Boeing’s Tardiness Costs It $2 Million

Boeing Co. has lost more than $2 million in performance bonuses because it is more than four months late delivering software for the U.S. missile defense system, according to a U.S. Defense Department spokeswoman.

Boeing’s Space & Communications Group in Anaheim is the main contractor for the system. Delivery of the software, which will help analyze hundreds of simulated missile attacks, was pushed back to this month from November. This analysis will be part of the data President Clinton will use to decide whether to authorize construction of the $26-billion system.

The missile defense system, a scaled-down version of the 1980s “Star Wars” proposal, suffered a setback when a missile failed to intercept a mock warhead Jan. 18, the second of three tests scheduled before Clinton’s review. The third test is tentatively scheduled for late April.

No spokesman for Boeing’s Space & Communications unit was available for comment.

The group garnered $1.9 billion of Boeing’s $15.2 billion fourth-quarter revenue, $200 million more than the previous year’s final three months.