By Paul Salmon FCILT, FSCM,FCMI
Introduction
In Defence supply chains, some of the most decisive choices are not about strategy, firepower, or procurement — they are about repair. Specifically, where, when, and how a piece of equipment should be fixed.
These choices are rarely visible to commanders or policymakers, but they ripple across every aspect of the force: from how fast a vehicle is returned to action, to how much the Ministry of Defence spends on spare parts, to how resilient the supply chain is in contested operations.
At the heart of these decisions is Level of Repair Analysis (LORA), a structured process that determines whether a component should be repaired at the frontline, in an intermediate workshop, or back at depot/industry. It may sound like technical detail buried in logistics doctrine, but in reality, LORA is one of the hidden levers of supply chain optimisation.
What is LORA?
Level of Repair Analysis (LORA) is part of the Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) toolkit. It is a methodology used to evaluate:
Where equipment should be repaired (frontline, intermediate, depot, or industry). Whether it is more efficient to repair or replace. The cost, risk, and availability trade-offs of those decisions.
At its core, LORA answers a deceptively simple question:
👉 Should we fix this forward, or send it back?
But behind that simplicity lies a complex cost-benefit analysis. LORA evaluates manpower skills, spares availability, transportation capacity, turnaround times, resilience in contested environments, and through-life costs.
Why LORA Matters to the Defence Supply Chain
1. Maximising Availability
Operational effectiveness depends on having equipment ready at the point of need. A poor repair strategy means vehicles, ships, or aircraft sit idle awaiting parts or lengthy returns. LORA ensures that the repair policy aligns with the fastest path to restoring availability.
2. Controlling Costs
Through-life costs in Defence are dominated by sustainment, not acquisition. Repairing everything at depot is costly, while repairing too much forward requires a heavy footprint of tools, test equipment, and training. LORA balances these trade-offs, finding the “sweet spot” between cost and readiness.
3. Shaping Inventory and Spares
LORA decisions ripple into inventory management. If a component is designated as “replace forward, repair rear,” then frontline units only need to hold spares, not repair kits. This prevents overstocking the wrong items in the wrong locations.
4. Designing the Supply Chain Backbone
The outputs of LORA drive supply chain design: what gets transported, how often, and to where. In other words, LORA is not just an engineering tool — it is a logistics blueprint.
5. Determining Skills and Training Pipelines
Where repairs are performed dictates who needs what skills. Push repairs forward, and soldiers require advanced technical training. Centralise them, and expertise can be concentrated in specialist hubs.
6. Resilience in Contested Logistics
Modern warfare does not guarantee safe and open supply lines. LORA can deliberately bias decisions toward forward repair to reduce reliance on vulnerable global shipping routes. It is therefore central to designing supply chains that can survive disruption.
7. Enabling Digital Modelling and Simulation
Modern logistics depends on predictive models, simulation environments, and optimisation tools. These rely on accurate LORA data to forecast spares needs, evaluate availability, and test the resilience of supply chain designs. Without robust LORA, the digital backbone of support planning collapses.
A Practical Example: The Vehicle ECU
Consider a vehicle’s electronic control unit (ECU):
Frontline: Swap it out for a spare. The vehicle returns to action within hours. Intermediate Workshop: Conduct diagnostics and circuit-level repairs using specialist test equipment. Depot/Industry: Perform full rebuilds and testing with cost-intensive facilities.
LORA formalises this decision chain, ensuring each level is provisioned and trained appropriately. Without it, there is a risk of over-engineering solutions, misallocating resources, and leaving operational commanders without reliable support.
Lessons from Operations
Iraq and Afghanistan (2000s)
In the early stages of operations, many components were shipped back to the UK for repair, creating bottlenecks and lengthy turnaround times. LORA-informed reviews shifted simple repairs into-theatre and encouraged frontline swaps, which dramatically improved equipment availability.
Ukraine (2022–present)
Ukraine demonstrates the pressures of contested logistics. Western partners supplying equipment must decide what can be repaired forward in-country and what must be shipped back. LORA principles underpin these decisions, balancing resilience against industrial capacity.
LORA in the Digital Age
Traditionally, LORA was conducted with spreadsheets and manual cost models. Today, Defence benefits from far more sophisticated digital approaches.
Simulation Environments: Logistics planners can test thousands of “what if” repair strategies across entire fleets before committing resources. Digital Twins: Virtual replicas of equipment now model failure, repair, and logistics flows in real time, with LORA logic embedded. Predictive Analytics: Data-driven forecasting allows logisticians to stage spares and repair resources in anticipation of failure, not just in response to it.
This integration is crucial as Defence moves towards data-driven supply chain control towers and federated modelling.
Common Challenges
While powerful, LORA is not without pitfalls:
Over-Engineering: Analysis paralysis can slow decisions when rapid fielding is required. Poor Data: Garbage in, garbage out. If failure rates or cost assumptions are wrong, LORA outputs mislead. One-Size-Fits-All: Different theatres may demand different repair strategies. A LORA optimised for peacetime cost-efficiency may not survive contested logistics. Neglecting People: LORA must consider the human dimension. Skills pipelines and workforce sustainability are often overlooked.
The Future of LORA
Looking forward, LORA will evolve alongside Defence’s shift to digital, sustainable, and adaptive supply chains.
AI-Enabled Decisions: Machine learning will refine repair policies dynamically, based on real-world performance data. Resilience over Cost: Future LORA will deliberately prioritise contested logistics survivability over pure financial optimisation. Circular Economy: As Defence embraces sustainability, LORA will increasingly consider recycling, remanufacture, and second-life strategies. Integrated Partnerships: Defence and industry repair networks will need harmonised LORA outputs to ensure interoperability and supply chain sovereignty.
Conclusion
Level of Repair Analysis may sound like an obscure logistics tool, but it is nothing less than a strategic enabler. It shapes equipment availability, through-life cost, supply chain resilience, and even the skills pipeline for future logisticians.
Without LORA, Defence risks making arbitrary repair decisions that drive up costs and reduce readiness. With LORA, it has a disciplined, data-driven approach that ensures the right repair happens in the right place, at the right time, for the right cost.
In an age of contested logistics and tight Defence budgets, the question “Fix forward or send back?” is no longer just a technical detail. It is a matter of strategic importance.
LORA is the hidden lever that keeps the Defence supply chain optimised, effective, and ready.
