UNITED STATES SUES RAYTHEON CO. UNDER FALSE CLAIMS ACT

     WASHINGTON, D.C. --  The Department of Justice filed a suit against
Raytheon Co. in U.S. District Court in Boston today, charging that the
Lexington, Massachusetts, company violated the False Claims Act by
inflating the cost of a defense contract for a radar system.     
     Assistant Attorney General Frank Hunger, in charge of the Civil
Division, said the allegations relate to the PAVE PAWS system, a phased
array radar system designed to detect incoming submarine-launched ballistic
missiles.    
     PAVE PAWS was originally constructed in the late 1970's at Otis Air
Force Base in Massachusetts and Beale AFB in California. The system was
expanded in 1983 to Warner Robbins AFB in Georgia and El Dorado AFB in
Texas, with Raytheon constructing the radar at the new sites.   
     When completed, the systems at Robbins and El Dorado were technically
superior to those at Otis and Beale and the Air Force, to provide the same
level of capability at all sites, negotiated a contract with Raytheon to
upgrade the systems at Otis and Beale.  
     In its suit, the United States alleged that Raytheon knowingly
inflated its "skill mix," or ratio of higher to lower skilled employees, to
increase the price of the contract.
     According to the suit, when the United States requested data on the
skill mix Raytheon said it did not have the information in the form
requested by the United States.  The United States alleged that Raytheon
not only had the information in the requested form, but also analyzed the
skill mix proposal itself and, when the comparison was unfavorable,
instructed the employee who performed the analysis to "bury" the
information.
     "It is always disappointing when a government contractor knowingly
violates federal law and more so when the violation is by a major
contractor and results in millions of taxpayers' dollars being wasted,"
said Hunger.  "We owe it to the taxpayers to litigate this matter to ensure
that contractors know that this type of behavior will not be tolerated."