The U.S. Sells Lots of Surplus Parts. But Does It Use Them?

The United States is the biggest military superpower in the world. We maintain thousands of aircraft in our fleets across the branches of the military to conduct dozens of different missions. The average age of our military aircraft keeps getting older, and old aircraft tend to break down, especially when subjected to high G forces, terrible conditions, and constant use. 

One of the biggest problems our fleets have is a lack of parts in the supply chain to keep up with breakage. This leads to protracted downtimes with otherwise serviceable jets sitting on the ramp for days, weeks, and sometimes months. So, what exactly is going on with the military supply chain? Is it irreparably broken, or are they not using assets at their disposal appropriately? And are there any solutions to ease the supply chain blues that plague the U.S. military logistics corps? Let’s find out. 

What Are Surplus Parts?

Alright, so what exactly are surplus parts? It sounds simple, and the idea is simple. 

When aircraft are manufactured, extra parts are built to accompany those used in manufacturing. These initial runs of parts are built around estimations of parts used over the expected lifecycle of the aircraft. This makes sense. It won’t be an exact count, but it should be fairly close. So why have there been so many hiccups in the supply chain?

Let’s take a look at fighters. 

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A fighter aircraft generation's average lifespan was around 10-15 years tops. Fighters evolved so quickly early on that they were obsolete very quickly, especially the early generations of fighter jets. Between the Korean War and Vietnam, we saw frontline jets go from the F-86 to the Hundred-series (F-100, F-101, F-102, F-104, F-105, and F-106), which were all supersonic and used air-to-air missiles rather than guns. The F-4, which served for over three decades, was the star of Vietnam, serving in both air-to-air and air-to-ground roles in the Air Force and Navy/USMC. 

But then, just a few short years after the end of the Vietnam War, the 4th Generation fighters started rolling out. The F-15 entered service in September 1975, and the F-16 first flew in 1976, with initial deliveries in 1979.

That’s correct: F-15s are almost fifty years old, and the F-16 is well into its forties. By the standards of all previous fighter generations, these jets have been serving anywhere three to five times as long as expected. And these jets pull high Gs every time they fly, shooting their cannons, which are extremely hard on airframe components. 

These two jets are just one small component of the U.S. military fleet, but the example is valid across all of the fleets. The aircraft are getting old. Really, really old. Many of the mainline aircraft designs (and a number of the airframes themselves) are Vietnam War relics. CH-47 heavy-lift helicopters operated throughout most of that war, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. UH-60 Blackhawks have been in continuous service as the main Army medium-lift helicopter since 1979. 

We are still supporting a broad aircraft fleet that is getting extremely old (the Air Force fleet averaged 29.4 years old in 2021), and their initial supplies of OEM parts have long run out. What are the options, then?       

What Is The Defense Reutilization Management Office (DRMO)?

Before we explore the options for providing parts for military aircraft, there is still more to the story. 

Unfortunately, it has to do with mismanagement of parts. In 1997, the Government Accountability Office conducted an extensive survey of military aircraft parts. We are the largest exporter of military equipment in the world, including mass amounts of parts along with the initial aircraft or vehicle. 

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In 1996, the DoD sold roughly 3.3 million usable parts to the public via surplus sales. While this brought in over $2 billion, this is not necessarily a win for the military. Many of the aircraft that were in service in 1996 are still in service, though, which begs the question:

Are Good Parts Being Sent to Scrap?

Are good parts going to scrap or sold when needed in the supply chain? Undeniably yes. See, the aircraft in use in 1996 are largely still in use today. Most of them were already getting old by then and were due to be replaced immediately or soon. But then they weren’t removed from service. These same aircraft, or later versions of the same aircraft, are still in service today, but those parts are long gone. 

“Our work also showed that DOD could have purchased or repaired fewer aircraft parts if it would have recalled the needed parts from the disposal process. For example, the Army could have reduced current and planned purchases by about $200,000 by using Cobra helicopter parts scheduled for destruction, DOD regulations require the military services to know which parts they have placed in the disposal process. However, interface problems between service and disposal office computer systems precluded the services from knowing what parts were at the disposal offices. The military services had not instituted alternative ways to obtain this information on a routine basis.”

This excerpt explains many of the woes with the military supply chain. Repairable parts were being sent out through DRMO channels and sold to civilian markets. And if this was happening in the 1990s, it most likely continued through the 2000s and to the present day. So we have a full-blown military aircraft parts crisis because so many were listed as “surplus” when they should have been warehoused for later use. 

So, What Can Be Done?

One option is to re-procure parts that have been sold to civilian markets. The NSN and part numbers for these parts have not changed, so if they are being warehoused somewhere by private parties, they can be sourced and procured again. Another option is the Useable Service Materials (USM) model, which commercial air carriers have used for decades but have not adopted by the military. 

Greenwood Aerospace operates an elite parts procurement program driven by our proprietary GPIQ software. If a part is available, we will find it and procure it. If warehousing is an issue for your mission, we will handle that as well in our 42,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Ponca City, Oklahoma. 

We understand that the U.S. military's supply chain is in dire straights, and we are here to help. If you have any questions, give us a call! If you already know what you need, you can start an online quote now!