http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=37173
By Bob Brewin
June 12, 2007
The Army is considering using a radio frequency identification network
in Pakistan that is partly owned by a Chinese company to track shipments
to American forces in Afghanistan, according to internal briefing
materials obtained by Government Executive.
The Defense Department has used RFID tags with a range of 300 feet to
track movements of containers and pallets to U.S. forces operating in
Afghanistan and Iraq as well as other forces globally.
The tags contain a computer chip that stores information about the cargo
and an antenna that beams the information to RFID tag readers. From
there, the information is passed to the Global Transportation Network
operated by the U.S. Transportation Command. That network rides on the
Defense's internal Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network.
Authorized users of the Global Transportation Network can "see" in real
time the arrival and departure of container shipments. The overall
system consists of 2,700 tag sites which read more than 134,000 tags a
week, according to the briefing, issued by the Army Program Manager for
Joint-Automatic Identification Technology.
But according to that briefing, Defense lacks the ability to read tags
on shipments sent through Pakistani ports for onward movement by truck
to Afghanistan "due to inability to obtain country clearance to install
DoD fixed RFID infrastructure."
The program manager's briefing said the Army intended to resolve that
problem by using a commercial RFID infrastructure installed in Pakistan
by a firm called Savi Networks. That company is a joint venture between
Savi Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, and
Hutchinson Port Holdings, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited of
Hong Kong, controlled by Chinese billionaire Li Ka Shing. Savi
Technology owns 51 per cent of Savi Networks and Hutchinson 49 per cent,
according to a 2005 press release announcing the partnership.
The Program Manager for Joint-Automatic Identification Technology
briefing, done for the Navy this May, said it intended to modify its
contract with Savi Technology to use the Savi Networks RFID
infrastructure in Pakistan starting last Thursday.
But in response to a query from Government Executive, Air Force Maj.
Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said Defense "is still assessing
whether to utilize a commercial solution for Pakistan ... in accordance
with DoD information assurance policy." Ownership of commercial
infrastructure is a factor that needs to be carefully considered during
the risk assessment process, Ryder said.
Mark Nelson, a spokesman for Savi Technology, said Defense should not
have any concerns about the security or integrity of data riding over
the Pakistan infrastructure, since Hutchinson is only a passive investor
in Savi Networks.
But Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a Washington-based
foundation, charged that Hutchinson is "a front for the Chinese
government," citing a Central Intelligence Agency analysis from 1998
concluding that Li Ka Shing "is directly connected to Beijing and is
willing to use his business influence to further the aims of the Chinese
government."
Last month Defense issued its annual report on Chinese military
capabilities to Congress, which included sections on increased use of
information warfare. Philip Coyle, senior adviser for the Center for
Defense Information, a Washington-based think tank focused on defense
and security issues, said that if the Pentagon is "going to keep making
China out to be an enemy, DoD should have security concerns about a
Chinese-owned company running a U.S. Army information network."
The Center for Public Integrity estimated last month that the United
States has provided the government of Pakistan with $5 billion in
funding since 2001. Coyle said considering that level of funding, "it
does seem odd that Pakistan won't allow a DoD network infrastructure,
especially when what it is being used for is to track U.S. Army
supplies."
Received on Wed Jun 13 01:02:00 2007