Northrop Grumman Corp. v. United States

63 Fed. Cl. 38, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 310, 2004 WL 2902406
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedNovember 5, 2004
DocketNo. 96-760C
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 63 Fed. Cl. 38 (Northrop Grumman Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Northrop Grumman Corp. v. United States, 63 Fed. Cl. 38, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 310, 2004 WL 2902406 (uscfc 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

HORN, Judge.

FINDINGS OF FACT

In a series of separate motions in this case, defendant also has filed a motion to dismiss Counts I, III, IV, VI and VII of the plaintiffs fourteen-count, second amended complaint, for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC). Defendant awarded plaintiff Northrop Grumman Corporation an incrementally funded, fixed-price contract (Contract No. F33657-86-3001), for the full-[39]*39scale development and initial production of the Tri-Service Stand-Off Attack Missile (TSSAM), a cruise missile designed for use by the Air Force, Navy and Army. TSSAM was a fixed-price contract. Plaintiff states in its amended complaint that it objected to the fixed-price type of contract, and recommended instead to the government a cost-reimbursement type of contract, due to the plaintiffs belief that the performance risks were unpredictable. The TSSAM contract subsequently was terminated for the convenience of the government. Plaintiff submitted a certified claim to the contracting officer, claiming a violation of Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act, Pub.L. No. 100-202, § 8118, 101 Stat. 1329, 1329-84 (1987) (hereafter, section 8118), and a violation of various procurement regulations and directives. The contracting officer’s final decision denied plaintiffs claims. Plaintiff has filed these section 8118-type claims, as well as other claims which were denied by the contracting officer, in a second amended complaint with the Court of Federal Claims.

On December 23, 1987, the United States Congress enacted the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for FY 1988, including section 8118, which provided that high-value, research and development contracts be limited to the cost-reimbursement form of contract, unless the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition executes a written determination that program risks had been reduced to the extent that realistic pricing could occur and the risks could be equitably allocated between the parties to the contract. The statute provides:

SEC. 8118 None of the funds provided for the Department of Defense in this Act may be obligated or expended for fixed price-type contracts in excess of $10,000,000 for the development of a major system or subsystem unless the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition determines, in writing, that program risk has been reduced to the extent that realistic pricing can occur, and that the contract type permits an equitable and sensible allocation of program risk between the contracting parties: Provided, That the Under Secretary may not delegate this authority to any persons who hold a position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense below the level of Assistant Secretary of Defense: Provided further, That the Under Secretary report to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and House of Representatives in writing, on a quarterly basis, the contracts which have obligated funds under such a fixed price-type developmental contract.

DOD Appropriations Act, Pub.L. No. 100-202, § 8118, 101 Stat. 1329, 1329-84 (1987). The plaintiffs second amended complaint states that, on or about January 6, 1988, the defendant obligated approximately $49.9 million in research and development funds, which had been appropriated under the FY 1988 DOD Appropriations Act, to the TSSAM contract.1

The plaintiffs second amended complaint further alleges that:

93. Defendant at no time conducted the program risk reviews for the TSSAM Contract required by Section 8118, its successor provisions, its implementing regulations, DOD Directive 5000.1, and DOD Instruction 5000.2.
94. Defendant at no time sought or obtained USD(A) [Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition] approval to continue the TSSAM Contract on a fixed-price basis as required by Section 8118, its successor provisions, its implementing regulations, and DOD direction and policy.

The plaintiffs second amended complaint contends that, because of cost growth on the TSSAM contract, plaintiff proposed that the TSSAM procurement be restructured to a cost-reimbursable form of contract. Although the TSSAM contract did undergo modifications, it remained a fixed-price con[40]*40tract. Contract modification P00099 increased the TSSAM contract’s ceiling price, eliminated the options for the first four production lots, and established revised performance and schedule requirements, among other changes, but did not convert the contract to a cost-reimbursement form. Contract modification P00150 extended the schedule for completing the full-scale development of the TSSAM, but did not convert the contract to a cost-reimbursement form. Five counts of the plaintiffs second amended complaint address the section 8118 and related issues (counts I, III, IV, VI and VII).

(1) Count I (“Violation of Regulations and Directives regarding Contract Type”) states that the use of a fixed-price contract for the TSSAM contract violated DOD Directive 5000.1, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.103(b), 16.104 and 35.006(c), and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 216.104, regulations and directives which allegedly precluded use of the fixed-price contract form for the TSSAM under the particular facts of this case. Plaintiff seeks reformation of the TSSAM contract from a fixed-price contract to a cost-reimbursable contract based on the alleged failure to comply with the above named regulations and directives, or, in the alternative, damages (uncompensated incurred costs plus a reasonable profit) under an implied-in-fact contract theory, because of the defendant’s improper choice of a fixed-price form of contract.

(2) Count III (“Reformation of Contract by Use of Cost-Reimbursement Funds”) states that the defendant’s failure to make the program risk assessment required by section 8118 thereby limited the use of funding to a cost-reimbursement contract, such that the TSSAM contract was “converted ... to a cost-reimbursement undertaking.” Plaintiff seeks reformation of the pricing terms of the TSSAM contract to reflect the “cost-reimbursable undertaking,” and uncompensated incurred costs plus a reasonable profit.

(3) Count IV (“Obligation of Funds in Violation of Law”) states that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition did not make the risk assessment required by section 8118, and could not have made a risk assessment which would have justified use of a fixed-price contract, because program risks were too high. Count IV alleges that the pricing terms in the TSSAM contract were converted to cost-reimbursement pricing terms, or should be reformed to cost-reimbursement pricing terms, or plaintiff should recover under an implied-in-fact contract.

(4) Count VI (“Contract Modification in Violation of Law”) states that P00099 was an out-of-seope change, valued at over $25 million, which constituted a major system requiring a section 8118 risk assessment of its own, independent of the basic TSSAM contract. Plaintiff seeks reformation of P00099 to a cost-reimbursement form of contract.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Drake v. United States
Federal Claims, 2015
Gould, Inc. v. United States
66 Fed. Cl. 253 (Federal Claims, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 Fed. Cl. 38, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 310, 2004 WL 2902406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/northrop-grumman-corp-v-united-states-uscfc-2004.