General Electric Aviation Systems has agreed to pay $6.6 million to settle False Claims Act charges made in a whistle-blower suit that it submitted false claims in connection with U.S. Department of Defense contracts, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.

The DOJ said Cincinnati-based General Electric Aviation had contracted to manufacture and deliver to the Navy external fuel tanks for use on the F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter jet. It said the company knowingly failed to comply with contract specifications and failed to undertake proper quality control procedures in connection with 641 fuel tanks it delivered between June 2005 and February 2008. The tanks were manufactured at its plant in Santa Ana, Calif.

Allegations about the company's misconduct at the Santa Ana facility were included in lawsuit filed by a former facility employee, Jeffrey Adler, under whistle-blower provisions of the False Claims Act, said the DOJ. Mr. Adler's share of the settlement has not yet been determined.

The settlement also resolves charges that the company falsely represented to another contractor that it had performed complete inspection of 228 beams to be used on UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, and that they conformed to all contract specifications.

“Defense contractors agree to provide the government with a quality product, and in doing so, they promise to follow strict manufacturing and testing protocols to ensure that our military receives only the best equipment,” said André Birotte Jr., U.S. attorney for the central district of California, in a statement

“In this case, some of the hardware sold to the government did not meet quality-control standards, and that failure could have put our service members at risk. This multimillion-dollar settlement is designed to ensure that General Electric Aviation Systems does not engage in this type of misconduct in the future, and this case should serve as a warning to any government contractor who thinks it can cut corners.”

A spokesman for General Electric Aviation Systems could not be reached for comment.