Government Win $400 Million Judgement (If Congress Passes a Law)

For John, BLUF:  Reach for the stars, but expect problems once in a while.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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This is from Friday, but it is still an interesting and informative piece of news.  The source is Reuters and the Reporter is Mr David Alexander.  The headline is After two decades, U.S. Navy near deal to settle 'Flying Dorito' suit.

Yes, the "Flying Dorito".  You remember how the Dorito has a triangular shape?  So would have had the Navy's A-12 Avenger II attack aircraft, if it had actually been rolled out and flown.  The A-12 was to replace the aging A-6 Intruder, many of which now make up artificial reefs off Florida.  Their replacement was the F-18.  Not the same.

Here is a key paragraph from the story:

The radar-evading, carrier-based McDonnell Douglas plane was 18 months behind schedule and about $1.4 billion over cost when then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney canceled the $57 billion program back in 1991.

That would be $1.4 billion over cost before production began.  Heck, before flight testing began.

When the contract was cancelled the Navy demanded $1.35 billion back from the contractors.

The two companies countered by suing the government, and the case has been in court ever since. Judgments have see-sawed back and forth between rulings in favor of the companies and the government.

In 2011 the Supreme Court set aside an appeals court ruling that the Navy had been justified in canceling the contract. The court found one main issue could not be litigated because it involved classified information that could not be disclosed in court.

But the case was sent back to a lower court for decisions on other issues, and it has remained there since then.

[Maine Senator Susan] Collins said the settlement reached this week was good for the Navy at a time of tight budgets and "incredible fiscal challenges."

"The taxpayers benefit because there's no guarantee that the government will ultimately prevail in the ongoing litigation," she said.  "And finally there would be a settlement that would end decades, literally decades, of litigation."

The big thing is that we are not wasting money on lots of lawyers trying to find some loophole they can drive a truck load of money through.

One important lesson to learn is that big, complicated projects, using new technology, often fail.  It isn't so much as it is someone's fault as it that when you reach for the high fruit you are sometimes a little short in your reach.  However, progress comes from that reaching.  That said, an informed process can accomplish big things.  Think of the US ballistic missile programs, which were all fairly successful, and in particular the Ballistic Missile Submarine program.  Or putting a man on the Moon.

Regards  —  Cliff