Repair costs and false economies (was Re: Battle blimps)

Peacetime repairs count as "training". The savings in peacetime by 
outsourcing your repair work is going to be outweighed in wartime by 
having important pieces of equipment sidelined for repairs that can't be

done in the field due to a shortage of trained and experienced. If a 
component is out of service, the whole assembly is out of service until 
the component is repaired. Your serviceability rates start dropping as 
operation go on, and you start running out of available units. So you 
have to have more units available to keep an acceptable number in 
operation. And you wind up spending a lot more than doing the repairs 
yourself would have.

Not that a civilian budget specialist is likely to look that far ahead.

And this brings up interesting prospects for mercenaries ina 
 science-fiction setting: repair and logistical specialists. The loss 
rate among 'tail' units is lower, so the mercs like it, and experienced 
specialists in the supply chain can make the difference in a campaign.

As the Slammer's say, "How much does losing cost you ?"

Glenn M Wilson wrote:

>
>>
>
>I can accept that in many cases.  It is cheaper in some situations to
buy
>the repair service then to constantly retrain certain technical
personnel
>beyond a minimum number when (in peacetime at least,) you can send it
>FedEx to the maker.