Chess Dynamics, part of the Cohort Group, has introduced ChessPlus, a proactive through-life support framework designed to help defense customers anticipate future support requirements, manage operational risks, and maintain system availability.
The framework consolidates the company’s existing support activities into a coordinated approach, shifting the emphasis from traditional after-sales support toward structured support throughout the system lifecycle. ChessPlus covers the full Chess Dynamics portfolio, including the Hawkeye and SeaEagle product families, as well as systems incorporating Vision4ce real-time video and image processing technology.
By planning anticipated requirements for repairs, spares, and technical support, customers can improve predictability and reduce delays associated with individual procurement and approval processes.
The introduction comes amid growing pressure on defense organizations to sustain equipment for longer while managing supply-chain constraints, component obsolescence, and extended lead times. The National Audit Office has highlighted one example in which semiconductor delivery lead times increased from one to three weeks to more than 50 weeks, illustrating the potential delays associated with obtaining components when support requirements have not been anticipated.
Andy Smith, Managing Director of Chess Dynamics, stated, “Our customers invest in our systems because they need dependable capability that will continue to perform for many years. Protecting their investment also means thinking far ahead about how these systems will be supported during their operational lifespans.”
Smith adds, “The time to identify a component obsolescence issue or future spares requirement isn’t when it begins to affect availability. ChessPlus gives our customers a framework for planning, working in collaboration to anticipate requirements and manage risks earlier, so the capability they have invested in is mission ready when they need it.”
Through in-service monitoring, support planning, and ongoing obsolescence management, Chess Dynamics can help identify potential risks to system availability earlier and plan appropriate interventions. This includes using Data Recording, Analysis, and Corrective Action System (DRACAS) outputs alongside reliability, availability, and maintainability data to model likely demand for spares, repair activity, technical intervention, and lifecycle refresh.
Kevin Conquergood, IPT Lead at Chess Dynamics, commented, “ChessPlus is just as relevant to a new system entering service as it is to equipment that has been operating in the field for a number of years. By bringing together our technical expertise and the different areas of support we provide, we can look ahead in partnership with our customers at what may be required, adapt as circumstances and operational requirements change to give them confidence in how their capability will be supported throughout its operational life.”
Applicable to both new systems entering service and existing Chess Dynamics equipment, ChessPlus offers a modular and scalable approach tailored to individual customer, system, and operational requirements. Support packages can incorporate maintenance planning, spares provisioning, training and training support, technical and field service support, technical documentation, obsolescence management, in-service monitoring, and repairs and overhauls.
By coordinating these activities throughout the system lifecycle, the framework aims to help defense customers maintain operational availability, manage supportability risks, and protect their long-term investment in Chess Dynamics equipment.
