CC BY
12TECHNICAL SCIENCES
INFLUENCE OF MAINTENANCE AND RECOVERY PROCESSES ON MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT TECHNICAL CONDITION IN THE ARMED FORCES
OF UKRAINE
Baranov Yu.,
Candidate of Technical Sciences (Ph.D), Associate Professor, professor of the Department of Engineering Equipment, Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy
Ukraine, Lviv Baranov A.,
Candidate of Technical Sciences (Ph.D), Associate Professor, associate professor of the Support Forces Tactics Department, Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy
Ukraine, Lviv Martyniuk I., Candidate of Biological Sciences (Ph.D), head of the Scientific Research Laboratory of the Support Forces Training and Simulation Facilities,
Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy
Ukraine, Lviv Kovalchuk S.,
Senior instructor of the Support Forces Tactics Department, Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy
Ukraine, Lviv
Shpak S.
Senior instructor, Department of Engineering Equipment, Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy
Ukraine, Lviv DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7560151
Abstract.
The article is prepared on a topical issue related to the study of influence of maintenance and recovery processes on management efficiency of military equipment (ME) technical condition (TC). The problem of maintenance of ME TC at the proper level and, if necessary, its timely recovery is one of the most important. Therefore, in the future the search for ways to improve the management process of ME TC will ensure its effective use as intended, both in peacetime and in combat conditions.
Keywords: military equipment; maintenance; technical condition; combat operations.
1. INTRODUCTION.
Research related to the management of ME TC, determination of factors influencing the process are becoming more and more relevant. This is due to the availability of a fairly large number of ME in the Armed Forces (AF) of Ukraine, which includes all the technical means that are intended for supporting combat operations, training of troops (forces), as well as for control and testing.
Formulation of the problem. The analysis of usage of EE in the zone of Jount Forces operations showed that at this stage it is necessary to take additional measures to increase the efficiency of EE maintenance and repair system functioning, taking into account factors that affect its TC.
Analysis of recent research and publications. In the scientific research one can not ignore the scientific works of O. Vorobiov [1], O. Volokh [2], P. Openko [3] and others, who reveal most of the issues in this area quite deeply.
The purpose of the article. Study of influence of maintenance and recovery processes on management efficiency of ME TC in the leading countries of the world and in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
2. RESEARCH RESULTS.
2.1. Characteristics, composition and capabilities of the repair and recovery bodies of the tactical and operational level of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, their comparison with similar structures of NATO countries.
The main production function of the maintenance and recovery process is performed by the subsystem of repair and recovery bodies (RRB), which includes recovery capabilities. The composition and capabilities of the tactical and operational level of the Armed Forces of Ukraine RRB will be considered and compared with similar structures of the advanced armies of NATO-member countries.
The main tasks of a repair and recovery battalion (rrb) are the following: conducting of technical intelligence; carrying out evacuation of weapons and equipment; carrying out of running repair (RR) of ME samples (if there is time and the necessary repair kits, rrb is able to carry out interim overhaul (IO) of specified ME samples); bringing weapons and equipment into readiness for use and returning to service; providing assistance to
units in performing the most time-consuming maintenance work; transfer of ME, not covered by recovery works, to the repair bodies of the senior chief [4].
The next stage of the research is a comparison of the composition and corresponding capabilities of the RRB of tactical level in the Armed Forces of Ukraine with similar structures of the Armed Forces of the US
Table 1
Comparative ratio of military units of the Armed Forces of the USA, Germany and Ukraine to the total number
and the Federal Republic of Germany. Table 1 presents a comparative ratio of technical support (TS) units at the tactical level of the Armed Forces of the USA, Germany and Ukraine to the total number of military units (subu-nits), in different periods of development and reformation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine [5; 6].
Country Organizational structure of troops Level of subordination
battalion brigade division
USA existing 10,3 % 3,3-6,6 % 5,3 %
Germany existing 5 % 5,6 % 5 %
Ukraine in the 90s 3,2 % 3,6 % 3,1 %
existed until 2012 3,2 % 7,7 % no divisions
existed from 2012 to May 2014 - 2,1 % no divisions
existed from May 2014 to May 2015 3,2 % 2,1 % no divisions
Based on these data, it can be concluded that there are insufficient capabilities of the RRB in the "battalion-brigade" link and the low capabilities of repair bodies in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that can lead to a breakdown of the full order of distribution of RRB assets, and ineffective measures regarding the general organization of maintenance and recovery of ME.
Proceeding from the possibilities embedded in the organizational and staff structure of the RRB of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, we will make an attempt to assess their real capacity and effectiveness in managing ME TC due to improvement of its maintenance and recovery processes organization. Therefore, based on the experience of local wars and conduct of Joint Forces Operations (JFO), we will identify the main shortcomings of these processes.
2.2. The main shortcomings of maintenance and recovery processes organization and their impact on the management of ME TC in the Armed Forces of Ukraine based on the experience of conducting JFO.
It should be immediately noted that there is a significant incompleteness and unsatisfactory state of ME. Thus, at the beginning of bringing the Armed Forces of Ukraine into combat readiness, their ME full strength was 82%. Only 94% was in good condition. More than 74% of available combat-ready samples of ME had been in operation for more than 20-25 years. Due to their technical condition, significant work was needed to restore technical suitability and carry out scheduled maintenance (SM). At the same time, when it was tasked to bring ME to a combat-ready condition, the previous indicators of the serviceability level were not confirmed. During removal of ME from storage, a larger number of ME samples required recovery. That is, the situation with the repair fund condition was difficult a priori. In turn, the production capabilities of the RRB of all levels did not allow to cover in a short period of time the entire scope of recovery works of ME that were out of order. The reasons lie in the negative impact of organizational measures regarding unjustified reduction and reform of the RRB and units at all levels, especially at the tactical level.
According to the results of the calculations, the efficiency coefficient of the TS system corresponded to the indicator "limitedly suitable to perform tasks as intended". This was also confirmed in the course of a study conducted by specialists of the Central Research Institute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine within the framework of tasks related to determining the effectiveness of the relevant support systems.
The analysis of the distribution by types of ME repair, which had been stored for a long time without proper maintenance, shows that with the beginning of preparation of ME for use as intended, the most urgent need was to carry out RR, and the need for the IO and major maintenance (MM) was up to 35% and up to 25%, respectively. With the beginning of preparation of troops (forces) for employment, proper military RRB (repair units) that could meet the real need for conducting RR and IO were not deployed.
Thus, taking into account the predicted failure of weapons and equipment, possibilities of their recovery and replenishment, certain groups of troops (forces) may lose their combat capability in approximately 2025 days from the beginning of their full-scale employment.
Repair companies do not have the opportunity to purchase spare parts necessary to repair certain types of ME, and the existing repair fund does not meet the technical requirements concerning MM due to a long period of time in operation (more than 30 years). In RRB (units) there are no revolving sets of assemblages (units) for performing RR and IO on existing unit assemblages, and consumables for carrying out repairs according to all types of TS [7].
The state of provision of spare parts does not ensure the full performance of the assigned tasks by RRB (units). For these reasons, the established terms for weapons and equipment being repaired are significantly exceeded.
3. CONCLUSIONS AND PROSPECTS OF FURTHER RESEARCH.
Thus, the above mentioned allows to conclude that the main shortcomings in management of ME TC at the present time are the imperfection of ME maintenance and recovey processes, in particular: low effectiveness
of preventive works, overestimated number, volume, labor-intensiveness of maintenance and failure to take into account the technical condition of a specific sample at the moment of conducting maintenance in the conditions of carrying out combat operations; failure to take into account the structure and, as a result, nonopti-mality and inconsistency of service modes of various functionally related subsystems included in one sample of ME; significant non-productive losses of time and resources in the RRB (units) of the tactical level due to the irrational composition and methods of their application; low indicators of maintenance and recovery of ME due to insufficiently substantiated composition of assets as for recovery while performing tasks in the operational level; difficulties that arise during (if necessary) adjusting the periodicity of maintenance and determining time reserves for recovery of ME in situations where the timing of these measures coincides with intensive carrying out of combat operations, and necessity to meet the needs for the maximum number of ME samples to be used as intended.
The main ways to eliminate the above-mentioned shortcomings can be: taking into account the structure of ME as a complex technical system and rationalizing the maintenance regime and choosing the most effective maintenance strategies for each subsystem included in the ME sample, taking into account the conditions of carrying out of combat operations; the use of new, promising methods of determining the TC of ME subsystems and the introduction of predictive control of achieving the limit criteria by the ME TC parameters; reduction of non-productive losses of time and resources in the tactical-level RRB as a result of making corrections to the definition of the composition, the method of their application and improvement of the ME TC management; increasing the efficiency of maintenance and recovery by means of reasonable develop-
ment of temporarily formed bodies of TS at the operational level; the need to improve the quality of ME TC management by developing models, methods for adjusting the periodicity of maintenance and determining time reserves for recovery of ME in the conditions of carrying out combat operations.
References
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