SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

Pension-Excess Wrangle: Settlement negotiations between Loral Corp. and the Pentagon over who is entitled to excess money in a pension fund at the former Ford Aerospace unit appear to have come to a standstill.

On July 9, the Defense Logistics Agency, which monitors defense contracts, issued a letter to the New York-based defense contractor, saying the company owes it $133.7 million, according to Linda Nichols, an agency spokeswoman.

The figure is lower than the agency’s original estimate of $178 million, but Loral officials contend that they owe the government nothing. Loral has 90 days to appeal the ruling with a Pentagon contracts agency and a year to file an objection in U.S. Claims Court.

The dispute has been simmering for a while. In July, 1990, Loral beat out several bidders for Newport Beach-based Ford Aerospace Corp. in part because it offered to share with Ford Motor Co. some excess funds from the aerospace division’s overfunded pension plan.

The Pentagon stepped in after the deal closed in October, saying it had a right to some of the excess funds because the federal government sets aside a certain proportion of many contracts to pay into employee pension programs.

Loral denied that the funds belonged to the government, but earlier this year it entered into settlement negotiations. Company officials say they will ultimately prevail in the dispute.

“We’ve determined what we believe is the appropriate amount, and now the ball is in their court if they want to negotiate again,” Nichols said.