Secret weapon targeting system stolen from defense contractor

Talk about almost losing the family jewels: Last week burglars managed to get into a Lockheed Martin facility near Orlando International Airport and made off with the display and controls for an Apache helicopter weapons-targeting system. This system, called a TEDAC, consists of a 5-by-5-inch screen and joystick-like controllers that can be used by a helicopter copilot or gunner to find targets and aim weaponry. The Orlando Sentinel reports that it was recovered Wednesday behind several bushes “south of the business” on Tradeport Drive, according to a police report.

Lockheed, the leading defense contractor for the U.S. military, has a contract with the Army to retrofit every Apache helicopter in the fleet with TEDAC units.

“Obviously, Lockheed Martin puts a high priority on security, and this will be thoroughly investigated,” Don McClain, Lockheed Martin’s director of communications, said Saturday. The burglars who stole the TEDAC apparently did not realize what it was and how valuable it was. “I would think if they were serious about it, they would have taken it or gotten away with it,” said Lt. Shirley Coleman of the Orlando Police Department.

International buyers, such as foreign governments, might be willing to pay several hundred thousand dollars or more for such a unit, according to John Pike, a military-defense policy analyst and director of globalsecurity.org. “They stole the wrong TV,” he said. “They could have gotten a heck of a lot more for the one they dumped.”

Pike said he was puzzled over how it might have been “as easy to steal this thing as TV sets. “Generally, when you have something that valuable, you would have them better locked up, you would think.”