[HN Gopher] Honeywell exported technical drawings of B1 Bombers,...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Honeywell exported technical drawings of B1 Bombers, F-35 and F22
       to China
        
       Author : belter
       Score  : 235 points
       Date   : 2021-05-07 17:34 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.defensenews.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.defensenews.com)
        
       | anonymousiam wrote:
       | Seems far less serious than the LM infiltration.
       | https://eurasiantimes.com/did-chinese-cyber-spies-broke-into...
       | (Interesting how it's hard to get details of this hack from
       | mainstream sources. It seems to be classified.)
        
       | russfink wrote:
       | It's fine to disclose /that/ they did it, but /why/ did they do
       | it? Repeatedly?
        
       | alexfromapex wrote:
       | Isn't this worth more than $13 million? Is anyone going to go to
       | jail?
        
         | sct202 wrote:
         | The article mentions it was for specific parts that are
         | commercially available. The headline makes it sound like a
         | whole plane's schematics were leaked.
        
           | oefrha wrote:
           | The headline is editorialized, and very inaccurately at that.
        
         | bpodgursky wrote:
         | My understanding is that the drawings were very high-level
         | illustrations, not technical schematics.
        
           | ARandomerDude wrote:
           | It sounds like it may have been a little more specific.
           | 
           | > Honeywell allegedly used a file-sharing platform to
           | inappropriately transmit engineering prints showing layouts,
           | dimensions and geometries for manufacturing castings and
           | finished parts for multiple aircraft, military electronics
           | and gas turbine engines.
        
           | jjk166 wrote:
           | > Between 2011 and 2015, Honeywell allegedly used a file-
           | sharing platform to inappropriately transmit engineering
           | prints showing layouts, dimensions and geometries for
           | manufacturing castings and finished parts for multiple
           | aircraft, military electronics and gas turbine engines.
        
         | Lendal wrote:
         | No, because of the new rule. If you voluntarily disclose your
         | crimes, (or better yet brag about them on social media), it's
         | not a crime anymore.
        
         | stormtv wrote:
         | Honeywell reported their violation to the government. It is in
         | the governments best interest to not overly punish them as it
         | could lead to companies being incentivized to hide violations
         | instead of reporting them as soon as they become aware of them.
         | Although I do think $13 million is a bit low even when
         | accounting for this.
        
       | aerostable_slug wrote:
       | * The documents were not classified, they were export-controlled.
       | 
       | * Honeywell voluntarily reported their violations.
       | 
       | I was an ITAR Empowered Official. What they did was bad,
       | especially in light of the fact that at least one other time they
       | got nailed for something I would consider a willful violation,
       | but this isn't on the order of disclosing the manufacturing
       | secrets behind a turbine blade or the composition of various
       | coatings on the F-35.
       | 
       | That $5M likely goes into web-based training hell for all their
       | employees, where they spend a few hours clicking through a
       | refresher on ITAR and various export control acts.
        
         | walrus01 wrote:
         | While all those things are true, if they disclosed ITAR
         | controlled jet turbine technical schematics to potential
         | adversaries, that's a real problem... Having the most reliable,
         | fuel efficient, high performance engines in current generation
         | military aircraft is a major advantage.
        
           | edge17 wrote:
           | But then why not make them classified instead of ITAR?
        
             | annoyingnoob wrote:
             | So you can use contractors that don't have a Secret
             | clearance. The government calls a lot of things Controlled
             | Unclassified Information (CUI), its unclassified but its
             | controlled and there are strict requirements on
             | transmission and storage of CUI. See CMMC.
        
               | kryogen1c wrote:
               | this is made up information.
               | 
               | cmmc is not in effect, v1.02 is like 2 months old, and v2
               | is rumored to come out in a month or two.
               | 
               | nist 800-171, which is where the majority of cmmc comes
               | from, didnt even require formal external attestation
               | until like 6 months ago when dfars 252.204-7019 required
               | posting in SPRS to continue doing business with the DoD.
               | 
               | ive never seen, nor heard of, anything actually marked as
               | CUI.
        
               | 5555624 wrote:
               | > ive never seen, nor heard of, anything actually marked
               | as CUI.
               | 
               | It's been around for more than 10 years. See CFR 2018
               | Title 32 Vol 6 Part 2002 (https://www.govinfo.gov/content
               | /pkg/CFR-2018-title32-vol6/pd...) if you want details.
               | DoD implementation ramped up about a year ago.
        
               | annoyingnoob wrote:
               | I've recently seen documents marked CUI. And yes, I went
               | with the most recent information. However, there are many
               | possible markings,
               | https://www.archives.gov/cui/registry/category-marking-
               | list.
               | 
               | You might have seen documents marked 'Controlled' in the
               | past.
               | 
               | 800-171 has been required since 2017.
        
               | tediousdemise wrote:
               | > ive never seen, nor heard of, anything actually marked
               | as CUI.
               | 
               | That's because CUI is a recent label. Per DoDI 5200.48,
               | effective March 6, 2020, CUI is is replacing legacy
               | labels such as For Official Use Only (FOUO), Sensitive
               | But Unclassified (SBU), and Law Enforcement Sensitive
               | (LES). [0]
               | 
               | [0] https://www.dodcui.mil/
        
             | walrus01 wrote:
             | While I have never been involved in jet engine
             | manufacturing, probably because those same engines and
             | their repair parts are sold to a number of US allies and
             | temporary-allies-of-convenience who use US/NATO spec
             | aircraft and systems, where having a classified piece of
             | technology would be impossible to maintain chain of custody
             | on. I'm thinking specifically of all the foreign military
             | sales for the F16, F15, etc.
        
               | goatinaboat wrote:
               | _having a classified piece of technology would be
               | impossible to maintain chain of custody on. I 'm thinking
               | specifically of all the foreign military sales for the
               | F16, F15, etc_
               | 
               | Being in physical possession of a turbine blade doesn't
               | give you the secrets of how to manufacture it, which are
               | extremely tightly controlled.
        
             | metalliqaz wrote:
             | They did, with the next gen.
        
             | [deleted]
        
           | alfiedotwtf wrote:
           | At this point in time, it seems illogical to assume that
           | Americans adversaries do not have all the detailed plans on
           | building secret planes. In fact, I would be genuinely shocked
           | if they didn't know everything at this point.
        
             | cptskippy wrote:
             | Engines are one place the Chinese are lacking. The
             | innovations in fly-by-wire we see in the Chinese knockoff
             | of the Blackhawk was out of necessity because they lack an
             | engine powerful enough to support a platform with hydraulic
             | controls that meets operational requirements.
        
             | nradov wrote:
             | If our adversaries actually knew everything then we would
             | see it flying today. Obviously that isn't the case. The
             | Chinese are still struggling to successfully copy previous
             | generation Russian designs, which are themselves a step
             | behind the latest US and European models in terms of
             | efficiency and reliability.
        
               | vanattab wrote:
               | >If our adversaries actually knew everything then we
               | would see it flying today.
               | 
               | Well maybe they know so much about our F35 design... they
               | choose not to build them ;)
        
               | JohnJamesRambo wrote:
               | It hurts, because it is true.
        
               | 1cvmask wrote:
               | The F35 is an engineering disaster and a hangar queen.
               | Meanwhile the Raptor and Warthog are the epitome of
               | engineering excellence.
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thu
               | nde...
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor
               | 
               | Edit:
               | 
               | Since I am being downvoted here are some facts on the
               | universally acknowledged disastrous F-35:
               | 
               | https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/320295-the-us-air-
               | force-...
               | 
               | https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/hardware/how-
               | the-f-35...
               | 
               | https://acqnotes.com/news/bigest-acquisition-disaster-
               | histor...
               | 
               | https://eurasiantimes.com/inside-americas-trillion-
               | dollar-di...
               | 
               | ---
               | 
               | and here on the excellence of the Warthog:
               | 
               | https://www.wired.com/2014/12/a10-warthog-isis/
               | 
               | and the excellence of the F-22 Raptor:
               | 
               | https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-
               | tactical/why-f-22-neve...
        
               | FpUser wrote:
               | >"The F35 is an engineering disaster and a hangar queen."
               | 
               | It might very well be but it does not mean that it does
               | not have some technologies / components that are highly
               | advanced. The participants would like to keep those
               | strictly to themselves.
        
               | QuercusMax wrote:
               | As a software engineer, I aspire to build software as
               | well-engineered as the A-10.
        
               | Nimitz14 wrote:
               | Fighter pilots seem quite positive about it.
        
               | inanutshellus wrote:
               | I once read an article about how the US spread
               | misinformation about spectacularly expensive programs
               | they were pretending to work on, hoping that the Russians
               | would follow suit and waste govt money.
               | 
               | Over the years as I have read about the F-35 and its, uh,
               | challenges, I've wondered if it's a revenge project. ;)
        
               | api_or_ipa wrote:
               | I don't think you're being downvoted for criticizing the
               | F-35 and instead, being downvoted for thinking the A-10
               | and F-22 programs were epitomes of engineering
               | excellence. The A-10 suffered from wing cracks; the F-22
               | continues to suffocate it's pilots. In terms of
               | engineering excellence, I'd say the F-16 or F/A-18
               | programs were far more successful at developing a
               | successful, useful, adaptable and delivered on-time
               | warplane.
        
               | le-mark wrote:
               | The f-22 was a budget disaster until production was
               | halted, and then the previously on budget and on schedule
               | f-35 went off schedule and over budget. These planes are
               | jobs programs for Congress pure and simple.
        
               | grepfru_it wrote:
               | F-22 and A-10 were the most aesthetically pleasing
               | aircraft. hands down
        
               | hellotomyrars wrote:
               | Your subjective appraisal of their aesthetic appearance
               | has virtually nothing to do with how well engineered they
               | are and is not the issue being contested.
        
               | dplavery92 wrote:
               | >The Chinese are still struggling to successfully copy
               | previous generation Russian designs
               | 
               | This is certainly not true. If anything, the Chinese are
               | very successfully copying current generation American
               | designs.
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu_J-20
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenyang_FC-31
        
               | nradov wrote:
               | Nonsense. Those are superficial copies of some aspects of
               | the airframes. It's the engines and avionics inside that
               | count. What is the efficiency in terms of thrust per unit
               | of fuel burned? How many hours can they run between
               | overhauls?
        
               | trhway wrote:
               | looks like you didn't read your own links -
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenyang_FC-31#Engines ,
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu_J-20#Engines
               | 
               | Look at those round vector controlled engines. It is
               | Russian 4th (mostly 4+ as of today) gen engines. That is
               | the reason Russia hasn't so far been able to build an
               | F-22 competitor - for PAK-FA, out of the 3 key component
               | of the 5th gen, they built body, not bad of a radar, yet
               | they haven't been able to build a 5th gen engine as of
               | today. China has as of today almost been able to
               | replicate that 4th+ gen engine, yet still very far from
               | the 5th gen.
               | 
               | Even more - Russia has actually officially given up on
               | building the 5th gen. They decided to go straight to the
               | 6th gen which is supposedly all about
               | AI/networking/sensors/drones/etc. with engines playing
               | only secondary role. Not that they have much hopes to
               | succeed at the 6th gen game too, it is just recognition
               | of reality that the 5th gen F-22 level engine isn't
               | happening in the near future and thus they need a plan B.
               | In some sense that leaves China totally on their own when
               | it comes to the 5th gen, and that means like at least 10
               | years from the current state, and by that time the air
               | will be dominated by the AI/drones/etc. In that sense AI
               | engineers going to work in China may be more
               | strategically important than the Honeywell drawings :) As
               | an example - the current drone powerhouse dominating the
               | region - Turkey - got their drones built by a returned
               | MIT graduate
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sel%C3%A7uk_Bayraktar .
        
               | grepfru_it wrote:
               | >That is the reason Russia hasn't so far been able to
               | build an F-22 competitor
               | 
               | The Su-57 would like to have some words with you. Granted
               | it is a bit late to the party..
        
               | trhway wrote:
               | that is my point - the 5th gen Su-57 doesn't exist. The
               | prototypes flown are with old engines. And in general -
               | India, who really wanted to buy the 5th gen Su-57,
               | basically having huge pile of cash ready on the table,
               | has basically dropped out of it as declared capabilities
               | of Su-57 just weren't there when it was tested - in
               | particular while the radar is still great compare to
               | previous generation, it is just half the declared range.
        
               | FpUser wrote:
               | >"the 5th gen F-22 level engine isn't happening in the
               | near future and thus they need a plan B"
               | 
               | Accordingly to online sources they are actually testing
               | second stage 5+ gen engine for SU-57 and are hoping to
               | deploy it sometime in 2022. Will they succeed is a
               | different question of course.
        
               | trhway wrote:
               | right, and the best estimates of having a meaningful
               | operational force is by the end of the decade:
               | 
               | https://eurasiantimes.com/russian-su-57-fighter-soars-
               | high-i...
               | 
               | "The Russian military will be supplied with 76 jets by
               | 2028, 22 of which will be operational by 2024."
               | 
               | Even if they deliver on those estimates, i think the
               | skies will be different in 2030-ties (imagine the
               | thousands of Starlink like satellites managing the army
               | of drones - each drone is easy to shoot down, yet no
               | human carrying plane can defend itself from a large group
               | of drones simultaneously firing beyond-visual-range
               | missiles) Anyway, i don't believe those estimates for a
               | lot of reasons. In particular most of the Russian new
               | military hardware - i mean generationally new, not just
               | modernizations - that has been shown and planned for
               | deliveries starting in the last decade hasn't yet
               | materialized, with the money being one of the key
               | reasons. Another is that Russia is still not going to be
               | able to project power anywhere beside its own vicinity,
               | and thus will be focusing on protecting its shores which,
               | given limited financial resources, favors as the first
               | priority ground based advanced anti-aircraft defense and
               | MiG-31 style approach (ie. like SU-35 with advanced radar
               | and missiles instead of going all the way with Su-57).
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | mint2 wrote:
               | Having plans versus actually manufacturing something is a
               | big step. There's a lot of knowledge needed that's not in
               | plans.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | thechao wrote:
               | Right. I have _plans_ for a reusable Mars rocketship. It
               | 's the implementation details I'm needing some help with.
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | 3327 wrote:
         | Well.... regardless of the circumstances if an individual had
         | done this it would be 20-life.
        
           | idiotsecant wrote:
           | Unlikely - for someone to be prosecuted for releasing export
           | controlled material on an individual level and end up with
           | prison time you'd have to demonstrate willfull disclosure of
           | materials - in this scenario it doesn't appear Honeywell did
           | anything willfully, they just messed up.
        
       | 38294473920 wrote:
       | Frankly we need to be sharing more with China and I'm glad to see
       | the first step in place. China is not our enemy. ITAR is an
       | xenophobic encroachment on science. t's ethical and moral
       | imperative that the US shares it and I support Honeywell in this
       | new corporate social activist role.
        
       | fjdncncndb wrote:
       | Throwaway for obvious reasons, but I'm really shocked how the US
       | isn't doing more to prevent foreign state actors from operating
       | inside our borders. I've had the chance to work with people who
       | were openly aligned with the CCP, and I watched them do some
       | pretty shady things. We as a country need to clarify that there's
       | a difference between being critical of the CCP as a government
       | vs. sinophobia/racism.
        
         | yhoneycomb wrote:
         | The problem is it all boils down to sinophobia/racism. At the
         | end of the day, white people in America can't bear the thought
         | of a non-white country surpassing them as the world leader.
         | 
         | Bring on the downvotes.
        
           | moistbar wrote:
           | Yeah, it sure is racist to be critical of a country that's in
           | the midst of a nationwide ethnic cleansing.
        
             | yhoneycomb wrote:
             | You mean the US? Have you seen what's going on in the
             | middle east? And that just scratches the surface.
             | 
             | Not sure where you're getting your news of a "nationwide
             | ethnic cleansing" from, other than western news sources
             | that intentionally feed propaganda to rile people up for
             | war.
             | 
             | There's only one country in the nation with literally
             | hundreds of military bases all over the world, and it's not
             | China.
        
               | fouric wrote:
               | > Not sure where you're getting your news of a
               | "nationwide ethnic cleansing" from, other than western
               | news sources that intentionally feed propaganda to rile
               | people up for war.
               | 
               | Wikipedia begs to disagree with you. This is a real
               | problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_internmen
               | t_camps#Reac...
        
               | moistbar wrote:
               | Oh neat, the wu mao is actually confronting me. Was your
               | blatant attempt at misdirection worth the fifty cents?
        
               | yhoneycomb wrote:
               | Seems obvious that your comments are not in good faith. I
               | feel like I'm talking to a kindergartner with their
               | fingers in their ears, yelling "LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR
               | YOU."
               | 
               | I guess it can be hard to accept that all the propaganda
               | we learned in school - about the US being the greatest
               | country ever, spreading freedom to all, etc. is just
               | blatantly false.
               | 
               | For the record, I was born and raised in the US, but I
               | have come to understand that we are the problem.
        
               | moistbar wrote:
               | Point out where I said the US was the greatest country in
               | the world, please. Again, you can't actually address the
               | problems people have with China, so you deflect back to
               | the US. Meanwhile, countries other than the US, ones that
               | _don 't even like us_, are running the same stories about
               | the Uighur genocide.
               | 
               | If anyone's acting like a kindergartener with their
               | fingers in their ears here, it's the one who's rejecting
               | every ounce of evidence that's placed in front of them
               | that China does, in fact, have problems. That seems to be
               | a point you're critically unable to accept.
        
               | fouric wrote:
               | Please don't name-call, or set up straw-man attacks.
               | Neither of those is appropriate for HN.
        
         | fouric wrote:
         | > We as a country need to clarify that there's a difference
         | between being critical of the CCP as a government vs.
         | sinophobia/racism.
         | 
         | That distinction shouldn't need to be made in the first place -
         | it's pretty blindingly obvious to anyone with basic thinking
         | skills that "the government of a county" and "the
         | people/nationalities/culture of a county" are two totally
         | different things.
         | 
         | Even American county dwellers, who tend to be less educated,
         | can understand this pretty easily - most of them identify as
         | being "Americans", but are still critical of their government
         | (and associated politicians).
        
           | missosoup wrote:
           | > obvious to anyone with basic thinking skills that "the
           | government of a county" and "the people/nationalities/culture
           | of a county" are two totally different things.
           | 
           | The CCP has invested a lot of energy into making the people
           | of China conflate these two concepts. The party IS China and
           | the two are inseparable according to the CCP.
           | 
           | This is where the topic becomes contentious and not so black
           | and white. The CCP has successfully influenced millions of
           | people into doing its bidding abroad. And the CCP is fully
           | aware of the West's strong aversion to racism in any form,
           | and has been able to weaponise it.
           | 
           | Relevant reading: Silent Invasion: China's influence in
           | Australia (2018)
        
           | fatjokes wrote:
           | Yet that is not what we see happening. Indeed this is
           | affecting those who look Asian, let alone Chinese. (The rise
           | in anti-Asian hate crimes is now well reported and easily
           | Google-able in both right- and left-wing media).
           | 
           | The issue is called out-group homogeneity bias:
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-group_homogeneity
        
           | wilsonthewhale wrote:
           | You have really high hopes for the standard American. The
           | offhand racism against Chinese people (not the PRC) I see in
           | online communities, even supposedly liberal ones like Reddit,
           | is very telling.
           | 
           | As an American of Chinese descent, I honestly have very real
           | concerns about my own safety in the next decade or two going
           | forward. Japanese internment camps happened not too long ago,
           | they can happen again. Or worse.
           | 
           | Even if it weren't government sanctioned, violence against us
           | is still on the rise[1].
           | 
           | [1]: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56218684
        
         | Aunche wrote:
         | >I've had the chance to work with people who were openly
         | aligned with the CCP
         | 
         | What's wrong with someone openly having opinions different from
         | yours? If they were really a threat to the US, then they would
         | remain as inconspicuous as possible.
        
           | fjdncncndb wrote:
           | It was more than that, and looking back, it was such a
           | strange situation that I'm not sure I would believe it if I
           | heard about this from someone else. From what I can tell,
           | this person assumed the identity of someone who went to
           | Cornell in order to get hired. Her Cornell email account had
           | the photo of a completely different person associated with
           | it. Her company ID and username on the internal company chat
           | had a different chinese name associated with it than the
           | person we hired, and when asked about this, she said she
           | legally changed her name the week before starting her new
           | job. While she worked for us, she said she moonlights for
           | China United Front to fight disinformation against the
           | Chinese government on Chinese social media. She worked for us
           | for three months before giving us four days notice that she
           | was quitting to go full time with her Chinese social media
           | job. We were both working as data scientists for a large US
           | corporation, and we had access to all sorts of really
           | sensitive internal company data.
        
         | sidlls wrote:
         | China (CCP) is an adversary; an enemy. Full stop. "Being
         | critical" isn't enough. We ought to treat them as what they
         | are: an adversary to be thwarted and fought.
        
           | ben_w wrote:
           | An enemy to be fought and a mere adversary are _very_
           | different levels.
           | 
           | I certainly hope I'm no longer on Earth if and when the USA
           | and China treat each other as actual _enemies_ rather than
           | rivals.
        
             | sidlls wrote:
             | We already are "actual enemies," but the US isn't acting
             | like it. And that's problematic. We should consider China
             | of today the same way we considered Germany in WW2. They're
             | that bad, and we should be acting like it.
        
               | yhoneycomb wrote:
               | Yikes. What's problematic is equating China to Nazi
               | Germany. If you're talking about military aggression and
               | lack of a moral compass, look no further than the US,
               | which has hundreds of military bases all around the world
               | spreading "freedom."
        
               | moistbar wrote:
               | What's problematic is your modern form of holocaust
               | denial.
        
               | fouric wrote:
               | Please don't name-call. Even if the person you're
               | responding to is making invalid points, or being
               | aggressive, that doesn't excuse aggression yourself.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | sidlls wrote:
               | Tu quoque arguments aren't very compelling. Currently
               | there is only one world power throwing entire populations
               | in internment camps, and that's China. And you're quite
               | naive if you think military bases are required to use
               | threats of military and economic violence to assert a
               | country's desire.
        
               | yhoneycomb wrote:
               | China has re-education camps, while the US is literally
               | ravaging nations with their military. I'm not making a
               | "tu quoque" argument, because that would imply that the
               | two nations are on the same level.
        
               | fouric wrote:
               | "Re-education camps" which are closer to detainment
               | camps, repeated IP theft from the US, blackmailing US
               | companies into falling in line with CPC policies, and
               | _also_ invading other nations (Hong Kong) with their
               | military.
        
               | lucian1900 wrote:
               | Why shouldn't a country fight back against US coercion on
               | its soil? And Hong Kong has been a part of China for
               | centuries.
               | 
               | How many countries had the US invaded and is still
               | occupying? How many were threatened into extreme
               | exploitation? How many people are in the ICE run
               | concentration camps?
               | 
               | The two countries don't even remotely compare.
        
               | xtian wrote:
               | > How many countries had the US invaded and is still
               | occupying? How many were threatened into extreme
               | exploitation?
               | 
               | The people you're asking couldn't begin to answer these
               | questions. They don't know the uncontested grisly facts
               | of the US empire because they're not talked about on any
               | of their favorite TV shows.
               | 
               | Anyone who's interested, here's a short book on one small
               | facet of that history:
               | https://www.amazon.com/dp/1583679065
        
               | fouric wrote:
               | > Why shouldn't a country fight back against US coercion
               | on its soil?
               | 
               | What "coercion"? China employs internet commentators to
               | influence online opinion[1] - whereas the US does not (as
               | far as anyone can tell).
               | 
               | > Hong Kong has been a part of China for centuries.
               | 
               | You're misdirecting. China signed the Sino-British Joint
               | Declaration[2], which stated that "Hong Kong's existing
               | capitalist system and way of life would be unchanged for
               | 50 years until 2047"...which China is now blatantly
               | violating, making this an effective invasion - or some
               | form of hostile action - take your pick of words.
               | 
               | > How many countries had the US invaded and is still
               | occupying? How many were threatened into extreme
               | exploitation?
               | 
               | In self-defense. China has _no_ excuse for invading HK,
               | which poses absolutely no threat to them.
               | 
               | > How many people are in the ICE run concentration camps?
               | 
               | Not remotely comparable. ICE detains illegal immigrants
               | for breaking a rather reasonable law - "you don't enter
               | our borders without permission" - and then _returns_ them
               | to their country. China detains _existing_ citizens for
               | thoughtcrime, speaking out against the state, or merely
               | _being Uyghur_ - none of which are reasonable.
               | 
               | > The two countries don't even remotely compare.
               | 
               | Yes - every shred of evidence paints China as being
               | incomparably worse.
               | 
               | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Party [2]
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-
               | British_Joint_Declaration
        
               | xtian wrote:
               | > What "coercion"? China employs internet commentators to
               | influence online opinion[1] - whereas the US does not (as
               | far as anyone can tell).
               | 
               | There are many examples of the US working to influence
               | the internal politics of other countries through media,
               | for instance Radio Free Asia or the National Endowment
               | for Democracy.
               | 
               | https://www.telesurenglish.net/analysis/National-
               | Endowment-f...
        
               | lstodd wrote:
               | What's wrong with influence?
               | 
               | There is a thing called Radio Liberty / Radio Free Europe
               | since 1949. It still exists.
        
               | tinfoilheadsock wrote:
               | or "frenemies". Analogous to most individuals'
               | relationship with google. We get stuff for cheap, but
               | give up our secrets.
        
               | pcbro141 wrote:
               | After seeing how the US performed against the Taliban
               | with trillions of dollars spent, good luck actually
               | 'fighting' against China.
        
               | fouric wrote:
               | I would argue that the Taliban was different - a
               | guerrilla battle (similar to Vietnam - which we also
               | lost) rather than a direct conflict. I believe that the
               | US, while not very good at the former, is still among the
               | best at the latter - although I would rather not find
               | that out through direct experience...
        
               | jonnybgood wrote:
               | > similar to Vietnam - which we also lost
               | 
               | Vietnam wasn't lost militarily. It was lost politically
               | due to the war's unpopularity.
        
               | fouric wrote:
               | If America had been able to win it quickly, then wouldn't
               | the unpopularity not have mattered?
        
               | xtian wrote:
               | Will you enlist?
        
               | xxpor wrote:
               | Why would anyone need to enlist? We have nukes, they have
               | nukes, there won't be a massive ground war.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | zentiggr wrote:
               | It won't be nukes.
               | 
               | It'll be the biggest naval / air / amphibious battle
               | since the Pacific theater of WW2.
               | 
               | Just resolved a LOT faster.
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | baybal2 wrote:
         | > I've had the chance to work with people who were openly
         | aligned with the CCP
         | 
         | How does it surprise people these days?
         | 
         | China had 20 years of relatively good relationships with US,
         | and the world's biggest spy service.
         | 
         | Take a look at Russia, a supposed ally of Beijing. Annually,
         | there are dozens, and dozens of people who are given life for
         | espionage for China. And those are only cases which go public.
         | 
         | Russia is a closed, militarist society, with secret police
         | sticking its nose into everything.
         | 
         | USA is an open country, with open borders, immigration system,
         | freedom to do whatever business you want, and an open society,
         | with a few million people strong entrepreneur class exuberant
         | at the opportunity of doing business even with a place like
         | China.
         | 
         | It is rational to believe that there are way more than just a
         | few random communists who got into your biggest companies, and
         | much likely that there been a many decades long concerted
         | infiltration, and recruitment campaign. This is just what those
         | guys do.
         | 
         | For example, a former "student activist" from Maoist Kharagpur
         | is now running one very big Californian Internet company.
        
         | vmh1928 wrote:
         | This wasn't foreign state actors operating inside our borders
         | it was a sloppy, DIY file sharing system that shipped the files
         | all over.
        
         | HumblyTossed wrote:
         | I'm shocked for the opposite reason. If our politicians and the
         | people they place in charge of government services are examples
         | of the same type of people who run the government contractor
         | companies, I'm shocked that this isn't a rampant problem.
        
       | tomcam wrote:
       | From a cost-benefit analysis that is a dirt cheap violation. I
       | imagine someone at Honeywell made off like a bandit in a private
       | transaction. $13 million is a drop in the bucket to Honeywell,
       | it's absolutely nothing to China, and the turncoat at Honeywell
       | had a life-changing financial transaction, all on the US
       | taxpayer's nickel. Nice work if you can get it.
        
       | slashdot2008 wrote:
       | >The State Department alleged some of the transmissions harmed
       | national security, which Honeywell acknowledges with the caveat
       | that the technology involved "is commercially available
       | throughout the world. No detailed manufacturing or engineering
       | expertise was shared."
       | 
       | If the engines and electronics are used in commercial
       | applications as well as military then does it matter?
        
         | some_random wrote:
         | Parts can be commercially available but still export
         | controlled, which appears to be what's going on here
        
           | tastyfreeze wrote:
           | That sounds like a silly contradiction of regulations and
           | reality. Maybe I am missing something. If something is
           | commercially available do export controls actually stop that
           | thing from getting to prohibited countries? Or, is this a
           | case of regulation not adjusting to the current reality?
        
             | magicalhippo wrote:
             | Guess it's the same as why we have locks on doors. Won't
             | stop someone determined, but raises the bar a bit.
        
               | tastyfreeze wrote:
               | Does it really raise the bar that much? Are secondary
               | sales tracked well enough to penalize one country from
               | buying restricted export items and selling to a
               | restricted country?
               | 
               | It doesn't take very many steps to make tracking sales
               | untenable.
        
               | some_random wrote:
               | It's the difference between being able to get 20 units of
               | XYZ though a middleman in the US and being able to order
               | 20,000 units direct from the manufacturer.
        
             | some_random wrote:
             | To some degree, yes ITAR (or similar export controls) do
             | make it harder to get controlled items, especially in large
             | numbers.
        
             | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
             | You'll find this interesting then:
             | 
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_t
             | h...
             | 
             | >As of 2009, non-military cryptography exports from the
             | U.S. are controlled by the Department of Commerce's Bureau
             | of Industry and Security. Some restrictions still exist,
             | even for mass market products, particularly with regard to
             | export to "rogue states" and terrorist organizations
        
               | tastyfreeze wrote:
               | I'm aware of restrictions on cryptography. I just
               | question the effectiveness of export restrictions. For
               | commercially available products it seems like we are
               | saying that we will only allow green crayons to be sold
               | to countries we like even though everybody knows how to
               | make green crayons.
        
             | stagger87 wrote:
             | There are screening processes when selling export
             | controlled goods.
        
             | moftz wrote:
             | The vendor asks for your information before selling you the
             | part. There's two different regulations when it comes to
             | this kind of stuff. ITAR is for pretty much anything
             | defense related. It's not easy buying something ITAR as a
             | regular person as most companies would probably just refuse
             | to sell it to you unless you worked for a company doing
             | defense work. People have gotten caught in the past by
             | buying things in the name of their employer (or a fake
             | shell company) and then selling it to places like China.
             | EAR is easier to get a hold of as these parts are
             | considered commercial dual-use technology. For example, a
             | new microprocessor has a temperature range that exceeds the
             | typical milspec range (-55-125C) so it's great for high
             | temperature environments like downhole drilling equipment
             | where it can get really hot but this chip would also work
             | well inside the engine of an F-35. The govt has a list of
             | specifications that if your commercial product meets them,
             | it's classified as EAR. EAR is much more lax than ITAR as
             | the govt doesn't want to hamper the commercial sector
             | simply because a technology is new and better but the sames
             | rules apply as to where these products can be exported to.
        
       | coward76 wrote:
       | Manufacturering defense items overseas is a mistake for a
       | xenophobic nation.
       | 
       | Defense spending is largely a waste of money.
        
       | mjevans wrote:
       | Secrecy, and security, require that everyone who could leak the
       | secret, or breach security, understand and actively guard the
       | interest.
       | 
       | In a race to the bottom, lowest bidder world? I think we're all
       | doomed.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | guilhas wrote:
       | They can throw the F35 drawings in the trash
        
       | baybal2 wrote:
       | American military hardware is known to regularly popup in
       | scrapyards in China.
       | 
       | You also will not believe how much US military hardware have
       | major parts made in China.
        
       | 29athrowaway wrote:
       | Only 13 million?! Those programs have costs in the billions to
       | trillions of dollars.
        
       | eh8 wrote:
       | The headline is true but suggests a far more sinister implication
       | than what is actually going on.
       | 
       | A few things that need to be taken in context here.
       | 
       | - The materials in question were sent to China, Taiwan, Canada
       | and Ireland.
       | 
       | - As others have mentioned, Honeywell sent commercially-available
       | schematics to the above countries, not classified information.
       | The article mentions that Honeywell sent parts relating to the
       | engine, this could literally just be a valve or bearing
       | component. I doubt this kind of information is usable unless you
       | have a ton of additional documentation describing their function
       | and utility as a sub-assembly.
       | 
       | - Honeywell reported this themselves. A bunch of articles on this
       | topic use the phrase 'Honeywell admits...' as if this was some
       | kind of smoking gun.
       | 
       | The knee-jerk reaction claiming that Honeywell has committed
       | treason or something like it is unreasonable. Methinks
       | incompetence from the sales department is to blame here rather
       | than malice.
       | 
       | See Reddit threads discussing same topic:
       | 
       | https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/n5vglg/honeywell...
       | 
       | https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/n5tcqg/honeywel...
       | 
       | https://www.reddit.com/r/Military/comments/n4gwma/honeywell_...
       | 
       | https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/n5n1jc/honeywell_admi... -
        
         | fouric wrote:
         | The fact that they sent the designs to _Canada_ , of all
         | places, should suggest that their actions were unintentional -
         | Canada is one of our closer military allies.
        
           | vmh1928 wrote:
           | You could probably chalk it up to a home-grown file sharing
           | repository. Instead of buying a quality commercial product
           | they lashed together something built of free and cheap parts.
           | It probably replicated the files to all the mentioned
           | countries to cache them in case they were needed and the DIY
           | system didn't check whatever security level flags were set.
        
           | seneca wrote:
           | Or it's basic misdirection.
        
             | fouric wrote:
             | I did say "suggest" - although Occam's razor suggests that
             | my answer is more likely to be right.
        
               | eeegnu wrote:
               | For wrongly distributed non-readily available military
               | schematics, I think it's safe to say that Occam's razor
               | isn't a great axiom to take.
        
               | fouric wrote:
               | I don't see how any of those qualifiers have anything to
               | do with my point. Mistakes happen all of the time.
        
       | ARandomerDude wrote:
       | > All together, the materials pertained to the F-35 Joint Strike
       | Fighter, the B-1B Lancer long-range strategic bomber, the F-22
       | fighter, the C-130 transport aircraft, the A-7H Corsair aircraft,
       | the A-10 Warthog aircraft, the Apache Longbow helicopter, the
       | M1A1 Abrams tank, the tactical Tomahawk missile; the F/A-18
       | Hornet fighter, and the F135, F414, T55 and CTS800 turboshaft
       | engines.
       | 
       | All that amounts to $13M in fines, $5M of which Honeywell is
       | allowed to spend? Yikes.
        
         | optimalsolver wrote:
         | I feel like a blunder (or perhaps not?) of this magnitude would
         | get you the electric chair during the Cold War.
        
           | Rebelgecko wrote:
           | FWIW, I looked at a list of ITAR consent decrees from during
           | the cold war. They mostly resulted in fines in the
           | $10,000-$100,000 neighborhood. OTOH those were for sales to
           | relatively friendly countries (West Germany, Canada, France,
           | Ireland)
        
       | smilekzs wrote:
       | The title is currently: "Honeywell exported technical drawings of
       | B1 Bombers, F-35 and F22 to China"
       | 
       | Written this way it appears as if substantial drawings have been
       | disclosed, while in reality quoting the article (emphasis is
       | mine):
       | 
       | "it exported technical drawings of *parts for* the F-35 fighters
       | and other weapons platforms to China and other foreign countries"
        
       | ch33zer wrote:
       | It's funny, if an individual self reported that they'd shared
       | classified documents to China they'd be in jail. A multi billion
       | dollar company gets a slap on the wrist. Seems unfair.
        
         | Godel_unicode wrote:
         | ITAR controlled is (very) different than classified.
         | 
         | According to Honeywell the technology involved "is commercially
         | available throughout the world. No detailed manufacturing or
         | engineering expertise was shared."
        
       | Nux wrote:
       | "China knows everything we know, and many things we do not"
       | 
       | https://steve-yegge.medium.com/hurricane-china-how-to-prepar...
        
         | sidlls wrote:
         | There's not much of value in that screed. He's right that we
         | shouldn't ignore China, but for a number of wrong reasons, and
         | he's terribly wrong about how powerful and wealthy China is.
        
           | fouric wrote:
           | Yegge has spend _years_ working in the Asia region, in a
           | _business_ capacity. What makes you so sure that he 's so
           | wrong?
           | 
           | (I mean, maybe you're right - but that makes me curious as to
           | who _you_ are that you 're more knowledgeable than him about
           | this particular topic)
        
           | MangoCoffee wrote:
           | the current China is like the late Ming dynasty
        
         | bg24 wrote:
         | Excellent post. Thank you for sharing.
        
         | deertick1 wrote:
         | Man this article is interesting and I agree with a lot of what
         | he is saying, especially about people being totally ignorant of
         | how deeply compromised our corporations and intellectual
         | property is.
         | 
         | But wow this guy is on somw type of high horse. Talking about
         | how a third of americans believe conspiracy theories and want
         | college to be more expensive cause they dont want their kids to
         | be "libtards"
         | 
         | And the part where talks about a kid in the US having a bake
         | sale to pay for his brain surgery being some sort of
         | embarrassment compared to China. Pardon me while I roll my eyes
         | back into my skull. You think 90% of the population of china
         | has access to brain surgery? Give me a fucking break. This is
         | the country that not a generation ago were killing children en
         | masse and forcing abortions to stop their population growth.
         | Its not some utopia where all the sick are healed. The CCP
         | couldn't give a fuck about some poor kid in the country side
         | with a brain tumor. Gimme a fucking break. And to say they've
         | eliminated poverty to a greater degree than the US is
         | absolutely laughable. The fringes of Chinese society are dyed
         | in the wool 3rd world levels of living. Even the living
         | standards in the biggest cities are arguably shittier than
         | poverty in the US. I'd rather be impoverished living on an acre
         | of land in boondock Missouri than living in a 200 sqft
         | apartment in Shanghai.
         | 
         | But yeah, we can't ignore the rise of China. We do so at our
         | peril.
        
       | JoeyBananas wrote:
       | We should sabotage the chinese by giving them the plans for the
       | F-35
        
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       (page generated 2021-05-07 23:00 UTC)