Boeing’s Management of Missiles Praised

Boeing Co. has improved its management of the U.S. ground-based missile defense system, the Pentagon’s program manager said.

The progress was evident in the successful intercept July 14 that earned Boeing $36 million of the potential $41-million bonus for the test, Army Maj. Gen. Willie Nance said.

The endorsement comes from the same official who last year criticized Boeing’s performance and docked the company half its potential bonus.

Boeing is the top contractor for the ground-based system of interceptors, radar and command-and-control. The company is over cost and behind schedule on key components, including software for simulating thousands of missile attacks and the actual three-stage booster rocket that propels a Raytheon warhead into space.

The national missile defense program is managed out of Boeing’s Anaheim-based Electronic Systems & Missile Defense unit, which is part of the company’s Space & Communications sector.

Shares of Seattle-based Boeing, the largest private employer in Southern California, rose $1.46 to $53.63 on the New York Stock Exchange.