Reducing life-cycle costs in ATE technology insertion

As the procurement dollars dwindle we are faced with an increasing need to maintain fleet support with fewer financial resources. The Navy has taken an innovative approach to decreasing life-cycle costs while addressing the testability requirement. By using cost control and performance measurement techniques practiced in the private sector and inserting commercial-off-the-shelf equipment into aging test sets they can be made reliable and supportable. Replacing a 1970´s computer with an 80486 computer and the associated hardware is discussed. Decreasing documentation costs by digitizing the technical manuals and using a CALS compliant software developed by the Army is presented