Whistleblowers filed a civil fraud case against Northrop Grumman in 1989. Though it initially declined to participate, the government joined the case in 2001, accusing Northrop of fraud in two separate instances. They alleged that in the early 1980s, Northrop “engaged in a fraud scheme by routinely submitting false contract proposals,” and “concealed basic problems in its handling of inventory, scrap and attrition.” In the second instance, the plaintiffs alleged that Northrop “lied to the government during a ‘Critical Design Review’” for a B-2 Bomber radar jamming device. Northrop settled the claims for approximately $62 million.