Northrop Got $1.1 Billion From Air Force for ‘Degraded’ Services
- Some missions affected by lack of planes, audit shows
- Air Force may press for return of $7.6 million in bonus
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The U.S. Air Force paid Northrop Grumman Corp. $1.1 billion over about four years to maintain its aging fleet of air-to-ground surveillance aircraft even as costs for the planes increased and their combat capability declined, according to a Pentagon Inspector General audit.
Between May 2011 and October 2015 the Air Force spent money “for a degraded mission capability,” Jacqueline Wicecarver, assistant for acquisition, said in a redacted Nov. 1 report to Air Force officials marked “For Official Use Only.” In addition, some of the Air Force unit’s jets, known as JSTARS, had their missions affected “because aircraft were not available” when needed, according to the report.