

Are Chinese hackers targeting U.S. weapons systems? [audio] - xadxad
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/are-chinese-hackers-targeting-us-weapons-systems

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bediger4000
I guess I'd have to say "so what?"

In the '85-86 time frame, I worked at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Company
(R.I.P.) on the Harpoon anti-ship missile. It wasn't an overly complicated
missile or system, but there were still aspects of the design that Just Didn't
Make Sense. Designed in 1970-72, by 1984 docs and institutional memory didn't
cover everything any more. Bigger, more complicated, older systems will have
even more of the "Just Don't Make Sense" problem.

If Chinese hackers steal some version of some weapons system docs, they're
mainly going to be confused by it. Unless they have every subsidiary piece of
information (Mil-Standards for everything from bolts to lubricants), test
results, and design presentations, and at least some of the design information
about interfacing systems (bomb racks, for the Harpoon example, or perhaps
bolt patterns on the decks of ships) the engineers who get the docs will
mainly spend their time puzzling over gaps in the docs.

