-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001582581,00.html
}}}>Begin
TUESDAY DECEMBER 18 2001
Guard tried to sell secrets to Russia
BY SAM LISTER, MICHAEL EVANS AND HELEN STUDD
A SECURITY guard was facing prison last night after an attempt to
sell military secrets for almost £1million.
Rafael Bravo hoped to cash in from the Russians for secrets he stole
while working for British Aerospace. The papers marked “UK eyes only”
and “Nato secret” detailed top-level defence surveillance systems for
Apache helicopters and Harrier jump-jets.
But the unassuming Bravo was trapped by a classic MI5 “sting” when he attempted to
pass the stolen documents to British security service agents, believing they were
Russians.
Bravo stole documents from BAE systems in Stanmore, northwest London, while working as
a night guard employed by Crusader, a private security firm. The disappearance of the
files sparked a security alert and suspicion fel
l on Bravo, who was placed under surveillance.
He was phoned at his home in Willesden, West London, by a man posing as a Russian
agent. Bravo was arrested during a rendezvous at the White House Hotel in Central
London when the “Russians” revealed themselves to be Brit
ish agents.
At the Old Bailey yesterday Bravo, 30, admitted six offences under the Official
Secrets Act and five under the Theft Act relating to the stealing of documents between
June and August this year.
Among the documents he obtained, which all related to front-line defence systems, was
the design specification for Prophet Asic, a state-of-the-art electronic warfare
surveillance system classified a Nato secret.
Another document contained data on a “DLH ship” electronic warfare system, a radar
designed to fool enemy anti-ship missiles and considered essential to the defence of
UK shipping.
A third document detailed secrets relating to the Apache WAH64 attack helicopter,
while a fourth was the latest draft of the Zeus MDD, a system information device for
anti-aircraft missile protection for Harrier jump-jets
.
The two further counts to which Bravo confessed related to a document concerning
“monopulse” radar, another top secret security system.
Watched by his parents and brother in the gallery, Bravo spoke only to enter his pleas
of guilty to obtaining four documents “for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or
interests of the State”, and in one case “useful to
an enemy” under the 1911 Official Secrets Act.
Dressed in a grey suit and blue shirt, he showed no emotion throughout the hearing,
save for the occasional rearrangement of his glasses and short-cropped hair as he
entered his pleas before the Recorder of London, Judge
Michael Hyam.
Aftab Jaferjee, for the prosecution, said: “This case concerns a security guard at
British Aerospace in Stanmore, who abused his position of trust by stealing security
documents in the course of his night-time patrols. He
embarked on an enterprise to sell secrets to a foreign power — in this case, the
Russians.”
Rock Tansey, QC, for the defence, said that Bravo was “in no way politically
motivated” in his actions. Mr Tansey described his client as a man of previous good
character who came from a “very hard- working and decent fam
ily”.
The judge adjourned the hearing for pre-sentence reports and Bravo, who is in custody,
will appear in court again on February 1 next year.
Neighbours near Bravo’s bedsit in Willesden, where he had lived since 1998, yesterday
expressed their shock at his guilt. They described the security guard as one of the
most ordinary people they had ever met.
He is understood to have moved there after splitting up from his girlfriend, with whom
he has a young child.
Jeremy Clifford, manager of SRB Letting Agency in Willesden Green, said: “He came from
a nice family.”
Within days of Bravo’s arrest on August 22, his mother had gone round to the flat to
clean it for the next set of tenants.
Mr Clifford added: “He never seemed the type of bloke you would call a spy. He did not
appear clever enough. I would have thought he was an opportunist rather than a cunning
thief.”
Last night Crusader and BAE Systems refused to comment on the case, which has caused
considerable embarrassment for both.
In 1993 Michael Smith, a GEC Marconi electronics engineer, was sentenced to 25 years
in prison for selling secrets to the Russians after pleading not guilty to four
charges under the Official Secrets Act.
High-tech systems that jam enemy radar were the target
THE documents that Rafael Bravo hoped to sell to the Russians were all connected to
sophisticated electronic warfare and radar systems (Michael Evans writes).
One detailed a US Army programme called Prophet Asic (Application Specific Integrated
Circuit). It is developing an electronic warfare system to be fitted to military
vehicles, which would locate and jam enemy radars. Ver
sions could also be fitted to unmanned air vehicles or drones.
The highly classified programme is based at a BAE Systems establishment in the US. The
British Army is also likely to be interested in the equipment.
Another document refers to a “DLH ship” system. Martin Streetly, Editor of Jane’s
Radar and Electronic Warfare Systems, said that this was a decoy rocket that is fired
from a warship on a parachute, with an electronic dev
ice that can jam incoming anti-ship missiles. It is designed for the Royal Navy’s new
Type 45 destroyer.
One of the most sensitive documents related to electronic warfare systems for the Army
Air Corps’ WAH64 Apache attack helicopter.
Another referred to the Zeus MDD, a threat-warning and radar- jamming
device that is to be fitted to the RAF’s Harrier GR7.
The names of the systems were all mentioned in the charges against
Rafael Bravo. One defence source said this had caused some alarm
because it had put the research projects into the public domain.
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd
End<{{{
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