An defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been instructed to avoid discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider security environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
