Minimising the costs of reconnaissance at Air Force Base Makhado

Abstract

With the increasing costs of reconnaissance at Air Force Base Makhado, they have requested for a solution that will reduce these reconnaissance missions’ costs. After taking a close look at the costs involved in successfully completing any reconnaissance mission , it was seen that the costs of the film imagery system is the biggest contributor of costs to these missions. It is therefore proposed that the digital imagery system be replaced with the digital imagery system. An extensive literature study was conducted to gather information that would help in the understanding of the problem and the environment it is in. it also describes the different alternatives for both the current film imagery system and the proposed digital imagery system. The chosen method to compare these two alternatives is a cost benefit analysis (CBA). A cost benefit analysis was conducted for both alternatives and this will help us determine whether the proposed digital system is worthwhile or not. The results from the completed CBA show an Internal Rate of Return of 96%. This indicates that the film system should indeed be replaced by a digital system. If the proposed system is implemented, the SAAF could save a total of R94 423 971 from the 20 years of the digital system life. The risk analysis performed on the digital system shows that the risks associated with this system could easily be reduced by proper risk management. The different risks are listed and an appropriate action plan on how to reduce these risks is given.