SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Department of Justice says defense contractor ATK Launch Systems Inc. has agreed to pay $36.9 million in cash and services to settle a whistleblower’s complaint charging the Utah-based company sold the military dangerous and defective illumination flares. The Justice Department says ATK’s nighttime combat flares were supposed to withstand a 10-foot drop test without exploding or igniting but failed the test. The Justice Department says the flares were sold from 2000 to 2006 to the Air Force and Army. The whistleblower is entitled to a share of the settlement, but the Justice Department couldn’t immediately specify the amount. ATK says the complaint dates back 10 years when the flares were made by a predecessor company, Thiokol. ATK says it bought Thiokol in 2003.
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