Ponying Up

Lockheed Martin will pay the US government $10.5 million to settle a lingering dispute dealing with overpayments made by the Air Force years ago for work on the now-retired Titan IV space launch vehicle. The Wall Street Journal reported May 13 (requires subscription) that, without acknowledging any wrongdoing, the company has agreed to provide that sum to resolve the row that ensued when USAF and Pentagon auditors accused it of manipulating billings on the Titan IV contract from 1998 to 2001 to request interim progress payments to which it was not entitled. The Pentagon identified the overpayments in 2004.