Fri, Mar 11, 2005
She's Gone To Jail, But Damage -- To Reputations And The Bottom
Line -- Continues
Hiring ex-Pentagon
official Darleen A. Druyun (until October 1st, inmate number
47614-083 at the minimum security female camp at the Marianna,
Florida Club Fed) seemed like a smart decision to some at
Boeing (including CFO Michael M. Sears, who's joined her in trying
on a new title: convict). Even if part of the deal was to take on a
couple of her relatives. But that was then and this is now, and the
Druyun (pictured below) case just keeps on costing the defense
contractor, as more contracts are voided after government auditors
find her fingerprints on them. The latest contract to be yanked
from Boeing is Increment II of Small Diameter Bomb development.
The Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) is a 250-lb. precision guided
weapon that has two advantages over present, more powerful weapons:
it causes less "collateral damage," unintended damage to things
other than the intended target, and it adapts wonderfully to the
internal weapons storage of stealthy aircraft. To achieve lethality
in a smaller package than existing weapons, the weapon needs to be
more accurate than present GPS- and INS- guided Joint Direct Attack
Munitions, the smallest of which is a 500-lb. weapon.
Boeing beat out Lockheed Martin in 2003 to develop and produce
the SDB after two years of fierce competition, but now the
Government Accountability Office has thrown out the award. Boeing
had been working on Increment I, which is intended to develop a
weapon for striking stationary targets. Boeing had expected to be
awarded Increment II routinely before the GAO move. Increment II
buildS upon the success of Increment I by adding a capability to
strike moving targets such as vehicles or vessels. Instead, the Air
Force will put the project back out to bid.
It is expected that more contracts will come under GAO scrutiny
as the auditors continue untangling Druyun's web of double-dealing:
she influenced hundreds of contracts during her long tenure as
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for
Acquisition and Management; in several cases, officers that
disagreed with her decisions were retired or sacked. It is possible
that Boeing will not be the only contractor affected, also. The
auditors are also reexamining noncompetitive contract awards to
other major contractors.
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