General Dynamics Given Contract to Build Trident

General Dynamics, back in the Navy’s Graces after a two-month suspension, on Friday received a $587-million contract to build a 13th Trident ballistic missile submarine.

In addition, General Dynamics’ Fort Worth division received a long-lead Air Force contract totaling $764.5 million for F-16C and F-16D Falcon jet fighters.

The Air Force hopes to acquire 468 of the jets over the next four years, and Friday’s award was described as providing “economic order quantity-buy protection for the fiscal 1986 to fiscal 1989 multiyear contract.”

The submarine award had been expected, as General Dynamics’ Electric Boat division in Groton, Conn., is the only company now capable of building the huge nuclear-powered submarine.

However, the company had been precluded from receiving the contract by a suspension that was imposed last December following the indictment of the company and four former or current executives in connection with alleged overcharges on an Army contract.

The Navy announced Feb. 7 that it was lifting that suspension because it was satisfied that General Dynamics had improved its internal administrative and accounting controls sufficiently to prevent improper charging in the future.

The company also agreed to set up a $50-million escrow account to cover potential liabilities and to accept increased Pentagon monitoring of its internal affairs.

The contract awarded Friday specifies delivery of the new submarine, which will be capable of carrying 24 Trident intercontinental ballistic missiles, in December, 1991.

Seven Trident submarines are on active duty and an eighth is scheduled to begin sea trials in May. Four others are under construction.

Each of the Tridents is 560 feet long, 42 feet wide and displaces 18,700 tons when submerged.

In a related development, the Convair division of General Dynamics is again free to obtain government contracts containing classified information after an unsatisfactory security rating was lifted.

The Defense Department issued the security sanction against the major defense contractor after concluding that the company lacked adequate care to ensure security at its San Diego plants.

Convair was given the unsatisfactory security rating Feb. 3 after a routine audit found that about 20 classified documents were missing.

The plant was given 30 days to prove it had fixed the security problems. During the security warning, Convair was prohibited from receiving new government contracts containing classified information.

The Defense Investigative Service, a branch of the Defense Department, informed Convair that the unsatisfactory rating was no longer in effect, company spokesman Jack Isabel said Friday.

The investigative service said it had been assured that Convair was taking the proper precautions and had remedied security problems.

Convair manufactures the Tomahawk cruise missile and is involved in the manufacture of a highly secret cruise missile designed to be almost invisible on radar screens.

With 19,000 employees, it is San Diego County’s largest industrial employer.