Designs of a host of advanced American weapons systems have been breached by Chinese hackers, according to a confidential report prepared for the US Defence Department.
Accessing the report put together by Defence Science Board, The Washington Post on Tuesday reported that designs of more than two dozen sensitive weapons systems regarded as critical to US missile defences and combat aircraft and ships have been compromised by Chinese hackers.
While not accusing Chinese authorities of stealing the designs per se, the report contains warnings from experts that electronic intrusions give China access to advanced technology that could aid its own development of these major weapons systems and weaken America’s military advantage.
Unnamed senior military and industry officials cited by the Post reckoned the breaches to be a part of the widening Chinese espionage directed at US defence contractors and Government agencies.
“Some of the weapons form backbone of the Pentagon’s regional missile defence for Asia, Europe and the Persian Gulf,” the paper reported, noting that the breached 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 Defence, or THAAD; and the Navy’s Aegis ballistic-missile defence system”.
The list is also said to feature the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, touted as the most expensive weapons system ever built, estimated to cost about $1.4 trillion. Other designs mentioned include ones relating to 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.
The Pentagon itself submitted a report to US Congress earlier this month in which it charged Beijing with resorting to espionage in order to modernise its military. It went on to say that the hacking targeting the US government appeared to be “attributable directly to the Chinese Government and military”. China brushed aside the allegations at the time, dismissing them as baseless.
Although there was no immediate comment by Pentagon or White House on the report, President Barack Obama is expected to take up the whole gamut of cyber-espionage during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California next month.