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Submitted by: Bill Hickey
NCVA List Master

NRT-0293 Microsoft Search Tool Reveals Submarine Secrets:

Thanks to Microsoft, one of our submarines isn't missing. In fact, it's on full public display on the internet. US Navy officials are less than pleased that an image available through the Virtual Earth tool on the software maker's Live Search Web site clearly shows the propeller on an Ohio class submarine. The picture revelas the seven-bladed prop in remarkable detail. The image was apparently captured while the submarine was in dry dock at the Navy's base in Bangor, Washington. The photo was first posted on a blog called MonsterMaritime.com. Submarine propulsion systems are made to be as silent as possible and as a result their design is one of the Navy's most closely guarded secrets. Navy insiders say the department is struggling with the emergence of web sites like Microsoft Virtual Earth and Google Earth, which map out virtually every corner of the globe through satellite and aerial photography. The Navy is now taking steps to minimize the chances that top secret technology will again be revealed by such mapping web sites. It's not just a problem for the US armed forces. Earlier this year, pictures on Google Earth clearly showed a classified Chinese ballistic missile submarine.

(EE TIMES 04SEP07)

Last Modified: Saturday, 08-Sep-2007 08:07:12 EDT