Justice Dept. Filing in Aerospace Case Alleges Mismanagement

McDonnell Douglas Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. consistently mismanaged development and production of the A-12 attack plane before the project was canceled in 1991, the Justice Department charged in a court filing Wednesday.

Government lawyers made the allegations in preparation for an anticipated appeal in the 6 1/2-year-old legal battle over the Navy’s decision to stop production of the stealth aircraft. A federal trial judge is close to rendering final judgment in the case and is expected to award McDonnell Douglas, now a unit of Boeing Co., and General Dynamics close to $1.8 billion.

The Justice Department said in a 280-page filing that U.S. Claims Court Judge Robert Hodges should have considered evidence that the companies “mismanaged virtually all aspects of their performance.”

“They began performance with an immature design and overly optimistic weight and schedule assumptions,” the Justice Department said. “They failed to operate as a team; failed to have any one company or program manager in charge with the necessary authority to resolve differences and reallocate resources; and failed to allocate work in a reasonable manner or share relevant technology with each other.”

General Dynamics spokeswoman Norine Lyons said Hodges already resolved many of the issues being raised by the government. “We’re not about to try this all over again in the press,” she said. “The judge has listened to that evidence and didn’t find anything credible there.”