Contractor sold faulty navigation units to armed forces, lawsuit claims

A Utah employee of giant defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. alleges in a lawsuit that the company has been faking tests of its navigation system and then selling faulty units to the armed forces where it is used in manned aircraft, drones, missiles, submarines and other vehicles.

Todd Donaldson, a Northrop Grumman employee for more than 25 years, alleges in a federal court lawsuit that technicians were instructed to manually type in "pass" so it appears on results after seeing that the navigation units typically failed the required tests, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for Utah in September but only made public on Friday.

Northrop Grumman, which has its headquartered in Falls Church, Va., did not immediately return an email seeking a response to the allegations.

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