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Home Front: WoT
U.S. Naval Engineer Pleads Guilty to Spying Bid
2015-06-17
[AnNahar] A U.S. Navy engineer pleaded guilty Monday to attempted espionage for Egypt after offering details on the layout of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Gerald Ford while under construction.

Mostafa Ahmed Awwad, 36, a civilian who worked at the Norfolk, Virginia shipyard where the highly sophisticated sub is being built, offered the information to an undercover FBI agent posing as Egyptian intelligence in September.
Good lord, what would the Egyptians do with such information? They couldn't possibly build the thing, and even if they could, they haven't the kind of trained manpower to be able to run it. Mr. Awwad is an idiot.
Awwad, who entered his plea before US District Judge Raymond Jackson, had offered a USB drive with some of the details on the cutting-edge supercarrier's layout.

He also offered to supply the rest of the information on the ship, which can carry some 4,000 sailors, to Cairo.

"The National Security Division will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who abuse their access to sensitive defense information," Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement.

Assistant FBI Director Randall Coleman stressed that "we prevented the loss of billions of dollars in research costs and the exposure of potential vulnerabilities to our newest generation of nuclear aircraft carrier."

Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of eight to 11 years.
Posted by:trailing wife

#9  Put him in the cell next to Jonathan Pollard. I'm sure the resulting banter will be interesting.
Posted by: Pappy   2015-06-17 16:42  

#8  Waiting for Cair to cry foul, that he was targeted because of his name.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2015-06-17 14:25  

#7  "No really it is a submersible aircraft carrier."
I'm sure the Egyptian version would be.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2015-06-17 14:25  

#6  If they'd been building that ship in California the Chinese might have gotten to Mostafa before the FBI.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2015-06-17 12:59  

#5  No really it is a submersible aircraft carrier.

Then what are the sails for?

Dammit man, can't get to the moon without sails.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2015-06-17 11:44  

#4  Good lord, what would the Egyptians do with such information?

The question is how much would the Russians/Chinese/et al pay/trade for it? In money or kind.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2015-06-17 08:50  

#3  what would the Egyptians do with such information?
They would broker or propagandize it of course, but this was a FBI poser.

A U.S. Navy engineer pleaded guilty
Mostafa Ahmed Awwad, 36, a civilian who worked at the Norfolk, Virginia shipyard
a prison sentence of eight to 11 years
Isn't that more akin to 'armed robbery' than TREASON?

Posted by: Skidmark   2015-06-17 04:16  

#2  Not to quibble with AnNahar, but the shipyard is across the James River, in Newport News. And the Gerald Ford is an aircraft carrier, not a submarine.

And Awwad was a custodial engineer?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2015-06-17 02:06  

#1  Norfolk, Virginia shipyard where the highly sophisticated sub is being built
Not to quibble with AnNahar, but the shipyard is across the James River, in Newport News. And the Gerald Ford is an aircraft carrier, not a submarine. If Awwad's 'facts' weren't any better than that he wasn't much of a spy.
Posted by: Glenmore   2015-06-17 01:51  

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