Spy plane's secrets may give China edge
By Dave Moniz / USA TODAYWASHINGTON -- China will gain a rare intelligence bonanza if the crewmembers of a Navy EP-3 surveillance airplane failed to destroy sensitive technologies before they fell into Chinese hands, military experts say.
The four-engine EP-3 aircraft, forced to land on the Chinese island of Hainan over the weekend, carries high-tech information-gathering equipment found in few other places, said Paul Beaver, an aircraft expert with Jane's Information Group in London.
"This is one of the crown jewels of naval intelligence," Beaver says. "It's some of the most sophisticated electronic warfare equipment available anywhere."
The EP-3 is a long-range reconnaissance airplane that monitors electronic signals on land, including radar transmissions and other communications. It is the Navy's main electronic intelligence gathering aircraft.
In emergencies involving the EP-3, the crew's job is to destroy sensitive equipment and information.
Adm. Dennis Blair, who heads U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, said Monday that he is confident that the airplane's crew would have destroyed sensitive materials before landing. Navy officials estimated that it took the plane between 30 minutes and an hour to fly to Hainan after the collision.
In one of its last communications from the plane, the crew told U.S. authorities the aircraft was being boarded by the Chinese, a senior U.S. official said.
"We have every reason to think the Chinese have been all over the airplane," Ambassador Joseph Prueher said on today's Good Morning America.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao today quoted President Jiang Zemin as saying the plane violated international law and intruded into Chinese airspace by making an emergency landing without permission on Hainan.
"The responsibility fully lies with the American side. We have full evidence for that," Zhu quoted Jiang as saying. "China is the victim."
Zhu, at a Beijing news conference today, appeared to mock the American claim that the plane is protected by international law from outside inspection without U.S. permission, Zhu smiled and told the reporters: "If this plane is sovereign American territory, how did it land in China?"
By seeing the equipment up close, military experts say, the Chinese could gain an unprecedented window on how the U.S. monitors enemy capabilities.
Bill Korthals, a former Navy officer who flew on submarine-hunting P-3s similar to the confiscated aircraft, said crews have a "classified destruction plan" and are trained to quickly destroy sensitive equipment. The EP-3's 24 crewmembers would have had several options, including ditching the airplane at sea or opening the main cargo door to jettison as much gear as possible in weighted bags that would sink. The crew also might have used specially configured grenades, computer memory erasure devices or having someone wield an ax to shatter equipment.
"Destroying the computer tapes and the computer hard drives would protect most of what is sensitive about the airplane," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense, space and intelligence policy analysis organization. "The Chinese would not be able to see what the airplane had collected, and would have a hard time understanding the capabilities of the plane if they could not turn the computers on.
