Action on ‘Serious’ Security Problems at Convair Reported

Officials of General Dynamics Corp. said Sunday that the huge defense contractor was taking “strong corrective action” aimed at rectifying “serious” security deficiencies uncovered by U.S. military investigators at the San Diego division, where cruise missiles are produced.

However, Jack Isabel, a company spokesman, said that General Dynamics Convair Division--the unit cited as deficient by government investigators--had not lost its government security clearance. He would not comment on whether the division was in danger of losing its clearance, a move that would presumably threaten future contracts.

The New York Times, citing two internal company memoranda, reported Sunday that the Convair Division was losing its government security clearance because it failed to adequately protect classified documents and hardware. According to the newspaper, John E. McSweeney, Convair’s general manager, said the security problems were related to about 20 missing documents dealing with unspecified work.

Disciplinary Action

Stanley C. Pace, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of St. Louis-based General Dynamics, said Sunday that the contractor is taking “strong corrective action” aimed at resolving the security problem. Pace, in a statement issued in response to the New York Times article, said the company’s “security review” at Convair would result in disciplinary actions “wherever laxity is found.”

The apparent security lapses at the Convair Division are the latest problems to confront General Dynamics, which has been besieged by charges of fraud and lax security. In December, after the indictment of three General Dynamics executives and a former top company official on fraud charges, the Pentagon barred the giant defense supplier from obtaining new contracts from the federal government.

Pace, commenting on the security shortcomings at Convair, said on Sunday: “The full resources of the corporation are being committed to rectify the problem, and we anticipate that it will be resolved to the satisfaction of the government in the immediate future.”

Pace noted that, although there are tens of thousands of documents at Convair, “each of them is important and must be protected. We at Convair and General Dynamics have the responsibility to protect them. We are determined to do so.”

Jack Isabel, the company’s San Diego-based spokesman, declined to be more specific about the problem beyond describing it as “serious.”

Maj. Fred Lash, a Pentagon spokesman in Washington, also declined to comment Sunday.

Tomahawk Missiles

General Dynamic’s Convair Division, which employs about 9,400 workers at various sites in San Diego, is the prime U.S. contractor in the construction of Tomahawk cruise missiles--an important component of the U.S. military arsenal. The missiles, launched from both land and sea, are designed to fly below enemy radar while delivering either conventional or nuclear warheads with great efficiency.

The New York Times reported that Convair is also the prime contractor for a secret project to construct Stealth cruise missiles that would be almost invisible on enemy radar screens. Isabel declined to comment on the company’s role in that project.

The security problems at Convair, the newspaper said, were uncovered during a recent audit by the Pentagon’s Defense Investigative Service, which periodically inspects security procedures at military contractors.