Indal to pay $3.5 million to settle U.S. allegations: Justice Department

[October 16, 2018]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Indal Technologies, a unit of Curtiss-Wright Corp, has agreed to pay $3.5 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly sold defective military equipment to the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.

Indal Technologies allegedly substituted a less-expensive type of steel used in helicopter landing systems for U.S. Navy destroyers, the department said in a press release.

Curtiss-Wright did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"When government contractors supply our armed forces with equipment that fails to meet performance standards, they not only cheat taxpayers, but they put at risk the safety of our service members," Assistant Attorney General Joseph Hunt said in a statement announcing the settlement.

Curtiss-Wright manufactures a range of components for the U.S. military's naval, air and ground systems, including sensors and coatings for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and pumps and valves on nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers.

(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by David Alexander and Dan Grebler)

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