There are dozens of ways foreign countries can get their hands on U.S. military secrets, including cyberhacking, espionage, theft, and more. But one increasingly concerning way has been through unintentional disclosures by trusted defense contractors, including Boeing, 3D Systems Corp., and RTX Corp., parent company of Raytheon.
In at least three recently disclosed cases, defense contractors lacked the proper safeguards on information for parts they were manufacturing for military projects, including for airplanes, helicopters, and missile systems. The disclosures potentially endangered military personnel and, in at least one case, the secrets were used by a Chinese manufacturer to build unique technology from U.S. military vehicles.
