Electronics & Defense

We provide maintenance for our systems and equipment throughout their lifespan. Our services are organized to ensure the long-term viability of your equipment and associated documents throughout their operating life: obsolescence tracking, updating of publications, skills maintenance, software updating, telediagnostics / telemaintenance, etc.

Software downloads

Available via our service portal, the software download service gives you online access to the latest software for your equipment or maintenance tools. These downloads are accessible simultaneously at all of your facilities, for greater flexibility in upgrading your entire equipment fleet.

Troubleshooting / Remote diagnostics / Telemaintenance

Troubleshooting is more than ever a key to equipment availability, whether on operation site or on maintenance site:

• Traditional solutions, based on built-in test equipment and technical publications;
• Innovative telemaintenance solutions, whereby our specialists can use special systems to access your equipment remotely, quickly diagnose the problem and help you resolve it.
• BITE analysis
• Faulty SRU identification
• System interface diagnostic
• Software update

Benefits:

• Expertise availability: the customer has immediate access to Safran Electronics and Defense product/equipment experts.
• Performance: elimination of useless factory returns with no fault found (NFF). Reduction of downtime and availability enhancement. Direct reading of BIT results. Product/equipment internal states analysis for SRU isolation. Online communication between customer and Safran Electronics and Defense technicians.
• Practical: available access through Internet or SatLink from customer premises or from operational deployment areas.
• Secure: remote diagnostic and troubleshooting features only connect to the product/equipment through a dedicated interface giving access only to maintenance data. The customer can control the sending of images of sensors.
• Cost-effectiveness: drastic reduction of transportation costs and immobilisation costs.

Obsolescence tracking and management

Since our equipment may remain in service for up to 25 years, tracking obsolescence is a key to guaranteeing its long-term viability. Safran Electronics & Defense therefore offers obsolescence tracking and management services:

• Organization of tracking and issuing regular reports.
• Obsolescence management solutions, suited to each type of obsolescence:
  • Proposals for setting up buffer stocks;
  • When possible, proposing equivalent replacement components (Fit, Form, Function), without requiring additional qualification;
  • Proposal for a modification to maintain the functionality that is impacted;
  • Upgrade proposal (or extensive modernization) if a given function becomes too obsolescent.

Safran Electronics & Defense includes as a recurrent activity obsolescence tracking. Obsolescence tracking includes activities necessary to detect obsolescence onto the materials of the systems and to propose solutions for treatment of this obsolescence.

Obsolescence can have different sources:

• Loss of a supplier,
• Evolution of technology,
• End of manufacturing,
• End of technical support and maintenance.

Then obsolescence risk level is defined according to the obsolescence level defined below:

• Already noticed,
• Announced by future Last Buy Order (LBO),
• Declared on short term,
• Declared on long term.

According to the risk level, obsolescence state and its criticality is analysed taking into account:

• Provisioning source state (several suppliers available, no source available),
• Existing of equivalent components (fully equivalent, nearly, redevelopment).

Different types of solution can be proposed, with a main objective for Safran Electronics & Defense proposing solution keeping FIT/FORM and FUNCTION compatibility:

• Treatment of the obsolescence by immediate substitution in the frame of non-recurrent activities,
• Purchasing of a strategic stock of obsolete LRUs / SRUs in order to cover future failures during the life of the systems in the frame of non-recurrent activities,
• Proposal for an Engineering Change in order to solve the obsolescence (ECP procedure).

Failure management

As soon as a technical event occurs, Safran Electronics & Defense helps you implement the best possible solution to ensure optimum dispatch reliability. Our support services call on our top specialists and technical experts, who help you gather information, analyse the data and handle these technical events.

Feedback from these events enables Safran Electronics & Defense to design ever-more reliable products, and reflects our emphasis on continuous improvement.

FAILURE & INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

The maintenance feedback is an essential task of the In-Service Support and permits to evaluate and assess performance, effectiveness, operations, maintenance, and logistic support capability, for both the systems themselves and the system support. The results lead directly to identify how to improve the availability of the complete system.

Failures are recorded in the Safran Electronics & Defense technical data bases. Then they investigated according to Safran Electronics & Defense standards. These standards include:

• Seriousness/gravity assessment of the technical event,
• Safety impact analysis of the technical event,
• Origin identification of the technical events,
• Decision about physical equipment and definition change.

INCIDENT & ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

Safran Electronics & Defense offers any necessary assessment in case of accident.

In such case, Safran Electronics & Defense will provide on site investigations and expertise.

These investigations will include:

• Operation data analysis,
• Component fault investigation,
• Tear down inspection of system,
• Written analysis report detailing tests undertaken and possible reasons for failure.

Logistics supports analysis data management

Technical events will be identified and completed thanks to:

• System repair information,
• LRU repair information,
• Safran Electronics & Defense expertise results,
• Helpdesk answers,
• Safety conclusion (ASB/SB/SIL). For technical events involving safety of personnel and material, analysis will follow a shorter way. Deep analysis lead by experts will be carried out to ensure no reproducibility,
• Safran Electronics & Defense proposition for definition change.

All these information are recorded in Safran Electronics & Defense technical database to be exploited by Safran Electronics & Defense to optimise preventive maintenance plans.

CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

The Configuration Management activity handled by Safran Electronics & Defense includes:

• Configuration management,
• Configuration recording.

Safran Electronics & Defense differentiates different statuses of configuration:

• Configuration identification,
• Reference configuration. This configuration corresponds to the Definition file,
• Applicable configuration. This configuration corresponds to the reference configuration improved with identified changes in definition,
• Realised or Produced Configuration. This configuration includes the Applicable configuration amended with deviations or discrepancies,
• As Maintained Configuration - This configuration corresponds to the realised configuration modified while implementation of ASB/SB/SIL. The as-maintained configuration reference is the customer responsibility. It shall be recorded at least in subsystems logbooks and be known by Safran Electronics & Defense to support the systems.

Safran Electronics & Defense understands that an important objective for the customer is to have a homogeneous fleet, that is to say:

• Spare parts stocks are available for any system which means that no dedicated spares for a configuration of a system,
• Any subsystems are interchangeable between all systems.

This implies to Safran Electronics & Defense the necessity to preserve a definition that always FIT, FORM and FUNCTION, whatever definition change may be due to treatment of:

• Obsolescence when fit/form/function solution is available,
• Selected technical events with safety involvement limited to exceptional cases.

Configuration is defined by a list of articles identified as « Configuration Item ». Any evolution of these articles are systematically explained and presented to the customer.

Definition preservation

FUNCTIONAL SAFETY

According to any technical events occurring during use of any system, a security analysis is carried out by Safran Electronics & Defense to highlight if the technical event implies an impact in:

• Personnel safety,
• System safety.

This service includes the writing and the issuing to the customer, for each technical event considered as safety related, of Service Bulletin or Alert Service Bulletin or Service Information Letter.

Service Bulletin (SB)

Safran Electronics & Defense issues those documents to the customer when necessary to inform the user about:

• Any additional or change in operation procedure,
• Any change in system definition.

Alert Service Bulletin (ASB)

These documents are issued by Safran Electronics & Defense to inform the Customer about:

• Any hazard or risk for system or personnel,
• Any urgent action to be implemented to limit any catastrophic consequences associated to specific failure modes.

Alert Service Bulletins are judged important to maintain the safety and a satisfactory level of security for the systems.

Service Information Letter (SIL)

Safran Electronics & Defense will issue these documents to the customer when necessary to inform the user about:

• Any additional or change about maintenance procedures,
• Other information needed to administrate and maintain the configuration of the system and that are judged important to maintain a satisfactory level of availability for the systems.

SIL are not dealing with system safety nor personnel safety and do not imply modification in systems definition.