Surprising Science — November 10, 2009

Indefensible?

The US government is suing a defense contractor for allegedly substituting sophisticated warhead ignition devices for unsafe equivalents.

bigthinkeditor

The US is suing a defense contractor for substituting sophisticated warhead ignition devices for for cheaper and less stable equivalents. A lawsuit has been filed against Kaman Dayron Inc., claiming it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly replacing non-conforming parts in fuzes used on hard target “bunker buster” bombs. “The government alleges that Kaman Dayron knowingly substituted non-conforming bellows motors for the specified parts in three lots of fuzes supplied to the military, and that the non-conforming parts could cause the fuzes to fire prematurely, creating a hazard for military personnel and causing misfires of the warheads. The military discovered the parts substitution and has quarantined the defective fuzes,” reports The Huffington Post.

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