Pentagon vows tough scrutiny of Raytheon GPS control system

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's chief arms buyer on Tuesday vowed "very intense management" of Raytheon Co's work on a ground control network for new global positioning system (GPS) satellites, and said the department would examine other options if Raytheon's performance did not improve.

Defense Undersecretary Frank Kendall told Reuters he believed a new plan that delays completion of the system by two years would ultimately succeed, but said the U.S. Defense Department - and he personally - would remain vigilant.

Halting the troubled program and starting over would have added billions of dollars in cost, and delayed completion of the system by at least three years, Kendall said.

The Pentagon is examining changes to the remaining fees left in the Air Force's contract with Raytheon, but Raytheon's poor performance could also affect its ratings in future weapons competitions, he said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Andrew Hay)