$22.7M to GE for CVBS to Inspect Aircraft Engines, Airframes for Damage
Oct 22, 2009 12:30 EDT
GE Inspection Technologies in Skaneateles, NY won a $22.7 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract from the US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) for the procurement of up to 1,600 common video borescope sets (CVBS), including associated technical and logistics data and training.
The CVBS is a portable, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) video system used to inspect interior engine components and airframes for cracks, foreign object damage, and corrosion. The CVBS will replace NAWCAD’s existing inventory of borescopes…
A borescope is an optical device consisting of a rigid or flexible tube with an eyepiece on one end, an objective lens on the other linked together by a relay optical system in between. The optical system is usually surrounded by optical fibers used for illumination of a remote object and a rigid or flexible protective outer sheath.
The remote object, such as an aircraft engine, is illuminated and an internal image formed by the objective lens is relayed to the eyepiece, which magnifies the internal image and presents it to the viewer’s eye. Borescopes are used for inspection work where the area to be inspected is inaccessible by other means.
Borescopes are commonly used in the visual inspection of aircraft engines, aeroderivative industrial gas turbines, steam turbines, diesel engines and automotive engines. Borescope inspection of engines can be used to prevent unnecessary maintenance, which can become extremely costly for large turbines.
GE received a similar contract from the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) on July 27/09. Under that contract, GE is providing its XLG3 video borescope, as well as operator training and data management software to NAVSEA’s inspection teams supporting the Atlantic and Pacific fleets.
GE will perform the work on the NAWCAD contract in Skaneateles, NY and expects to complete it by October 2015. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals with 3 offers received by the NAWCAD in Lakehurst, NJ (N68335-10-D-0005).
