Posted on 02/18/2005 5:00:53 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Experts: New Sub Can Tap Undersea Cables
* USS Jimmy Carter Will Be Based In Washington State
Feb 18, 2005 4:55 pm US/Eastern WASHINGTON (AP) The USS Jimmy Carter, set to join the nation’s submarine fleet on Saturday, will have some special capabilities, intelligence experts say: It will be able to tap undersea cables and eavesdrop on the communications passing through them.
The Navy does not acknowledge the $3.2 billion submarine, the third and last of the Seawolf class of attack subs, has this capability.
“That’s going to be classified in nature,” said Kevin Sykes, a Navy spokesman. “You’re not going to get anybody to talk to you about that.”
But intelligence community watchdogs have little doubt: The previous submarine that performed the mission, the USS Parche, was retired last fall. That would only happen if a new one was on the way.
Like the Parche, the Carter was extensively modified from its basic design, given a $923 million hull extension that allows it to house technicians and gear to perform the cable-tapping and other secret missions, experts say. The Carter’s hull, at 453 feet, is 100 feet longer than the other two subs in the Seawolf class.
“The submarine is basically going to have as its major function intelligence gathering,” said James Bamford, author of two books on the National Security Agency.
Navy public information touts some of the Carter’s special abilities: In the extended hull section, the boat can provide berths for up to 50 special operations troops, like Navy SEALs. It has an “ocean interface” that serves as a sort of hangar bay for smaller vehicles and drones to launch and return.
(Excerpt) Read more at wcbs880.com ...
Carter himself sent all relevant computer discs to the Chicoms and Russkies ...
Was Stan a pussy too?
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