Rockwell to End B-1 Claim by Paying $23.6 Million

Rockwell International Corp. said Monday that it has agreed to pay $23.6 million to settle government charges that it overpriced its original B-1 bomber contract in 1981 by nearly $80 million. The overcharging claim first surfaced in a 1985 Defense Contract Audit Agency report and has been in dispute since. A Rockwell spokesman said that the money for the payment had previously been reserved and that the settlement will not affect the Seal Beach aerospace and defense contractor’s quarterly financial results.