SD-18 "Parts Requirements and Application Guide" provides guidance when using military and commercial parts in military environments. It provides part acquisition guidelines for Program Managers, System Program Offices, and Original Equipment Manufacturers. SD-18 provides guidance on how the Department of Defense and its contractors can cooperatively select devices that will result in the lowest cost of ownership for the DoD. This was prompted by the many changes during acquisition reform in the 1990s.

The use of commercial parts and documents has increased in today's military system applications. Because the parts are not as fully characterized as the traditional military parts have been in the past, the design implications of using these parts are not well understood. Commercial parts, often have advantages in cost, size, weight, performance and availability, have attracted widespread attention for government and military applications. It is critical that we do not jeopardize performance of our weapons systems when selecting commercial parts. This guide can help in the selection of these devices.

This document is sponsored by the Defense Standardization Program Office. About ten years ago SD-18 evolved from a now canceled NAVSEA "Parts Requirements and Application Manual" TE000-AB-GTP-010 document. SD-18 is a web based only document as part of the paperless document approach.

NOTE: Please be sure to bookmark this new SD-18 site