The U.S. Has Removed a 25-Year-Old Archive of Weapons Tests from Public Access — Bloomberg
The U.S. Department of Defense has removed from public access a large archive of reports on tests of key weapons systems, which had been compiled over a period of 25 years.
The documents contained information on the progress of tests and assessments of the effectiveness of U.S. military developments.
The reasons for removing the archive have not yet been officially disclosed. The publication notes that these materials had long been available to the public and were used by researchers to analyze the state of the U.S. defense industry.
The Pentagon believes there is a risk that foreign countries, using artificial intelligence and other modern technologies, could turn even open and unclassified data into detailed maps of vulnerabilities in the defense infrastructure. As a result, access to such reports will be restricted to employees who have received special security clearances following an FBI background check.
What Is Known About Weapons Testing Reports
The bureau’s annual reports were one of the few official sources of unclassified information on the testing of new weapons systems.
Documents from the Government Accountability Office served a similar purpose, but their release was also restricted—particularly regarding the F-35 fighter jet program.
Despite Defense Secretary Pete Hagset’s promises to make the agency’s operations more transparent, the staff of the procurement bureau has been reduced from 120 to 30 people.
Henniger’s actions drew criticism in Congress. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren stated that withholding such information could create additional risks for military personnel, lead to dangerous incidents, and cause significant financial losses to Americans themselves.
This was reported by Bloomberg.
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