ABSTRACT
Some defense products have a long operational life, which can be extended as an alternative for purchasing another new and costly one. Besides maintenance tasks, the process of extending the useful life of military systems can incorporate some engineering changes, due to new requirements, modern technologies or to solve some problems presented. In both cases, the maintenance industry needs some peculiar tools to recover the original design, to define maintenance approach and to propose changes that can affect the product and its operation and maintenance. As part of a broader research about product major overhaul, this paper presents a risk-based approach to determine whether a piece of equipment can be reused, restored or even modernized. A case is proposed to illustrate the model in the major overhaul of a howitzer. The model offers the designer a method to define maintenance process and to assess potential effects of modernization.
