Navy Withholds Boeing Payment

The U.S. Navy is withholding a $1.5 billion payment to Boeing Co. until it fixes a wing-related problem with the F-18 Super Hornet.

The payment will be delayed at least until March to give Boeing time to correct the “wing-drop” problem, Navy Lt. Pat Moore said.

The problem was first noticed during flight testing about six months ago. The jet will bank suddenly and unexpectedly during nose-up maneuvers known as high angle of attack.

It was believed at first that the problem could be solved with a software fix. But last month, John Douglas, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, wrote Navy Secretary John Dalton to say the problem was more serious than that.