US projects cancelled: jigs and tools retained for five years after termination ?

[Archibald]

From "the Navaho missile project" by James N. Gibson, page 79

"Generally, federal law requires government contractors to maintain the jigs and tools for making a weapon system for five years after program termination. This allows for reactivation of a program if the nation’s military situation quickly changes.
One such event was the cancellation and then ractivation of the Rockwell B-1 bomber
program."

Never heard about that rule before, but it's pretty damn exciting. Imagine, bringing back DynaSoar in 1968 !!
Anybody can confirm or infirm ? (not that I doubt Mr Gibson words: I just want to know more)

 

[Byeman]

From "the Navaho missile project" by James N. Gibson, page 79


Never heard about that rule before, but it's pretty damn exciting. Imagine, bringing back DynaSoar in 1968 !!
Anybody can confirm or infirm ? (not that I doubt Mr Gibson words: I just want to know more)

Dynasoar wasn't a weapons system.

But it is what ever the contract says. The onus is on the contracting agency and not the contractor. It isn't for free. The cancellation would have to include the storage.

 

[Michel Van]

so far i know the manufacturing firms of Saturn V and IB, keep there tools from 1968 to 1973 (five years)
in case the Saturn has restart production.
but with Space Shuttle they scrap the tools...

Rockwell Mothballed there B-1 tools and wait until next election...

On SR-71, Lockheed stop the production and destroy immediately the tools on direct orders of McNamara.

Gemini was handed over to USAF for Blue Gemini later MOL until 1968 everything went into storage in USAF bases.
its likely McDonnel/Douglas scrap the tools in 1973

 

[aim9xray]

B-2 tooling was transferred to Air Force storage at 309th AMARG, Tucson.

 

[Byeman]

so far i know the manufacturing firms of Saturn V and IB, keep there tools from 1968 to 1973 (five years)
in case the Saturn has restart production.
but with Space Shuttle they scrap the tools...

No, they were used to build Endeavor.

 

[DesScorp]

From "the Navaho missile project" by James N. Gibson, page 79


Never heard about that rule before, but it's pretty damn exciting. Imagine, bringing back DynaSoar in 1968 !!
Anybody can confirm or infirm ? (not that I doubt Mr Gibson words: I just want to know more)

Years ago, I'd read that Lockheed kept the S-3's tooling in storage long after production ended because they thought there were new markets and roles for the airframe. They thought would be a natural COD or AEWC platform.

 

[riggerrob]

In 1959, the recently-elected Diefenbaker gov’t ordered all the Avro Arrow prototypes and tooling destroyed. He feared that when the federal opposition party got re-elected, they would revive the project.
Canadian politicians have a tradition of cancelling expensive weapons programs only to revive them a few years later.
Note the 40-ish year long program to replace the Royal Canadian Navy’s Sea King helicopters.
Equally will was the current Trudeau the Second’s decision to cancel an RCAF request for F-35 fighter jets, only to revive the program a few years later.
Meanwhile, the gov’t cheerfully spends billions of dollars on expensive overhauls to keep tired old airframes flying. Overhaul funds must come from a different shoebox.