Word: pentagons
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...said of the earlier conflict-is "an engineer's war." Despite Herculean construction feats by the corps, the U.S. buildup has of necessity outpaced the logistical facilities needed to handle it. On his return from Saigon last November, one of Defense Secretary McNamara's first orders to Pentagon aides was to find a chief engineer to supervise all military construction in South Viet...
...days the skies over North Viet Nam had been free of U.S. fighter-bombers, while the U.S. vainly probed Hanoi for some sign of willingness to talk peace. When at last patience was exhausted, the code message flashed out from the Pentagon via Pearl Harbor to Saigon, and last week American jets roared aloft to end the bombing pause...
...also somewhat of a triumph for the Lockheed Aircraft Corp., which produces it, and its performance is precisely what the Pentagon has come to expect of the company. For an unprecedented four years in a row, the company has been the Defense Department's biggest single contractor. The $1.7 billion worth of new defense orders that Lockheed landed in the fiscal year ending last June 30 represented 7.1% of all contracts let by the Pentagon, nearly double the share of its nearest rival, General Dynamics. In the current year, Lockheed is certain to stay...
...Innovation. Much of the credit for Lockheed's success belongs to Chairman Courtlandt Sherrington Gross, 61, who smoothly synchronizes the work of a huge team of expert and highly individualistic executives. At the Pentagon, Robert McNamara's computer-minded whiz kids and crusty admirals alike describe Lockheed's management as brilliant. Lockheed also wins more than its share of the big contracts because of its chairman's gift for soft salesmanship. That gift was developed during the 29 years that Gross played second fiddle at Lockheed to his older brother, the late Robert E. Gross...
...impact, aerospace profits remain low: 3.1% of sales against 5.5% for all U.S. manufacturers. One reason: in a little-noted change of vast consequence, cost-conscious Robert McNamara has switched Pentagon buying away from lax, cost-plus contracts toward fixed-price, incentive awards. Increasingly, defense contractors must sharpen both their engineering and their bids to win business. Efficient operators who trim costs or beat delivery schedules are rewarded with higher profits; fumblers are being winnowed out. Says Northrop Chairman Tom Jones: "It's a sporty course...