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MIL-HDBK-470A

FOREWORD

1. This handbook is approved for use by all Departments and Agencies of the Department of Defense (DoD). It was developed by the DoD with the assistance of the military departments, federal agencies, and industry and replaces in their entirety Military Handbooks 470 and 471 (both formerly military standards). The handbook provides guidance to maintainability managers and engineers in developing and implementing a sound maintainability program for all types of products.
   
   
2. This handbook is for guidance only. This handbook cannot be cited as a requirement. If it is, the contractor does not have to comply.
   
   
3. Maintainability is a discipline that has become more importance over the past 30 years as military systems became more complex, support costs increased, and defense budgets decreased. It is also important in the commercial sector, where high levels of maintainability are increasingly becoming an important factor in gaining customer loyalty. In fact, American products that once were shunned in favor of foreign alternatives recently have made or are making a comeback. This shift in consumer preferences has been directly attributed to significant improvements in the quality of the American products, a quality that includes good maintainability.
   
   
4. Despite the fact that maintainability has been a recognized discipline for much longer than 30 years, achieving the high levels of maintainability needed in military and complex industrial systems is too often an elusive goal. System complexity, competing performance requirements, the rush to incorporate promising but immature technologies, and the pressures of acquisition budget and schedule contribute to this elusiveness.
   
   
5. Noting the significant improvement in the quality of commercial products and the rapidity with which new technology is incorporated in commercial products, and facing a shrinking defense budget, the Department of Defense changed its acquisition policies to foster the evolution of a unified military and commercial industrial base. The objective is to capitalize on the "best practices" that American business has developed or adopted, primarily in response to foreign competitive pressures. When combined with the knowledge and expertise of military contractors in building complex, effective military systems (soundly demonstrated during Desert Storm), these commercial practices will help the Department of Defense to acquire world-class systems on time and within budget.
   
   
6. The information in this handbook reflects both the move to incorporate commercial practices and the lessons learned over many years of acquiring weapon systems "by the book." When appropriate, commercial standards are cited herein for reference. Military standards and specifications, which cannot be used as requirements in solicitations without obtaining a waiver, are also cited for guidance. These documents are familiar to both military and commercial companies, contain a wealth of valuable information, and often have no commercial counterpart. Whereas many of these documents emphasize what to do and how to do it, this handbook, in the spirit of the new policies regarding acquisition, focuses on the objectives of a sound maintainability program and the tools available to meet these objectives.
   
   
7. Beneficial comments (recommendations, additions, deletions) and any pertinent data which may be useful in improving this document should be addressed to:
   
   Rome Laboratory/ERSR,
   525 Brooks Road,
   Rome, NY 13441-4505.
   
   Comments should be submitted using the self-addressed Standardization Document Improvement Proposal (DD Form 1426) appearing at the end of this document or by letter.