Data on Reliability of U.S. Ships : Spy Documents Could Aid Soviets, Walker Trial Told

The documents that Arthur J. Walker is accused of helping to pass to the Soviet Union could aid Moscow in computing the reliability and capability of U.S. ships and weapons systems, a top-ranking civilian of the Naval Sea Systems Command testified Tuesday.

The statement by Walter Konefel, deputy director of a Norfolk-based naval unit that supervises the overhauling of amphibious landing ships, was made in the second day of Walker’s espionage trial in U.S. District Court.

Konefel told federal Judge J. Calvitt Clarke Jr. that Soviet intelligence could use the data allegedly provided by Walker through his brother, John, to pinpoint the least reliable defensive systems of a type of helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ship, the most difficult missions the ships could carry out and their readiness.

Computing Reliability

“You can do things like compute reliability for various systems,” Konefel said. “If the ship’s air radar is down 10% of the time, then it’s up 90% of the time. You can assess the capability of getting all the ships away on a given day.”

Konefel’s testimony in the non-jury trial was designed to bolster the government’s contention that the actions of Walker, a 50-year-old retired Navy lieutenant commander, seriously breached national security. The defense has sought to minimize the importance of the material.

Walker is accused of removing classified data from the files of a defense contractor he works for and giving them to his brother, John, 47, a former Navy chief warrant officer, who is charged as the leader of an alleged Soviet spy ring. Also accused are John Walker’s 22-year-old son, Michael Lance, a Navy seaman, and Jerry A. Whitworth of Davis, Calif.

Other witnesses Tuesday included two FBI agents who detailed interviews with Arthur Walker last May during which he allegedly confessed to having accepted $12,000 from his brother in exchange for secret documents. Walker has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Used Their Mother

Special Agent Beverly Andress said that in May Walker had voluntarily turned over several handwritten pages of notes that referred to the espionage activities of himself and his brother. She said that during the interviews Walker, the father of three, outlined his own extramarital affairs and told how John Walker once bragged that he had used their mother, Margaret, to ferry large amounts of cash back from Europe by strapping a money belt on her.

“John Walker had made a statement that he wished he had a Mafia-type family where everyone was closed-mouthed--a ‘Godfather’-type family,” Andress said that Arthur Walker told her during one interview.

She also said that Arthur Walker contended he was recruited into spying by John, who said he initiated his first contact with Soviet agents while he was still in the Navy. According to Arthur Walker, John parked his car near the Soviet Embassy in Washington for several days until a Soviet agent contacted him, Andress said. Government officials contend that John Walker spied for the Soviet Union for 19 years.

Without Toupee

Appearing without the toupee he normally wears, the reedy, pale Walker has sat quietly hunched over the defense table for most of the trial. The lack of a hairpiece so confused one witness that he could not recognize Walker when he took the stand Monday.

“Do you see Mr. Walker in the room?” Assistant U.S. Atty. Tommy E. Miller asked Emil Popa, Walker’s supervisor at VSE Corp., where Walker worked as an engineer and from which he allegedly purloined the documents.

“No, sir,” Popa replied. “Did he have a toupee?” Miller asked. “I see him now,” Popa responded as Walker gave a half-hearted little wave. “I recognize his sports coat.”