Security Observations: Osborne Shipyard & Edinburgh RAAF Base, Adelaide

Aerial view of part of Osborne Naval (Ship and Submarine) Yard, Adelaide, South Australia. Osborne and North Haven residential suburbs can be seen at left upper corner. (Photo courtesy Ship Technology .com.) 

---

Over the last 2 weeks Pete has been checking out housing and facilities round about Osborne Naval Shipyard in northwest Adelaide, South Australia.

Pete's Security Observations

There is a boom in Osborne's construction, upgrades and maintenance of Australia's: Hobart class destroyers; Arafura class offshore patrol vessels; future Hunter class frigates; and Collins and future Attack class submarines. Osborne has therefore become a high value intelligence hotspot. 

Another hotspot is the Edinburgh RAAF Base in Adelaide - quietly (except for the noisy AP-3Cs and P-8As) researching and operating much military air, sea and terrestrial surveillance/cyber warfare high tech. 

Hence, in response, predictable in hostile intelligence gathering, growing in terms of:

-  size and number of China's consulate-general (basically a mini "embassy" - perhaps  housing MSS "diplomats" and PLA intel defence attaches who collect military intelligence in Adelaide). 

-  Russia's consulate-general is another threat.

-  in numbers of foreign engineering/scientific academics and graduate students capable of collecting intel (see the US 30/8/2020 experience)

-  Chinese cash is establishing lasting sensitive friendships at Adelaide universities including Adelaide's Confucius Institute

and

-  of course, harder to detect non-official-cover "illegals" (not only Russians and Australian "agents/informants/moles" working for hostile intel agencies.

Institutional awareness of physical security (aided by the isolated nature of Osborne facilities) looks reasonable. Edinburgh, in contrast, is deep in suburbia, so may be easier for hostile intel agencies to penetrate.

Threats also come from aggressive foreign sigint/cyber hacking which can nullify facility security and even the personal security of smartphones, tablets, home PCs and even smart TVs.

"Good" humint approaches can also persuade bosses, employees and contractors to divulge Top Secret information - maybe less likely at beginning of careers. More likely coercion and/or inducements can persuade some to divulge increasingly sensitive information that they gain access 5+ years into their careers. 

Such information could include secrets originating from the US eg. via the Raytheon office at the shipyard and via Lockheed Martin's Adelaide office offsite at Mawson Lakes, UK and French via Naval Group (on and offsite at Keswick Adelaide) and Saab's office in Adelaide. 

Also see “Chinese Intelligence Activities in Australia” June 6, 2017 at https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2016/11/chinese-intelligences-great-job-in.html

--------------------------------------------------------

See "My Concerns About Adelaide Naval Security Vulnerability Vindicated" August 17, 2020 at https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2020/08/my-concerns-about-adelaide-naval.html 
which records:

The subsequent ABC News report “Defence Department warns that 'highly active' spies pose 'extreme threat' to Australia's shipbuilding plan” August 16, 2020 at
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-16/defence-warns-active-foreign-spies-threaten-shipbuilding-plans/12562536 which states in part:

"...Defence has declined to nominate which foreign actors it believes are responsible for targeting Australia's naval shipbuilding industry but, privately, national security figures believe the Chinese Government is the main culprit.

The growing concerns about Chinese espionage are prompting politicians from across the political divide to call for the closure of the sizeable Chinese consulate in South Australia, or a reduction in the number of diplomats based there.

In 2016, Beijing opened a new Consulate-General office in the Adelaide suburb of Findon for around 10 staff, located on a site that also includes the headquarters for the Overseas Chinese Association.

"It hasn't escaped me that the consulate was stood up in the same year that a significant naval shipbuilding program was announced by the Coalition Government," Senator Patrick said.

His concerns about the large Chinese diplomatic presence in a state which hosts considerable defence industry and space research is shared by members of both the Federal Government and Opposition.

"It's clear that the numbers in the Adelaide consulate are overweight — they should be reduced, preferably by negotiation," South Australian Labor MP Nick Champion said.

Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells says ASIO records show similar tactics were used by Soviet spies during the Cold War to target military research in Australia.

"It comes as no surprise that Beijing has overcompensated the 'diplomatic' requirement to serve in Adelaide," Senator Fierravanti-Wells told the ABC."

Pete