You can find anything on eBay and Craigslist—including sensitive military gear that somehow went missing from a $750 million roadside bomb detection program!
A Navy intelligence brief obtained by “The Intercept” last week reported that unknown quantities of expensive equipment from a Pentagon-funded program have gone missing, and some have since been found floating around the internet, sometimes under the guise of things like “bird-watching equipment” and “camping supplies.”
“Since 2009, some of this advanced hardware has been reported as missing and is actively being sold or discussed on the global market on a variety of websites,” the brief reads. “Items have been marketed as sporting goods; hunting equipment; bird-watching equipment and camping supplies.”
Other sites found hawking the gear include texasguntalk.com, ar15.com, and sportfishermen.com.
The report cautions that these items “are NOT for civilian use and are controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.”
They’re also not quite sure how many items might be missing—the brief writes that, as some kits are still in use, it is “difficult to compile a precise inventory.” They list 8 types of gear known to be missing, in “varying quantities.”
The up-for-sale equipment includes thermal optic imaging and night vision devices.
“The Intercept” found at least two items from the report listed for sale on eBay—the OASYS-BAE Systems Universal Thermal Monocular was selling for $6,000 on December 3, 2014, although the site now reads that “This listing was ended by the seller because the item was lost or broken.” The CNVD-T Clip-On Night Vision Device Thermal System was recently up for sale for $16,599.00, and reportedly in “new condition!”
From The Intercept:
JIEDDO has been heavily criticized over the years for expending large sums of money without attaining clear results. According to a 2012 report by the Government Accountability Office, JIEDDO had spent over $18 billion yet lacked an effective way to oversee its programs.
