AEROSPACE

Northrop Wins Arbitration Ruling: A panel of federal judges has ruled in favor of the company in the defense fraud case, meaning the firm will pay $4 million to settle charges that it cheated the Pentagon in the production of composite plastic parts for the F-18 jet fighter. The government had been seeking $22 million in the whistle-blower case, which charged that Northrop had failed to disclose its use of money-saving “rubber bag” composite technology. The dispute was settled in an unusual procedure, known as baseball arbitration, in which two federal judges decided that Northrop’s $4-million negotiating position was more valid than the government’s $22-million position, based on the merits of the case. No appeals are allowed under the procedure.