An defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing classified information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
