Development of a prognostics and health management capability for the Joint Strike Fighter

The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is the focal point for defining the next generation of strike aircraft weapon systems for the Navy, Marines, Air Force, and allies. The focus of the program is affordability reducing the costs of development, production, and ownership of the JSF family of aircraft. In addition to affordability as a "pillar" of the JSF program, three additional pillars have been established: survivability, lethality, and supportability/deployability. These four pillars have established the foundation for the design and development of the JSF weapon system. One of the keys to providing an affordable approach to supportability and deployability lies in the strategy of prognostics and health management (PHM) and how it supports the concept of autonomic logistics. This paper focuses on the contribution of PHM and its relationship to autonomic logistics.