INTRODUCTION

Research and development are not new to the Navy. As long ago as 1813, Secretary of the Navy William Jones took a great interest in technical problems. He approved Uriah Brown's submarine, and gave Robert Fulton financial assistance in the development of a torpedo, a bulletproof boat, and the steam frigate Demologos.

In 1830 the Depot of Charts and Instruments was established in the Department to carry on observations in astronomy, magnetism, and meteorology. In 1838 the Navy sent out its first exploring expedition, under Lt. Charles Wilkes. In 1840 a joint board of Army and Navy officers was appointed to supervise the experiments of Edwin A. and John C. Stevens in developing laminated armor. In 1841 Congress appropriated $50,000 for testing improvements in naval ordnance. In 1842 Congress appropriated $15,000 for continuing Col. Samuel Colt's experiments on an electrically-detonated torpedo, with which Colt succeeded in destroying a schooner five miles away, and a 300 ton brig in New York harbor.

In 1879 the Navy allocated $2,000 for experiments to determine the velocity of light. With the funds so provided, Master A. A. Michelson, USN, completed development of his phototachometer, conducted measurements from Fort Whipple (now Fort Myer, Virginia) to the Naval Observatory and to the foot of the Washington Monument, and determined the velocity of light to an accuracy of 1 part in 10,000. From this noteworthy beginning, Michelson went on to become the first American Nobel Prize winner in physics.

* Prepared by Robert S. Pasley, formerly Counsel, Office of Naval Research; now Assistant General Council.

Under a series of large contracts placed in the '80s and '90s with Bethlehem Steel Company, Carnegie, Phipps and Company, and others, the Navy was instrumental in developing a domestic steel armor and heavy ordnance industry, freeing the nation from its dependence on foreign sources for these supplies. Under these contracts, the Creusot method of manufacturing steel plate was developed, the Harveyized steel plate introduced, and other substantial improvements in the processing of armor plate were brought about.

In 1885 Secretary of the Navy William C. Whitney made this significant statement:

"A naval véssel at the present moment is a product of science. Taking the world over, it will be found that each part of her-her armor, her armament, her power, her form, and the distribution of her parts or characteristics— each of these features of the completed vessel is absorbing from year to year the exclusive study of a class of scientific men. And as men of science throughout the world are continually stimulated to new discoveries and inventions, no vessel that can be built can be considered a finality in any particular.

"The problem of keeping pace with the march of improvement in these lines of industry is one of incalculable difficulty; and yet unless the Government is prepared to avail itself promptly of all the improvements that are made in the construction and equipment of its ships, its expenditures are largely useless.

"It is of little service to a nation to have any navy at all unless it is a fair expression of the highest scientific resources of its day. The destructive power of the modern implements has become so great as to dominate in actual warfare. The bravest and best commander is helpless without them.

"For the construction and maintenance of such a navy we have made little provision." (Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy for the Fiscal Year 1885, pp. XXXIIIXXXIV.)

Except for the last sentence, Secretary Whitney's statement is as true in 1949 as it was in 1885. The Navy today is very much alive to the necessity of scientific research and development. The President's budget for the fiscal year 1950 allocates approximately $200,000,000 for these purposes within the Navy. Since most of this work is done under contract with outside agencies, the Navy lawyer must be thoroughly familiar with contracting procedures for research and development.

AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

PRIOR TO WAR

Prior to World War II, authority to conduct naval research and development was implied from the general procurement authority of the Navy Department and the Bureaus, and from the purposes set forth in the annual appropriation acts. Reliance was placed on the general rule that an appropriation to accomplish a specific purpose is available for all expenditures which are essential to the accomplishment of the objects for which it is made.1

Gradually, however, the appropriation acts began to carry language specifying research, experimental or development work as one of the objects for which funds were being appropriated. Such language took a wide variety of forms: "research and other necessary work... for the benefit of the naval service" (Naval Research Laboratory); "experimental, developmental, and research work" (Maintenance, Bureau of Ships); "developing and... research incidental thereto... ordnance supplies, material, and equipment for Navy purposes"; (Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, Navy). Many of these stock clauses are still used in current appropriation acts.

Substantive authority, of a sort, for research and development may be found in Section 10(k) of the Air Corps Act of 1926 (44 Stat.

122 Op. Atty. Gen. 665 (1899); 2 C. G. 133 (1922); 17 C. G. 636 (1938).

784, 10 U. S. Code 310) which authorized the purchase of designs, aircraft, aircraft parts and aeronautical accessories necessary for experimental purposes in the development of aircraft, aircraft parts and aeronautical accessories of the best kind for the Army or the Navy. Similarly, the statute establishing the Ship Model Basin (Act of May 6, 1936, c. 333, 5 U. S. Code 430a), authorized the Bureau of Ships to "conduct the work of investigating and determining the most suitable and desirable shapes and forms to be adopted for United States vessels, including aircraft and the investigation of other problems of ship design."

Generally speaking, however, pre-war authority for research and development contracting was scattered, haphazard, and vague. DURING THE WAR

The First War Powers Act (Act of December 18, 1941, c. 593, 55 Stat. 838, 50 U. S. Code App. 601-616), in Title II, provided that the President might "authorize any department or agency of the Government exercising functions in connection with the prosecution of the war effort, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the President..., to enter into contracts... without regard to the provisions of law relating to the making... of contracts whenever he deemed such action would facilitate the prosecution of the war."

Executive Order 9001, 27 December 1941, which implemented Title II of the First War Powers Act, specifically covered contracts for "all types and kinds of things and services necessary, appropriate or convenient for the prosecution of the war, or for the invention, development, or production of, or research concerning any such things."

Practically all research and development contracts placed by the Navy during World War II were made under the authority of this statute and executive order. It is arguable, however, whether the First War Powers Act conferred any substantive authority to make contracts, beyond that already in existence, or whether it was merely a procedural statute which freed the war agencies from the more important peacetime restrictions, such as the statute requiring competitive bidding (R. S. 3709, 41 (U. S. Code 5).

INTRODUCTION

Research and development are not new to the Navy. As long ago as 1813, Secretary of the Navy William Jones took a great interest in technical problems. He approved Uriah Brown's submarine, and gave Robert Fulton financial assistance in the development of a torpedo, a bulletproof boat, and the steam frigate Demologos.

In 1830 the Depot of Charts and Instruments was established in the Department to carry on observations in astronomy, magnetism, and meteorology. In 1838 the Navy sent out its first exploring expedition, under Lt. Charles Wilkes. In 1840 a joint board of Army and Navy officers was appointed to supervise the experiments of Edwin A. and John C. Stevens in developing laminated armor. In 1841 Congress appropriated $50,000 for testing improvements in naval ordnance. In 1842 Congress appropriated $15,000 for continuing Col. Samuel Colt's experiments on an electrically-detonated torpedo, with which Colt succeeded in destroying a schooner five miles away, and a 300 ton brig in New York harbor.

In 1879 the Navy allocated $2,000 for experiments to determine the velocity of light. With the funds so provided, Master A. A. Michelson, USN, completed development of his phototachometer, conducted measurements from Fort Whipple (now Fort Myer, Virginia) to the Naval Observatory and to the foot of the Washington Monument, and determined the velocity of light to an accuracy of 1 part in 10,000. From this noteworthy beginning, Michelson went on to become the first American Nobel Prize winner in physics.

* Prepared by Robert S. Pasley, formerly Counsel, Office of Naval Research; now Assistant General Council.

Under a series of large contracts placed in the '80s and '90s with Bethlehem Steel Company, Carnegie, Phipps and Company, and others, the Navy was instrumental in developing a domestic steel armor and heavy ordnance industry, freeing the nation from its dependence on foreign sources for these supplies. Under these contracts, the Creusot method of manufacturing steel plate was developed, the Harveyized steel plate introduced, and other substantial improvements in the processing of armor plate were brought about.

In 1885 Secretary of the Navy William C. Whitney made this significant statement:

"A naval vessel at the present moment is a product of science. Taking the world over, it will be found that each part of her-her armor, her armament, her power, her form, and the distribution of her parts or characteristicseach of these features of the completed vessel is absorbing from year to year the exclusive study of a class of scientific men. And as men of science throughout the world are continually stimulated to new discoveries and inventions, no vessel that can be built can be considered a finality in any particular.

"The problem of keeping pace with the march of improvement in these lines of industry is one of incalculable difficulty; and yet unless the Government is prepared to avail itself promptly of all the improvements that are made in the construction and equipment of its ships, its expenditures are largely useless.

"It is of little service to a nation to have any navy at all unless it is a fair expression of the highest scientific resources of its day. The destructive power of the modern implements has become so great as to dominate in actual warfare. The bravest and best commander is helpless without them.

"For the construction and maintenance of such a navy we have made little provision." (Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy for the Fiscal Year 1885, pp. XXXIIIXXXIV.)

Except for the last sentence, Secretary Whitney's statement is as true in 1949 as it was in 1885. The Navy today is very much alive to the necessity of scientific research and development. The President's budget for the fiscal year 1950 allocates approximately $200,000,000 for these purposes within the Navy. Since most of this work is done under contract with outside agencies, the Navy lawyer must be thoroughly familiar with contracting procedures for research and development.

AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

PRIOR TO WAR

Prior to World War II, authority to conduct naval research and development was implied from the general procurement authority of the Navy Department and the Bureaus, and from the purposes set forth in the annual appropriation acts. Reliance was placed on the general rule that an appropriation to accomplish a specific purpose is available for all expenditures which are essential to the accomplishment of the objects for which it is made.1

Gradually, however, the appropriation acts began to carry language specifying research, experimental or development work as one of the objects for which funds were being appropriated. Such language took a wide variety of forms: "research and other necessary work... for the benefit of the naval service" (Naval Research Laboratory); "experimental, developmental, and research work" (Maintenance, Bureau of Ships); "developing and... research incidental thereto... ordnance supplies, material, and equipment for Navy purposes"; (Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, Navy). Many of these stock clauses are still used in current appropriation acts.

Substantive authority, of a sort, for research and development may be found in Section 10(k) of the Air Corps Act of 1926 (44 Stat.

122 Op. Atty. Gen. 665 (1899); 2 C. G. 133 (1922); 17 C. G. 636 (1938).

784, 10 U. S. Code 310) which authorized the purchase of designs, aircraft, aircraft parts and aeronautical accessories necessary for experimental purposes in the development of aircraft, aircraft parts and aeronautical accessories of the best kind for the Army or the Navy. Similarly, the statute establishing the Ship Model Basin (Act of May 6, 1936, c. 333, 5 U. S. Code 430a), authorized the Bureau of Ships to "conduct the work of investigating and determining the most suitable and desirable shapes and forms to be adopted for United States vessels, including aircraft and the investigation of other problems of ship design.”

Generally speaking, however, pre-war authority for research and development contracting was scattered, haphazard, and vague. DURING THE WAR

The First War Powers Act (Act of December 18, 1941, c. 593, 55 Stat. 838, 50 U. S. Code App. 601-616), in Title II, provided that the President might "authorize any department or agency of the Government exercising functions in connection with the prosecution of the war effort, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the President..., to enter into contracts... without regard to the provisions of law relating to the making... of contracts whenever he deemed such action would facilitate the prosecution of the war."

Executive Order 9001, 27 December 1941, which implemented Title II of the First War Powers Act, specifically covered contracts for "all types and kinds of things and services necessary, appropriate or convenient for the prosecution of the war, or for the invention, development, or production of, or research concerning any such things."

Practically all research and development contracts placed by the Navy during World War II were made under the authority of this statute and executive order. It is arguable, however, whether the First War Powers Act conferred any substantive authority to make contracts, beyond that already in existence, or whether it was merely a procedural statute which freed the war agencies from the more important peacetime restrictions, such as the statute requiring competitive bidding (R. S. 3709, 41 (U. S. Code 5).

SINCE V-J DAY

Two important statutes passed since V-J Day have had a direct effect on the Navy's research and development contracting: the Act of August 1, 1946, and the Armed Services Procurement Act of 1947.

The Act of August 1, 1946 (60 Stat. 779, 5 U. S. Code 475) established the Office of Naval Research in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. It authorized the Secretary of the Navy and, by direction of the Secretary, the Chief of Naval Research and the chiefs of the Bureaus, to enter into contracts, and amendments or modifications thereof, for services and materials necessary for the making and securing of reports, tests, models, apparatus, and for the conducting of research, without regard to the statutes requiring competitive bidding and without regard to certain other statutory requirements, and to make advance, progress, and other payments with respect to such contracts.

By directive dated 21 August 1946, issued under the authority of this statute, the Secretary of the Navy authorized the Chief of Naval Research to negotiate, enter into, and execute contracts, and amendments and modifications of contracts, for services and materials necessary for the making and securing of reports, tests, models, apparatus, and for the conducting of research. Similar authority was not, however, conferred upon the chiefs of the Bureaus, and the latter continued to place contracts for research and development under the authority of the First War Powers Act and Executive Order 9001, until the passage of the Armed Services Procurement Act of 1947.

The latter statute became effective 19 May 1948 (62 Stat. 21, 41 U. S. Code 151). It gave specific recognition to contracts for experimental, developmental, or research work by providing that such contracts could be placed by negotiation as opposed to advertising. This authority also included contracts for the manufacture or furnishing of supplies for experimentation, development, research, or test. (Section 2 (c) (11).)

Section 2 (c) (5) of the same Act authorizes negotiation (as opposed to advertising) of contracts for any service to be rendered by any

university, college, or other educational institution. Under the Armed Services Procurement Regulation of 19 May 1948 such contracts may be for experimental, developmental, or research work, and reports furnished in connection therewith.

The relation between the Act of August 1, 1946, and the Procurement Act is far from clear. This much, however, can be said:

1. The Procurement Act did not repeal the Act of August 1, 1946. The latter is not included among the statutes specifically repealed, and the Committee reports show that Congress did not intend its repeal.

2. The Procurement Act relates only to contracting procedures. It does not confer substantive authority to contract for research or development.

3. Such substantive authority must be found elsewhere, e.g., the Act of 1 August 1946, so far as the Office of Naval Research is concerned, or the statutes establishing the Navy Department and the various Bureaus. And of course, authority to place contracts for research and development is necessarily inferred from the appropriations which are made for those pur

poses.

ORGANIZATION FOR RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT

For a complete understanding of Navy research contracting, some knowledge of the Navy Department's organization for research and development is indispensable. This may be considered under four headings:

Research and Development Board of the N.M.E.

Naval Research Advisory Committee. Navy Research and Development Review Board.

ONR and the Bureaus.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD

At a top policy level we find the Research and Development Board, established in the National Military Establishment by Section 214 of the National Security Act of 1948 (61 Stat. 499, 5 U. S. Code 171 i). This Board comprises a civilian Chairman, appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and two