Memo Says Shutdown of Brea Defense Contractor May Stall Missile Project

The recent closure of a small Brea defense contractor could stop production of a key missile program for up to six months, a Navy official said in an internal memo made available Thursday to The Times.

The contractor, Micronics International, is the sole source of safety and arming devices known as fuzes for the troubled Phoenix missile. A Navy spokesman, however, said that the halt in the missile’s manufacture will not affect the Navy’s combat readiness.

Fuzes--missile components that fire warheads or prevent them from firing prematurely--have been at the center of controversy since the spring. The Times reported in March that, because of alleged manufacturing flaws in a $15-to-$18 part in the fuzes, warheads in many of the nation’s tactical missiles could be rendered useless.

Now that Micronics is out of business and cannot replace the allegedly defective fuzes, the Navy must find a new fuze source and consider installing a 1970s version of the component in later-model missiles. The Phoenix is the primary missile system for the F-14, the Navy’s key fighter aircraft.

Micronics’ Brea plant shut down Aug. 29, laying off 100 workers. As a result, no Phoenix missiles will be delivered to the Navy until as late as March, the memo said. Lack of fuzes will also hamper production of other weapons systems, including the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM, and the Sparrow air-to-air missile.

The memo was written by Navy Vice Admiral J. B. Wilkinson, commander of the Naval Air Systems Command. It is addressed to the chief of naval operations and dated Sept. 7.

Wilkinson could not be reached for comment, but a Navy spokesman insisted Thursday that “our ships do have weapons” and said that the problem is “more of an inventory situation than a combat-readiness situation.”

Reliability of $4,500 Parts Questioned

“I don’t want you to have the idea that the Navy is out of bullets,” said the spokesman, who asked that his name not be used. “We want to dispel any kind of notion that the fleet is not ready. The fleet is ready.”

One Washington-based watchdog organization, however, was skeptical of the Navy’s claims.

“It appears, according to the Navy memo, that the problems with Micronics will have a big negative impact on our readiness,” said Danielle Brian-Bland, analyst at the Project on Military Procurement, which obtained the memo and released it to the Times.

Micronics, a unit of La Jolla-based Precision Aerotech, shut after the Defense Department refused delivery of missile fuzes in August because tests and record-keeping problems had raised questions about the reliability of the $4,500 parts.

Micronics has been under fire since March, 1988, when the Defense Department disclosed that it had begun a criminal investigation of the company. The investigation, which is continuing, focuses the firm’s alleged use of untested and substandard parts in making fuzes.

Hughes Aircraft Co. makes the Phoenix and the AMRAAM. For the Phoenix missile, the Navy bought the fuzes directly from Micronics and delivered them to Hughes. For the AMRAAM, Hughes dealt directly with Micronics.

“If a shortage of the devices develops, Hughes expects to continue work on major components of the Phoenix missiles, such as guidance and control sections that do not involve the fuzes,” said Michael Letson, a Hughes spokesman. “There are some fuzes in the supply pipeline and otherwise available. It depends on what arrangements can be made with the government regarding the use of these.”

For the AMRAAM, Letson said, Hughes is working to establish another source for fuzes and expects to take delivery on the devices in about four months.

Mixed Reaction

Rich Eichwald, a spokesman for McDonnell Aircraft Co. in St. Louis, said the problems at Micronics should have “no immediate impact” on its F-15 or F/A-18 programs. The F-15 or F/A-18 are combat aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas Corp. and designed to be equipped with the AMRAAM missile.

Times staff writers David Olmos and Jim Schachter contributed to this report.