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French Intelligence Targets in USA

by Bill Uttenweiler
The Aerospace Corporation
Vandenberg AFB, CA

During the Cold War, security officers often talked about hostile intelligence services (HIS), since there were over a dozen nations on the Designated Country List. That implied our allies’ intelligence services were friendly. If that was true then (doubtful), it is clearly not true any longer.

About a year ago, a copy of a document was anonymously mailed to the U. S. embassy in Paris and to the offices of the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain. It purported to be a French intelligence service directive outlining high-tech, commercial, and financial information it was seeking on the U. S. The French embassy in Washington denied releasing the document, but did not deny its authenticity.

This type of directive is likely to undergo relatively few changes because it points to strategic information required by the government. Although the list was undated, it was probably prepared in 1989-90 time frame.

What type of information are the French spies being directed to obtain? Here is a partial list of defense related targets--one which sounds like it was prepared by the KGB rather than by a "friend."
* Surveillance, electronic listening, telecommunications, and weather satellites
* Atlas-Centaur 1-2AS launcher (especially the launcher competition with Ariane)
* Strategic Defense Initiative
* Optical elements for satellites (mirrors, composites, and cyrogenics)
* Titan 2, 3 and 4 launchers and liquid fuel booster technology
* U. S. Government agencies including DoD, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos Laboratories
* DoD contractors including Beoing, General Dynamics, Hughes, Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, Martin Marietta, Motorola, Northrop, Perkin-Elmer, Rockwell, TRW, and Westinghouse

The document showed targeting of more than just the U. S. "military-industrial complex." Other targets included Department of Agriculture, the Federal Reserve, Citibank, Prudential Bache, the Republic National Bank, and even Chase Manhattan Bank!

[Webmasters note: This article was originally written in July 1994 for the VSAC News.]