The following excerpt is from Fontalvo v. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Civil Action No. 13-cv-0331-GPC-KSC (S.D. Cal. 2013):
To invoke the government contractor defense, the contractor must show three elements: "(1) the United States approved reasonably precise specifications; (2) the equipment conformed to those specifications; and (3) the supplier warned the United States about the dangers in the use of the equipment that were known to the supplier but not to the United States." Boyle v. United Tech. Corp., 487 U.S. 500, 512 (1988). The Boyle court explained that the procurement of military equipment involved "uniquely federal interests" that sometimes preempt a plaintiff's product liability claims against government contractors. Id. at 504. The parties dispute whether Defendant has sufficiently shown a "colorable" claim to the government contractor defense.
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