Opinion ID: 746415
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the Air Force materially misrepresent the capabilities of the Soviet radar?

Text: 23 WES argues that the government misrepresented the estimated capabilities of the Soviet radar, and that this misrepresentation induced REL to enter into the contract. Although there is some evidence to support WES's contention that the government misstated the specification of the T-11A contract as equivalent to estimated capabilities of the Soviet radar, when they were actually significantly higher than the estimates, the Board found that the alleged misrepresentation had not acted as an inducement. We cannot say that this finding is unsupported by substantial evidence. There is testimony from both REL and Raytheon management that the representation that the T-11A specifications were equivalent to the Soviet radar capabilities did not induce REL to enter the contract, but rather that the state of the art in the United States persuaded REL to make its decision. We further note that REL knew that the contract's reference to the capabilities of the Soviet radar was based only on estimates derived from military intelligence reports and could change from time to time based on new intelligence. It would thus be wholly unreasonable for REL to expect them to be and to remain accurate. Instead, in determining how difficult it would be to perform the contract, REL should have, as the Board found it did, relied mainly on what it knew of its own technologies and capabilities. Nor was there any term in the contract requiring the specifications not to exceed Soviet capabilities. 24