76TH CONGRESS 1st Session } SENATE { REPORT No. 245 PROCUREMENT, WITHOUT ADVERTISING, OF CERTAIN AIRCRAFT PARTS, ETC. APRIL 3, 1939.-Ordered to be printed Mr. LOGAN, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1018] The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1018) to authorize the procurement, without advertising, of certain aircraft parts and instruments or aeronautical accessories, and for other purposes, having considered the same, submit the following report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass. Proposed legislation S. 1018, is recommended for enactment by the War Department. It is designed to authorize the Chief of the Air Corps, when inviting proposals for the furnishing of aircraft parts or instruments or aeronautical accessories for the War Department, the character of which, or the ingredients thereof are of a secret nature, to purchase such articles in such manner as he may deem most economical and efficient. The proposed legislation, if enacted, will not effect any modification of the Act of July 2, 1926 (44 Stat. 780), or authorize the open-market purchase of airplanes for purposes other than as provided in said act. Its only effect will be to exempt articles of aircraft subject to the description from the requirements of existing law reference advertising when resort is made for their procurement. The Air Corps through its experimental and testing facilities at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, and in cooperation with the aeronautical industry, is constantly developing items of aeronautical equipment which operate materially to enhance the prestige of the United States from a standpoint of national defense. Superiority in any development can be maintained only so long as its exclusive use in any particular can be controlled. Some measure of protection for aeronautical developments of a secret nature is found in section 10 (k) of the act of July 2, 1926, supra, whereunder procurements of aircraft parts and aeronautical accessories may be made in limited quantities for experimental purposes only. However, after their development and reduction to practice procurements in quantity must be consummated subject to advertisement for bids in open competition in accordance with Section 3709 Revised Statutes unless saved from such requirement by circumstances clearly indicating the impracticability of such procedure as a prerequisite to procurement. It follows therefore that the requirements of existing law reference advertising for bids compel a full public disclosure of the Government's requirements, including detail plans and specifications. This feature of the law is objectionable to the War Department insofar as it applies to items of aircraft within the description which are affected by a status of secrecy. The proposed legislation is similar in all essential respects to statutory authority given the Ordnance Department, act of May 11, 1908 (35 Stat. 125), and the Chemical Warfare Service and Signal Corps, act of May 15, 1936 (49 Stat. 1277). For reasons no less convincing like authority should be vested in the Chief of the Air Corps. The proposed legislation will remove the handicap of existing law in the procurement of aircraft parts, instruments and aeronautical accessories, requires no appropriation of funds for its application and is firmly believed to be in the best interest of the public service. 76TH CONGRESS 1st Session SENATE { REPORT No. 246 PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES FOR EXPERIMENTAL AND TEST PURPOSES APRIL 3, 1939.-Ordered to be printed Mr. LOGAN, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1020] · The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1020) to authorize the purchase of equipment and supplies for experimental and test purposes, having considered the same, submit the following report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass: This bill is recommended for enactment into law by the War Department. The intent and purpose of the bill is to extend the authority now accorded the Secretary of War under section 10 (k) of the Air Corps Act of July 2, 1926, to apply to the Signal Corps, Ordnance Department, and Chemical Warfare Service. This authority, as now accorded the Secretary of War, provides for the purchase abroad or in the United States with or without competition, by contract or otherwise, such designs, aircraft, aircraft parts, or aeronautical accessories as may be necessary for experimental purposes in the development of aircraft or aircraft accessories of the best kind for the Army. The views of the War Department on this bill are summarized as follows: The question at issue has a direct bearing on the costs and time involved in the development of standard equipment and supplies required for the national defense. The need for this authority is considered most urgent for those developing services which develop equipment and supplies largely noncommercial in character; i. e., the Air Corps, Ordnance Department, Signal Corps, and Chemical Warfare Service. At the present time, based on a decision by the Comptroller General, all services except the Air Corps are restricted to the purchase of one item only for development and experimental purposes. This restriction prevents the procurement of sufficient items for service test to prove the value of the item for service use; it prevents the procurement of at least one item from two or more manufacturers whose products show equal promise of meeting a requirement; it is expensive, as all development costs have to be amortized in one item instead of being spread over several; the time of development is often increased as sufficient items for service test cannot be procured and not enough data are available from one item to base final specifications for standard quantity procurement. о |