Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
A former partner in the US Defense Department's Outrider Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicle (TUAV) programme has filed a law suit alleging that prime contractor Alliant Techsystems incurred "cost overruns of millions of dollars" while trying to attain unachievable performance parameters. Mission Technologies also claims it has not been paid more than $500,000 in licence fees and royalties.
Alliant was teamed with Hondo, Texas-based Mission Technologies in winning the contract for the twin-wing TUAV. The partnership dissolved, however, and, on 17 June, Mission Technologies, the UAV developer, filed a civil suit in a US District Court, requesting an injunction against Alliant.
The law suit seeks to bar Alliant from continuing to use trade secrets related to the TUAV disclosed during the partnership. If Mission Technologies wins in court, Alliant could be barred from further use of the Outrider.
Papers filed with the court show that the two companies signed a teaming agreement in October 1995 and a licence agreement two months later. The deals affirmed that "intellectual property rights" remained with Mission Technologies.
The claim is that Alliant has refused to pay a $400,000 licence fee and a quarterly royalty of $132,348. Mission Technologies told Alliant the deal would end on 15 June if the payments were not made. Mission Technologies also claims Alliant knew, or should have known, that the Outrider would not meet US military requirements.
"Nevertheless, the proposal was made, and the US Government was induced to enter into a contract with Alliant," the law suit charges. "As a result, Alliant has caused overruns of many millions of dollars to be incurred in an attempt to make the airframe do what it could not do, and what Alliant knew or should have known it could not do from the outset."
Mission and Alliant both decline to comment.
Source: Flight International
