Word: 5a
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Violated Integrity. Fitzgerald has told a Capitol Hill committee, among other things, that the Air Force paid a $2 bil lion cost "overrun" on the C-5A trans port plane. He estimated that overruns on the development of the Minuteman II missiles were "better than $4 billion." He confirmed earlier rumors that the Pentagon paid $2.5 billion more than originally anticipated for the avionics...
...early 1967, he says, "we lost control." He recalls: "We were bringing out too much visibility in the cost of contracts. They [officials charged with procurement] were afraid that if McNamara found out, he'd land all over them." Fitzgerald claims that he spotted the C-5A overrun in 1966, but when he pointed it out to his superiors, he was "beaten back...
...computer error." He says that his mail is being opened. One letter even bore the initials and stamp of the "action officer" who had opened it. He still toils quietly in the same windowless, fifth-floor office. Instead of monitoring the costs of the multibillion-dollar C-5A and F-lll, he now spends his time evaluating relatively minor projects. His first assignment was to review construction of a bowling alley in Thailand. His finding: a $100,000 overrun...
...mounting criticism. Its chief cause has been growing disenchantment with the war in Viet Nam, which helped unseat Lyndon Johnson and install Nixon in the White House. In the nearly five months since Nixon took office, the disaffection has grown. Overspending on military items-notably the giant C-5A transport, the F-lll fighter-bomber, the Cheyenne helicopter-has drawn increasingly savage congressional fire. A newspaper advertisement suggests mockingly: "From the people who brought you Viet Nam-the anti-ballistic missile system." In a hard-hitting speech last week, the President came to the defense of the defenders...
Lockheed has based much of its future on the C-5A and the Cheyenne. While the former is in trouble over costs, the latter is being criticized for its performance. The Cheyenne, a highly advanced, heavily armed "compound helicopter" can both hover like a copter and fly on stubby wings, propelled by a "pusher prop" that speeds it up to 250 m.p.h. Last week the Army abruptly canceled Lockheed's production contract for 375 of the aircraft. Cancellation means a loss of $250 million in orders already in hand, and much more in potential business. Lockheed has already laid...