At this point there are more questions than answers about how and why burglars broke into a Lockheed Martin facility in Orlando, Fla., and made off with a highly sensitive Apache helicopter weapons control system before dumping it in the bushes nearby.
The fact that they dumped it in the bushes suggests they didn't know its value and didn't have nefarious plans. But, it was the only thing they stole. Why? According to the police, some people were spotted stealing T.V.s from a nearby freight company the same night so maybe they thought they were stealing some state-of-the-art T.V. and then dumped it when they couldn't turn it on?
The TADS Electronic Display and Control system is a 5-inch by 5-inch screen and with a joystick controller used to aim and target weaponry. Lockheed Martin has a contract with the Army to retrofit every Apache helicopter with a TEDAC system.
"Obviously, Lockheed Martin puts a high priority on security, and this will be thoroughly investigated," Don McClain, Lockheed Martin's director of communications, told the Orlando Sun-Sentinel on Saturday. John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, told the newspaper the system could be worth as much as several hundred thousand dollars on the black market.
Because they dumped the technology, I'm not too concerned about the motivation of these thieves. The big question is what does this theft say about physical security at defense contractor facilities if clueless burglars can break into one by doing nothing more than cutting a hole in the door? It's not like Lockheed Martin can't afford the best security that money can buy.
I've spent part of the morning looking for Government Accountability Office and Defense Department Inspector General audits of physical security at defense contractor facilities and I haven't found any. A GAO spokeswoman told me it's not the kind of investigation GAO would do because they're most focused on how DOD is managing things. Haven't heard back from the IG yet. If any of our readers are aware of studies on security at contractor facilities please share them.
--Catherine MacRae Hockmuth
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