baseline figures for a GSM section were used to determine transportability requirements. Deployments to extreme environments would probably increase baggage and pallets requirements. These figures are based in part upon operational experience. No C-17 specific load plans were researched, but GSMs can be airlifted in it.
The baseline IGSM and MGSM section load consists of--
The baseline LGSM section load consists of--
Air Force Airlift. The LGSM can be transported on C-130E, C-141B, and C-5A aircraft. The GSM can only deploy on C-5A aircraft.
Airlift, GSM Breakdown. As an alternative in an emergency, C-141B aircraft can be used to transport the GSMs. In order to use C-141B aircraft, the modified S-280 shelters must be removed and loaded separately from the prime mover. This requires a 12,000-pound crane being available at both loading and unloading sites. Section personnel require 1 hour to break down the GSM, and 1 hour to reconfigure it. The GSM modified S-280 shelters can be palletized on 463L pallets using tie-down straps and carried by C-130E and C-141B aircraft.
The following is a breakdown by GSM variant section showing how many Air Force aircraft, by type, are required to deploy:
The E-8. The E-8 is self-deployable from Melbourne, FL (pre-initial operational capability [IOC]) and Robins AFB, GA (post-IOC). The E-8 requires the same runway and air base facilities as other Boeing 707 variants, E-3 (AWACS), and KC-135 tankers.
The GSM modified S-280 shelter when removed from the prime mover can be lifted by a CH-47D helicopter using 10,000 and 25,000 pound slings. The LGSM A-3189543 shelter on the HMMWV is also transportable by CH-47D helicopter.
All GSMs can be transported by 50-foot flatcar within CONUS and an 11.3 meter flatcar outside continental United States (OCONUS). Blocking and tie-down materials are required to secure the system during rail movement.
There are no major problems anticipated with the movement of the GSM either on or off highways. The prime mover should be able to drive under standard secondary road bridges in the areas of the world where employment is possible. Currently, the GSM will drive to its location or, if the distances are long, a low-boy tractor-trailer rig is used to transport the GSM. The latter method saves some of the inherent wear and tear on the vehicles normally associated with motor convoys.
Movement via ship has been verified through analysis. Blocking and tie-down materials are required. The GSM can be transported by the following ships: