KAITSEVÄE MAISMAASÕIDUKITE ELUTSÜKLI KULUMUDEL

Life-Cycle Cost Model for Land Vehicles in the Estonian Defence Forces

Abstract

This article describes a new cost estimation model that can be used for decision-making in the procurement of next generation land vehicles for the Estonian Defence Forces. The analysis revealed that the cost model focuses on two functions – on the one hand, it is a practical decision-making tool for planning processes and, on the other hand, it is also an excellent fiscal tool for analysing total life-cycle costs and for assessing sustainability and risks. In the end, the cost model criteria and desired outputs were combined with all the necessary data sources. Based on these three inputs, a new cost estimation model was devised in line with expert recommendations. The proposed MS Excel spreadsheet-based cost model takes into account all the costs that experts deemed necessary and gives numerical values for all the required outputs. By utilising the proposed cost model, the Estonian Defence Forces could improve the quality of the data needed in capacity planning for the procurement of land vehicles for the next ten-year period.