Pentagon removes decades of weapons test reports
Photo: The Pentagon has restricted public access to weapons testing reports (Getty Images)
The Pentagon has removed decades of weapons testing reports from public access, arguing that adversaries could use artificial intelligence to exploit the information, Bloomberg reports.
On July 30, Amy Henninger, director of the weapons testing office, restricted access to 25 years of unclassified annual reports assessing major US weapons programs. The Defense Department said the move was intended to strengthen US operational security, arguing that foreign adversaries could use AI to combine scattered pieces of unclassified information into detailed profiles of vulnerabilities in America's defense capabilities.
These reports are now accessible only to personnel with special military security clearances issued following FBI background checks. Together with the Government Accountability Office's separate annual assessment, they served as the primary public source of information on the status of major US defense programs, including the $1.6 trillion F-35 fighter jet program.
Earlier this year, other Pentagon officials also blocked the public release of the Government Accountability Office's annual report on the F-35 program for the first time in more than two decades, labeling it "Controlled Unclassified Information."
Is the decision legal?
According to Greg Williams, director of defense policy at the Project on Government Oversight, the 1983 law that established the test office explicitly requires its reports to remain unclassified and places no restrictions on their public distribution. A 2011 law also requires every unclassified report submitted to Congress to be published online.
"This language is extraordinarily plain. I don’t see how it can be circumvented without involving Congress," Williams said.
The Pentagon insists that access to the reports was "not restricted" for defense partners - they were moved to a secure website to ensure access exclusively for authorized personnel.
As a reminder, the Pentagon has taken key decisions regarding Ukraine aid structures. Earlier, the department finalized a decision to reorganize the Security Assistance Group–Ukraine, instructing its European Command to implement the necessary changes.
It was also reported that the US made a discouraging statement regarding Patriot licenses for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, while the Pentagon acknowledged lagging behind Ukraine in the field of drones.
