Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics ›› 2026, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (5): 1574-1586.doi: 10.23919/JSEE.2026.000139

• SYSTEMS ENGINEERING • Previous Articles    

Mission-driven equipment supportability analysis and optimization

Zhiwei Chen1,2,3, Yulu Zhang1,2,3(), Weiwei Cui4,5,*(), Dongpao Hong5(), Hongyan Dui6()   

  1. 1Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
    2National Key Laboratory of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Xi’an 710072, China
    3Integrated Research and Development Platform of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Xi’an 710072, China
    4College of Intelligence Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
    5China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Beijing 100076, China
    6School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
  • Received:2025-01-07 Online:2026-10-18 Published:2026-11-09
  • Contact: Weiwei Cui E-mail:zhangyulu@mail.nwpu.edu.cn;buaacvv@126.com;hloving@163.com;duihongyan@zzu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72471192; U2341213; 72101270) and the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (2023QNRC001).

Abstract:

Supportability simulation analysis has emerged as a cost-effective alternative to physical experimentation for enhancing the logistics capacity of equipment support, especially in complex combat scenarios. However, key issues such as support scheme planning, resource optimization, and comprehensive analysis of the reliability, maintainability, supportability, and testability (RMST) indices are seldom explored in depth. This paper proposes mission-driven methods for equipment supportability analysis and optimization. Firstly, a supportability modeling and optimization framework, along with a mission-driven support activity simulation, is presented to describe the complex interaction between large-scale equipment and resources. Then, an optimization model for resource allocation based on simulation is developed, and a heuristic method is introduced to solve the problem. Fault uncertainty is incorporated into the support activities to integrate the RMST indices of the equipment. A Monte Carlo simulation is then used to comprehensively evaluate these RMST indices. Finally, a numerical example is used to validate the proposed methodology. The experimental results demonstrate that the presented approach successfully performs simulation, analysis, and optimization of the support activity, and the equipment deployment results in 93.29% availability, which can provide reliable decision support for equipment operation and logistics.

Key words: mission-driven, supportability simulation, reliability, maintainability, supportability, and testability (RMST) demonstration, support activity planning, support resource optimization