System Level Warrenty Laws: Their Implications for Major USAF Weapon System Acquisitions

The issue of poor weapon system quality has recently received much media and Congressional attention. Part of the reaction to the problem of poor quality with some systems was the enactment of Public Laws P.L. 98-212 and P.L. 98-525 requiring warranties for DOD weapon systems. This thesis examined whether or not system level warranty laws would improve the quality of major USAF weapon system acquisitions. The authors focused only on major USAF weapon systems with a total acquisition value over 1 billion that were in full scale production and were under a fixed price type contract. The authors arrived at the major conclusion the system level warranty law will not substantially improve the quality of major USAF weapon system acquisitions since the USAF acquisition and logistics infrastructure is geared to components and not systems. Other factors impeding the effective implementation of the law are a poor warranty data base, no real structured way to perform warranty cost benefit analyses, unclear definition of weapon system, and the lack of effectiveness of the USAF warranty focal point i.e. the Product Performance Agreement Center PPAC. Our major recommendation is the USAF should give PPAC the necessary authority and resources to carry out its assigned mission of helping the USAF acquisition community with warranties. The USAF should also develop qualitative and quantitative warranty decision models to help analyze warranty cost-effectiveness and field personnel should be trained in their use.