大多数工程技术中使用的术语往往是物理特性，如速度、转动率和油耗。虽然这些术语可能需要非常仔细地定义和控制测量它们的方式，但这些术语本身不受不同解释的约束。然而，可靠性、维修性和可保障性（RMS）使用的术语有多种解释，定义方式多种多样。在试图比较一个系统与另一个系统的性能时，对单个术语给出的各种定义会产生问题。 为了消除混淆，进行了文献检索，列出了当前和过去的RMS术语和定义。文献检索包括来自美国军方、英国军方、北约、SAE、IEEE、NASA、ISO、大学研究和其他出版物的输入。目的是从各种来源确定可靠性术语的通用定义。由于任务的性质，一些定义可能是唯一的，这一点是公认的，但组成美国汽车工程师学会可靠性委员会的政府和行业从业者坚信这一点- 11.所有硬件系统都应该有一些基本的定义。因此，2003年10月，制定和修订1995年发布的现行SAE AIR4896出版物的任务是推荐RMS条款和参数。据参与该项目的个人了解，随着RMS社区内的开发，未来版本将更新术语。由于软件可靠性的复杂性和本质，我们在本版本中明确排除了“软件可靠性”术语。本文件的未来更新将继续反映国防和商业技术与标准的融合。

The terms used in most engineering technologies tend to be physical characteristics such as speed, rate of turn, and fuel consumption. While they may require very careful definition and control of the way in which they are measured, the terms themselves are not subject to different interpretations. Reliability, Maintainability, and Supportability (RMS) however, use terms that are defined in a variety of ways with multiple interpretations.The variety of definitions given to a single term creates problems when trying to compare the performance of one system to another. To eliminate the confusion, a literature search that listed current and past RMS terms and definitions was conducted. The literature search included input from the US Military, UK Military, NATO, SAE, IEEE, NASA, ISO, University Research, and other publications. The object was to determine the common definition of Reliability Terms from a variety of sources. It is accepted that some of the definitions may be unique because of the nature of the mission, but it is the strong conviction of the Government and Industry practitioners who make up the SAE Reliability Committee under the G-11 Division that there should be some fundamental definitions used for all hardware systems.Accordingly, in October of 2003 the task of developing and revising the current SAE AIR4896 publication issued in 1995 of Recommended RMS Terms and Parameters. It is understood by individuals that participated in this project that future editions will update terminology as developments are made within the RMS community. Due to the complexity and nature of Software Reliability, we have specifically excluded "software reliability" terms from this edition. Future updates of this document will continue to reflect the converging of defense and commercial technology and standards.