U.S. weapons system designs compromised by Chinese cyberspies
Photo: EPA
Designs for many of the nation’s most sensitive advanced weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry.
Among more than two dozen major weapons
systems whose designs were breached were programs critical to U.S.
missile defenses and combat aircraft and ships, according to a
previously undisclosed section of a confidential report prepared for
Pentagon leaders by the Defense Science Board.
Experts
warn that the electronic intrusions gave China access to advanced
technology that could accelerate the development of its weapons systems
and weaken the U.S. military advantage in a future conflict.
Senior
military and industry officials with knowledge of the breaches said the
vast majority were part of a widening Chinese campaign of espionage
against U.S. defense contractors and government agencies.
The
significance and extent of the targets help explain why the Obama
administration has escalated its warnings to the Chinese government to
stop what Washington sees as rampant cybertheft.
Some
of the weapons form the backbone of the Pentagon’s regional missile
defense for Asia, Europe and the Persian Gulf. The designs included
those for the advanced Patriot missile system, known as PAC-3; an Army
system for shooting down ballistic missiles, known as the Terminal High
Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD; and the Navy’s Aegis ballistic-missile
defense system.
Also identified in the report are vital
combat aircraft and ships, including the F/A-18 fighter jet, the V-22
Osprey, the Black Hawk helicopter and the Navy’s new Littoral Combat
Ship, which is designed to patrol waters close to shore.
As
the threat from Chinese cyber-espionage has grown, the administration
has become more public with its concerns. In a speech in March, Thomas
Donilon, the national security adviser to President Obama, urged China
to control its cyber-activity. In its public criticism, the
administration has avoided identifying the specific targets of hacking.
In
addition, a recent classified National Intelligence Estimate on
economic cyber-espionage concluded that China was by far the most active
country in stealing intellectual property from U.S. companies.
A
spokesman for the Pentagon declined to discuss the list from the
science board’s report. But the spokesman, who was not authorized to
speak on the record, said in an e-mail, “The Department of Defense has
growing concerns about the global threat to economic and national
security from persistent cyber-intrusions aimed at the theft of
intellectual property, trade secrets and commercial data, which
threatens the competitive edge of U.S. businesses like those in the
Defense Industrial Base.”
The confidential list of
compromised weapons system designs and technologies represents the
clearest look at what the Chinese are suspected of targeting. When the
list was read to independent defense experts, they said they were
shocked by the extent of the cyber-espionage and the potential for
compromising U.S. defenses.
Voice of Russia, The Washington Post
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