Could USS McCain Have Been the Victim of Cyber Warfare?

With the craziness of the news cycle this week, it’s only natural that with a downturn in interest in the Confederate Monument story, that the Fake News Industrial Complex (FNIC) would find a new story to talk about.

The next scandal in line for the presidency most hated in the media happens to involve a US senator: John McCain. But not the person this time around, even though I’m sure he’s just champing at the bit for an opportunity to get in front of those MSNBC and CNN cameras to talk further about the incompetence of this president, this story involves his namesake: the guided-missile destroyer USS John McCain.

The naval vessel collided yesterday with a merchant vessel oil tanker that actually rammed into the side of the destroyer, breaching its hull and kill multiple sailors and injuring others. The full damage has not yet been assessed, but is ongoing.

What is damning to this report, however, is the fact that the vessels collided in calm waters with high visibility. In an age of modern military equipment, it seems inconceivable that one of our naval vessels could be “sneaked up” on by a commercial ship.

A recent investigation into electronics parts from China may provide investigators with an answer to this mystery. According to the Gateway Pundit, a Senate investigation committee looked into the sale of substandard “counterfeit” electronics parts that were being sold to the US military at full price as original equipment. What was discovered was a complete surprise.

On Monday the USS John S. McCain suffered serious damage to its hull when it was rammed by an oil tanker near Singapore.

The seas were calm and the visibility was unrestricted at the time of the collision.

FOX News reported:

The seas were relatively calm, and visibility was unrestricted. The bow of the container ship, the Philippine-flagged ACX Crystal, slammed into the Fitzgerald’s right side above the waterline, quickly flooding several areas inside the ship, including a berthing, or sleeping, area.

Seven sailors drowned.

According to FOX News, the US military ordered an investigation to determine the factors behind the collision – including a review into the possibility of “cyber intrusion or sabotage.”

This was the fourth Navy collision of this type since January.

A senate investigation in 2012 found over one million counterfeit parts used in the US military.

CNN reported:

The results of a more-than-year-long Senate investigation into counterfeit parts being used in U.S. military equipment were released Monday and – as they had from the start – investigators are putting most of the blame on China.

The committee reviewed in detail approximately 1,800 cases of suspect counterfeit parts. All told, the 1,800 cases involved more than 1 million counterfeit parts.

Which begs the question: Is it possible that China has been selling these substandard faulty electronics parts for the pure purposes of sabotaging our US navy and its equipment?

With cyber-warfare becoming a larger part of the overall landscape in possibility, the question should be taken seriously by our intel community. If not for these parts, could our Navy be operating with a clean bill of health in the way of accident-free exercises?

The next logical question is why the United States has not invested more in Silicon Valley for these parts to be produced here in this country? We have the means, the people available to work, the technology, and the resources. Isn’t it time to give our American technology companies the nod to produce 100% of our military-grade electronics?

Perhaps that’s a bit simple, but I believe you get where I’m going with this. The time has come where we need to bring these technology jobs back to the United States and quit attempting to make it sound like this is a situation that requires nuance. 10 sailors are dead, many more injured, and millions of dollars worth of damage to our naval vessel.

If that’s not enough of a reason to begin this work in America, I don’t know what is.