Northrop Grumman Corp. Settles False Claims Act Case for Defective Satellite Parts
Excerpt
WASHINGTON – Northrop Grumman Corp., its subsidiary Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp., and its predecessor TRW Inc. (collectively, Northrop) have agreed to settle for $325 million, False Claims Act allegations that Northrop provided and billed the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for defective microelectronic parts, known as Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBTs), the Justice Department announced today. The government’s investigation in the HBT Action concluded that Northrop and TRW failed to properly test and qualify certain HBTs manufactured by TRW from 1992 to 2002. As a result, Northrop and TRW integrated into NRO satellite equipment certain defective HBTs. The investigation further concluded that Northrop and TRW made misrepresentations about, and concealed certa