U.S. Sub Fleet Considered Safe Despite Spies

Despite information about U.S. submarines that may have been passed to the Soviets by a spy ring, America’s subs are safe and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, top Navy officials told Congress today.

“We have seen no developments at this point” that endanger the missile-firing subs that form the heart of the U.S. nuclear strike force, Navy Secretary John Lehman told the House Armed Services sea power subcommittee.

Instead, new advances in technology are making it more difficult to track subs, he said.

“The hiders are gaining an advantage over the seekers,” he said. “In fact, the trend of the oceans is toward getting more opaque rather than less opaque.”

‘Jewel in Our Crown’

Adm. James Watkins, chief of naval operations, told the panel that the subs, the “jewel in our crown,” remain “secure and we know that,” despite any information that may have been passed to the Soviets by the alleged Walker family spy ring.

John A. Walker Jr., a former Navy warrant officer who served aboard submarines in the 1960s, is the alleged ringleader of the spy network that authorities charged included his brother Arthur, his son Michael and a close friend, Jerry A. Whitworth.

All four--who are current or former Navy men--have been charged with espionage and have pleaded innocent.

Watkins testified that while the damage was serious, the worst losses involved codes and communications equipment that has since been changed.

Subcommittee Reassured

Lehman also reassured the subcommittee that the Navy is certain its subs remain undetectable to the Soviets, although he declined to say publicly how the service knows that.

The information the Navy has about Soviet ability to track U.S. subs is among the nation’s most highly guarded military secrets.

Because the subs can move quietly through the vast ocean reaches, they are considered far more invulnerable to a Soviet surprise attack than are the other two legs of the U.S. three-pronged nuclear deterrent, the land-based missiles and B-52 bombers.

The Walker case raised fears that the Soviets may have gained information making it possible to track the American boats, but both Watkins and Lehman confidently disputed that concern.