October 2007 Newsletter

Senate Provides Major Funding Increases For Defense ManTech

In its FY2008 Defense Appropriations Bill, the Senate provided a total of $25 million for the new Office of Secretary of Defense Man- Tech program. This finding is $15 million above the $10 million requested by the Pentagon for the new program. However, in the process of adding the extra funds the Senate cut $5 million out of the $10 million requested for the Man- Tech line. The Senate did not specify the nature of the funding cut, but the $5 million reduction places in jeopardy the $5 million budgeted in the ManTech line for the Industry Wide Propulsion Initiative.

The Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee added two programs to the OSD ManTech line that were authorized by the Senate Armed Services Committee. $10 million was provided for High Performance Defense Manufacturing Technology Research and $10 million was provided for Disruptive Manufacturing Technologies Research. Both of these projects had support from multiple Senate offices, including senators from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island and Virginia. The Senate also provided an additional $30 million for an Industrial Base Innovation Fund which was also authorized by the Senate Armed Services Committee. On the whole, the Senate support for manufacturing technologies is good news for the advanced ceramics community. However, we are still very concerned about the risk to the Industry Wide Propulsion Initiative resulting from the Senate cut to the planned OSD ManTech program. The House of Representatives zeroed out the new OSD ManTech program and provided no funds for the other new manufacturing technology initiatives funded by the Senate. The two versions of the defense appropriations bills will be reconciled in conference committee later this year. USACA will be working to support in conference full funding for new OSD Man- Tech program and the Industry Wide Propulsion Initiative that supports work on CMCs and ceramics technology. The Senate also fully funded the Joint Strike Fighter competitive engine program. This program, also referred to as the second source engine program, provides funding for General Electric and Rolls Royce to develop the F136 alternative engine for the JSF. The Senate's decision to fully fund this program in the appropriations bill is in keeping with the sentiment expressed in the defense authorization bill earlier this year. $480 million dollars were included in the appropriations bill for the program; the sponsors of this special appropriation were Senators Bayh, Cochran, Kennedy, Leahy, McConnell, and Warner. Conference Committee on Defense Appropriations is expected in November. The House and Senate are in agreement on $480 million for the 2nd source engine, so the program should move smoothly through conference.

USACA Submits SBIR Cluster Topics on Ceramics to JSF

USACA responded in October to the invitation form Dr. Jim Alper, S&T Team Lead for the JSF, at the USACA May 2007 Technical conference to submit ideas for SBIR cluster topics related to advanced ceramics. Three topics were submitted by USACA to the JSF program office for consideration for the 2008.2 and 2008.3 SBIR solicitation rounds. USACA also understands that General Electric, Pratt and Whitney, and Rolls Royce submitted ceramics related cluster topics for consideration. The SBIR program office will review the cluster topics submitted by JSF and  we are hopefully that at least one cluster topic on ceramics will be included in one of the upcoming solicitations. USACA contacted members in September to solicit topics ideas for submission to Dr. Alper   Members responded with recommended cluster topics and the following three were submitted to JSF.

TITLE: Cost reduction for manufacturing ceramic matrix composites

DESCRIPTION: Low density and improved durability of some ceramic matrix composites make them candidate materials for designing various components for advanced military turbine engines. Because manufacturing efforts are relatively immature, this class of materials tends to be far more expensive than comparably sized metal parts. Automated methods and innovative process approaches need to be developed to minimize costs, while maintaining or improving structural properties. A detailed understanding of engine component requirements and teaming with composite manufacturers/engine designers is recommended.

TITLE: Quality Testing of Interface coated Fiber reinforcements.

DESCRIPTION: Surface coated fiber reinforcements are used to control the interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix in high-density