The relationship of weapon cannibalization to weapon system mission capability

In 2001, there was concern by the Military Services and the US Congress about shortages of spare parts for aviation units and about the workarounds, such as part cannibalization, that are required to keep those units near readiness goals. This paper was written to provide a theoretical framework to the U.S. Navy for understanding why weapon system cannibalizations occur, what factors influence those cannibalization rates, and how to predict cannibalization rates given the interaction of these factors. Using probabilistic operations research techniques, the paper develops a model to predict the cannibalization rates necessary to achieve a specified readiness goal for a weapon system given expected customer wait times for the delivery of spare parts.