What is the focus of sustainment operations during the Operations and Support phase?

• A. Creating new requirements
• B. Phase out older components
• C. Executing the sustainment program and making adjustments based on effectiveness and operating conditions using systems engineering principles
• D. Decommissioning the system

Answer: (C)

The focus during the Operations and Support phase is to keep the system performing as intended by actively executing the sustainment program and making adjustments based on how well the system works in real use, using systems engineering principles to guide those changes. This means ongoing maintenance, supply and support activities, training, updates, and modifications are managed in a structured way, with feedback from performance data driving improvements. The goal is to sustain capability and reliability over time, not to design new requirements or retire components.

Creating new requirements typically happens earlier in the acquisition life cycle when defining what the system should do. Phasing out older components and decommissioning are retirement activities tied to ending or replacing the system, not the ongoing sustainment focus.