Navy Owes McDonnell, General Dynamics

McDonnell Douglas Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. are owed about $1.4 billion by the Navy because of the improper cancellation of returns on their stealth airplane project in 1991, Judge Robert Hodges of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington said. But he also said the companies can’t continue efforts to increase that amount to include potential profit from the A-12 attack plane project. He said a trial to consider such potential profit would mean disclosure of secret information related to technology that could threaten U.S. national security. The Navy said it will appeal Hodges’ opinion. The suit was filed by McDonnell and General Dynamics in June 1991 after the Navy canceled the project, saying the firms lacked the skills and technology needed to build the plane and had withheld details of problems they were encountering.