CHINESE HACKERS ALLEGEDLY STOLE BLUEPRINTS OF THE UNITED STATES MOST ADVANCED WEAPONS SYSTEMS

CHINESE HACKERS allegedly have been using cyber espionage to steal blueprints for the United States' most advanced weapons systems, a confidential report prepared for the Pentagon has claimed.
The report that was obtained by The Washington Post lists allegedly stolen designs for "more than two dozen major weapons systems", including missile defenses and combat aircraft.

Defense experts told the Washington Post that the report links hackers employed by the Chinese government who have allegedly helped advance the country's military systems, thus weakening the US military position.

The public version of the report, titled "Resilient Military Systems and the Advanced Cyber Threat" called the cyber threat "serious, with potential consequences similar in some ways to the nuclear threat of the Cold War".

"[The Defense Department] is not prepared to defend against this threat," the report said. "With present capabilities and technology it is not possible to defend with confidence against the most sophisticated cyber attacks."

Among the systems allegedly stolen were those critical to US missile defenses for Europe, Asia, and the Persian Gulf, including the advanced Patriot missile system (PAC-3), a system for shooting down ballistic missiles known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), and the Navy's Aegis ballistic missile defense system.

Confidential information regarding F/A-18 fighter jets, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the V-22 Osprey, the Black Hawk helicopter and the Navy's new Littoral Combat Ship were also allegedly stolen.

A senior military official told the Washington Post, "In many cases, they don't know they've been hacked until the FBI comes knocking on their door. This is billions of dollars of combat advantage for China. They've just saved themselves 25 years of research and development."

The news is yet another episode in an ongoing series of alleged hacking attacks by China against the US, despite the country denying such allegations. China announced in March that it is willing to cooperate with the US in cyber security after the Obama administration called on the country to take "serious steps" to stop such attacks.

It remains unclear what the US is likely to do in response to this report.