Pentagon holds back ‘stealth’ progress cash

Press, 13 August 1986, Page 10

Pentagon holds back ‘stealth’ progress cash

NZPA-Reuter Washington The United States Defence Department would withhold a large part of its progress payments for Lockheed Corporation’s “stealth” warplane project until the company improved security at its California plant, a Pentagon official said yester-

day. On July 24 Lockheed told the House oversight and investigations subcommittee that more than 1400 secret and top secret documents were unaccounted for at the plant. “The Department of Defence will withhold a substantial portion of progress payments until this is corrected,” an Undersecretary of Defence, Donald Hicks, told the sub-committee yesterday. He gave no other details. At the hearing on July 24, it was also revealed that a Lockheed employee had taken plans of the "stealth” fighter home to impress his girl-friend. She reported him to the company.

The Defence Depart- J ment and Lockheed say there is no evidence that information about the top secret jet has been obtained by any other country. ' ’ ■ .

The “stealth” is designed’to be invisible to enemy radar. Lockheed is building a fighter version of the “stealth," Northrop is building a c bomber. “There is no question that there was a complete breakdown (of security) at Lockheed, as testified by their chairman,” Mr Hicks said. ; >

The Defence Secretary, Mr Casper; Weinberger, had ordered Lockheed to correct the problem immediately. - Committee members said the Defence Department should take charge of the problem directly and-not leave it to the company. r"The panel’s chairman, John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, said Lockheed had yet to fire or transfer any of its employees be- > cause of the security lapses. ; v