The US Navy’s antisubmarine warfare programmes are snarled by a dispute over choosing a contractor to provide more than $2,000m of essential computer equipment, with the issue lying between IBM and AT&T Co, Dow Jones reports from New York: the two are vying to become the primary supplier of a new generation of Enhanced Modular Signal Processors for as many as 2,000 Navy ships and aircraft by the year 2000; AT&T is presently in the lead, and the Navy has funded more than $300m of research and development at the phone company, but there are strong demands to foster competition on Navy pacts and attempts to address the issue is holding up the programme.
