General Dynamics

WASHINGTON -- Barely a month after Defense Secretary Dick Cheney stunned the defense industry by canceling the troubled A-12 stealth attack plane, the Navy asked the builders to return $1.35 billion in excess payments that Pentagon auditors said shouldn't have been made.When the companies balked and asked for a delay, both the Navy and Defense Department immediately acquiesced, saying the companies would not have to pay back a cent for almost two years, if not longer.All of this occurred on Feb. 5, according to documents obtained by The Sun.For several weeks, congressional and federal investigators have been delving into this little-publicized financial deal, which some believe was carefully orchestrated to soften the blow to the two firms responsible for the largest weapons program ever terminated by the Pentagon.

As the American military turns increasingly toward things like satellite guidance and flying robots to do its deadly business, 50 designers and engineers in Maryland have been given two years and $100 million to upgrade and computerize the Army's last stubborn holdout of low technology - its foot soldiers. General Dynamics Robotics Systems Inc., based in Westminster, will design and develop an integrated system of clothing, body armor, weapons and electronics with the hope of wiring humans into the new computerized battlefield.

Skidding for the second day in a row, the Dow Jones average gave up 19 points yesterday, closing at 3,365.14. Since the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, in September 1988, the Dow is up about 1,200 points, or 55 percent.LOOKING AHEAD: "Odds still favor our perfect scenario of lower inflation, lower interest rates and increasing demand for stocks. This places a major top far away." (Crosscurrents) . . . . . . "Just because the market fluctuates doesn't mean it is getting better or safer."

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Take this job and shove it?Sometimes it's: Take this job away from me and die.That was the message delivered in late January when a fired General Dynamics worker allegedly killed his union representative and wounded his former supervisor.It also was the threat allegedly made a few days later by a laid-off Douglas Aircraft Co. worker in Long Beach."He was frustrated with the company, frustrated with the union," says Floyd Sparks, benefits representative at United Auto Workers Local 148, which represents many of the Douglas workers.

On a recent frigid morning as everyone else huddled inside, Wilbur was making the rounds in the fields surrounding General Dynamics' Carroll County plant, looking for signs of intruders. Cold is no worry to Wilbur, even after hours outdoors. He never gets bored, either, or tired. Not Wilbur, an autonomous vehicle, part of the latest generation of robotics that outpaces even the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Mars rover. What sets Wilbur apart is what's inside that compact-car-sized body, the equivalent of half a dozen powerful PCs that allow it to think a lot like we do. Assign the dullest, dirtiest and most dangerous assignments, and Wilbur sets off without a qualm -- or a remote operator.

Defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. is warning state regulators that it will close an Aberdeen office over the summer and lay off 52 employees. The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said it was notified by the company that the shutdown of an information-technology operation serving Aberdeen Proving Ground would begin July 15 and end by Sept. 15. General Dynamics said Monday that its contract to provide IT trainers to an Army school on base is ending as a result of the nationwide base realignment and closure effort.

General Dynamics Corp. and its subcontractors expect to hire as many as 110 workers in Baltimore County who will work on computer systems for a new government program that will help retirees receive health care coverage, officials said Thursday. The defense contractor said Thursday that its information technology division won an $80 million award to work on the Department of Health and Human Services' Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. The program is part of the health care reform package that was passed this year and is intended to help retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare obtain affordable insurance.

Defense contractor General Dynamics said Thursday that it will lay off 132 employees in Westminster this fall if funding for an Army robotics program is not renewed. It would be the third mass layoff at the Carroll County site this year. The affected workers are contractors for an Army program that develops vehicles capable of navigating themselves, but funding has dried up for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, said company spokesman Peter Keating. Employees were notified that their jobs will be cut Oct. 29 if funding isn't approved for the upcoming fiscal year, he said.

Bouncing across the stubble of a Carroll County farm field, the khaki-colored vehicle looked like a jeep on an off-road jaunt - except it had no windows or driver. Nevertheless, it slowed when it encountered a concrete wall and then - using robotic sensors encased on a revolving white cylinder on its roof - it deftly maneuvered around the obstacle and continued on its way. Designers of the high-tech vehicle hope it will just as nimbly maneuver around battlefields of the future, detecting and avoiding obstacles and relaying information to soldiers a safe distance away.

Norman R. Augustine pushed himself away from the large mahogany desk, which, as always, was uncluttered except for a pen set, clock and family snapshots. He didn't want to be in the office. It was Saturday, and an uncommonly pleasant one for mid-March - 55 degrees and sunny.But he'd called the emergency meeting, summoning a dozen top lieutenants to his second-floor office in Bethesda. The question: Should Martin Marietta increase its $1.93 billion bid for Grumman Corp.? Two weeks ago, the acquisition had looked assured.