Raytheon Faulted on Missile Defense

I wonder if this will give competitors an opening.

Missile Defense Agency Faults Raytheon on Warhead

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Warheads produced by Raytheon Co. for the U.S. missile defense system were delivered as many as 50 days behind schedule last year because of poor management, the head of the Missile Defense Agency said.

A "lack of discipline during assembly and testing" of the warheads was responsible for the delays, Army Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly told a House panel today.

The Raytheon warhead is the critical weapon in the $35.5 billion U.S. network of ground-based interceptor missiles linked by satellites, radar and communications. The 28 missiles are in silos at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, as a defense against North Korean missiles.

Read more on Raytheon's Missile Defense Problem.