WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED?
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ing obsolete. I was the assistant product manager for the Patriot Advanced Capability – Phase 3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) Missile, the most recent variant in the Patriot family of air defense artillery missiles. Tat simple question led me into a review and subsequent analysis detailing obsolescence issues specific to the missile that turned out to be much more complex than anticipated. I started with questions, more ques- tions, and then thankfully some answers that enabled discussions on where the MSE design should go to help manage the risk of obsolescence.
W
THE ISSUE Obsolescence is both a challenge and an opportunity. When someone thinks of a part becoming obsolete, typically they think of older parts that become outmoded and replaced over time— like rotary phones, for example. For the Patriot missile, however, the meaning of “obsolete” is more complex than that. It’s not just the part itself, but the part’s impact on the larger system.
Take your cellphone, for example. After several years, the manu- facturer will no longer support your phone with software updates. You purchase a new phone, but then realize it is not compati- ble with your old charger, your earbuds and other components. You only needed a new phone, but now you have to replace all of those subcomponents in order to keep the same functionality. You have just lived through obsolescence, and are probably a lot lighter in the wallet.
Te same is true when a weapon system’s part becomes obsolete after the system is already developed or produced. When parts for a subcomponent of a missile become obsolete, that drives redesigns. Still, opportunities emerge when program offices can
hy does this have to be so complicated?”
Tat is the question I asked during my first quarterly review, where we examined parts and materiel that were at risk of becom-
SO MANY QUESTIONS
The author encourages other assistant product managers to ask as many questions as necessary while becoming familiar with their new roles. (Image by GettyImages)
balance and control obsolescence and its redesigns to strategi- cally increase performance characteristics in a system and keep it competitive against emerging threats.
HOW COULD THIS EVEN HAPPEN? When the PAC-3 MSE was first delivered in 2014, the contract called for 92 missiles per year. Demand increased steadily as inter- national partners began procuring systems of their own through foreign military sales (FMS); most recently increasing to 500 per year for the 2022 fiscal year.
Multi-year contracts could help fund requirements in future production years to keep enough parts on hand.
136 Army AL&T Magazine Fall 2021
MSE major redesigns typically occur about every four years. Tese redesigns are planned to allow the technology to evolve over time, and they are useful to address technology that becomes obsolete. But redesigns are expensive. For the MSE, a large portion of the costs were shared with FMS partners through an international engineering service program contract.
Tis faster obsolescence phenomenon is caused, in large part, by the increase in annual production requirements to meet worldwide
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