USAF adopts predictive maintenance AI tools to speed sustainment efforts

PW F100-PW220U engine (Janes/Patrick Allen)

Predictive maintenance tools are being incorporated as part of a “digital ecosystem to speed outcomes and drive readiness”, John R. Sneden, portfolio acquisition executive for the Propulsion Directorate at Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Air Force Materiel Command, said during a media roundtable in Dayton, Ohio.

“They're typically in places where you have a commercial style of engine and they've also been using that type of instrument on the commercial side and we're also the benefactor of that,” he told Janes on 27 July at the 2026 AFLCMC Life Cycle Industry Days (LCID) event.

Sneden told reporters that his office uses “a reliability-centred maintenance software” built off of an “advanced algorithm that uses all the data from our legacy of sustaining these systems and is used to help drive outcomes.”

He told reporters that his office is using the software for equipment like the General Electric J85 engine, the legacy Allison T56 C-130 engine, and the Pratt & Whitney F100 engine, saying “we're continuing to push that forward and use big data, analytics to drive the right outcomes for the maintainer and keep our platforms ready”.

Sneden added, “The other big piece that we're looking for AI to come through is it actually helped us with supply chain management opportunities.”

“When you overhaul a propulsion system, you're literally talking about thousands of these parts,” he continued, referring to supply chain management as a “new and upcoming area” for his office. “How do you surveil the contractors in an appropriate way to make sure that they're doing what they need to do to deliver those components?”

Sneden told Janes