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Although Paisley is under investigation for his conduct as a defense consultant, the current issue of Defense Week magazine raises suspicions about his tenure in the Pentagon. In June 1986, the magazine reports, Paisley abruptly changed the Navy's acquisition strategy for the Aegis missile defense system in a way that threw the contract to Sperry (now Unisys). He consolidated the work on six separate components of the Aegis into a single bid, and since Sperry was the only company that had developed bids on all the components, it was the only one prepared to bid on the consolidated contract under the tight new deadlines that Paisely imposed.
At the Pentagon, one fear is that Ill Wind could force officials to invalidate scores of weapons contracts and throw them open for new bids. That could lead to chaos in procurement and delay production of some weapons systems for years. But the brass may have no choice: if investigators prove that a contract was obtained illegally, a court may rule that contract invalid. For example, Grumman Corp. lost the advanced tactical aircraft contract to the combine of McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics. If allegations in Ill Wind search warrants are proved correct, Grumman could sue to have a new competition.
The House Armed Services Committee planned hearings on the spreading scandal starting this week; the Senate Armed Services Committee will follow in July. Both disclaimed any idea of interfering with the Ill Wind investigation. Their focus will be on determining whether the Pentagon needs new contracting procedures to guard against the kind of massive fraud that Ill Wind seems to be turning up.
Procedural reforms rarely seem to do much good. In 1986 Congress enacted a law intended to close the revolving door by requiring that certain former Pentagon procurement officers wait at least two years before going to work for ; contractors with whom they had conducted "substantial" business. But that did nothing to stave off Ill Wind.