F 35 Shot Down Before It Could Fly? By *Gordon Duff

“Another spy disaster like Pollard, shoved under the rug too long due to pressure from the powerful Israeli lobby.”

On April 21, 2009, the Department of Defense announced the theft of 1.5 terabytes of data on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the platform meant give the United States and her allies air superiority for the next 40 years.  In a flash, all that was gone, $300 billion dollars of funding down the drain, every system, defense, offense, stealth, everything needed to build one or shoot it down, all gone.  Day one, China was accused but it wasn’t China, it wasn’t Iran, it wasn’t Pakistan.  The theft left a clear signature, one identical to the data Wikileaks has been receiving, sources inside the Pentagon repeating the actions of Israeli-Soviet spy, Jonathan Pollard.  As vital as the F-35 is to America’s defense, Pollard’s triumph on behalf of Soviet Russia and Israel dwarfs the current espionage coup.

Since the 2009 announcement, there has been nothing but silence.

When the theft was announced, Pentagon “damage control” went into action immediately branding the disaster as “unimportant” while scrambling to look for any possible way to “put the toothpaste back into the tube.”  What Secretary Gates came up with was a simple denial and to pretend it never happened.  With the continual efforts by the Israeli government to secure the release of master spy Jonathan Pollard, a “witch hunt” for another Israeli spy would endanger America’s hopes of winning a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

There was no real question, this was another Israeli operation, their “signature” was all over it.

“AN UNPRECEDENTED DISASTER”

What did America lose?  15 years of research and development?  That doesn’t come close.  Key components of the F-35, from stealth materials, flight and weapons systems, to tens of thousands of man-hours of systems programming are now “out there,” available to any potential rival, military or commercial.  At best, it could be considered a $300 billion dollar bank robbery, by American standards, nothing new in today’s financial world.

Another spy disaster like Pollard, shoved under the rug too long due to pressure from the powerful Israeli lobby.

At worst, nations whose defense capabilities were decades behind the US can now be at par, as the F-35 was estimated to be “air superiority capable” until at least 2040. Data stolen could make production of a comparable aircraft possible in as little as 36 months, particularly with several projects in the offing, Russia/India and in China, each of which are capable of quickly adapting upgraded systems.

The JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) in its three variants, conventional takeoff/landing (CTOL, carrier variant (CV) and short takeoff/vertical landing (STOLV), are scheduled for production through 2026 with estimates of service life until 2060 and beyond.  Export versions of the F-35, “detuned” are available for American allies, NATO and Israel.  The F-35 delivers more “punch” per dollar than any current “legacy” fighter by a margin of as much as 8 to 1.

AIR DEFENSE VULNERABILITY

In March, 1999, on the 4th day of American involvement in the Bosnian war, Serbian forces shot down an F-117 stealth bomber using a Soviet SA 300 air defense system with radar modifications based on data secured through espionage.

Data on the resonant frequencies of the materials and surfaces of the F-117 made it possible for radar to, not only detect a plane previously believed “invisible’ at a range of 13 kilometers, but to successfully destroy one, an embarrassment the US feels the sting of even today.

The stolen data on the F-35 covers more than simple materials but all jamming and other defensive systems and performance characteristics.  Air defense systems can now be tuned specifically to find only the F-35 if so required.

THE TRAIL OF THE SNAIL

Wikileaks are called “leaks.”  Julian Assange darts from country to country, hotel to TV studio, always ahead of the security forces hunting him down, a veritable “Nordic” bin Laden.    Newspapers are peppered with photographs of a boyish face in the uniform of the American army, identified as the potential “leaker.”  The 46,000 intelligence/counter-intelligence officers of the Department of Defense, supplemented by the FBI and 16 other agencies and 40 other departments, more “bodies” than currently serve in Afghanistan, we are told, are unable to rein in this “dangerous duo.”

Documents by the hundreds of thousands are leaked, upon qualified examination, showing careful screening with many documents edited and more selected out of series with careful gaps and omissions.  A single non-commissioned officer, watched 24 hours a day by tens of thousands of security officers and threatened with life in prison, is an unlikely suspect.  However, there has been no mention of any others nor has there been a mention of an investigation of any kind.  In fact, there seems to me no attempt whatsoever to curtail these current leaks.

What does this tell us?

WHEN IS A LEAK “HACKING” AND WHEN IS HACKING A  “LEAK” AND WHAT IS “ESPIONAGE?”

It was never announced when, exactly, the theft of the F-35 data occurred.  The press release was April 21. 2009, long enough after President Bush left office for the blame to evade his administration, one infamous for “leaks” such as the “Scooter” Libby (Liebowitz) “outing” of CIA nuclear proliferation specialist Valerie Plame.

Despite the “cute” attempt by the Department of Defense and Secretary Gates to refer to espionage as “hacking,” there is nothing either innocent or harmless about it.  As all data is formatted for electronic media and secured by firewalls and passwords, all espionage is “hacking.”

The difference between “leaking” and “spying” is semantics.  The goal is the same, destruction of the defense capabilities of the United States, except “spying” pays better.

The people responsible for each, particularly when they access the same systems and overcome the same roadblocks, all requiring the same physical access, are one in the same.

Those who “leak” perform an identical task to those who spy.

Those who leak, those who have leaked appear to be, to any reasona ble person, exactly the same people who are spying now and who were supporting Pollard.

The first place we look, before new Russian, Indian, Iranian or Chinese version of the F-35 take flight or our first F-35 meets a fiery end is Israel.  No Chinese or Pakistani’s or Iranians have gained by the F-35 espionage “clone” operations known as “Wikileaks.”

Assange is a recipient.  He may well be a “dupe.”

The group rifling the “underwear drawers” of the Pentagon may well, at times, be pranksters pulling America’s tail, Pentagon insiders all.

They are also spies.

*Gordon Duff is a Marine Vietnam veteran, and Senior Editor at Veterans Today. His career has included extensiveexperience in international banking along with such diverse areas as consulting on counter insurgency, defense technologies or acting as diplomatic officer of UN humanitarian groups. Gordon Duff’s articles are published around the world and translated into a number of languages. He is regularly on TV and radio, a popular and sometimes controversial guest.