Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
British military drones secretly transmitted data to China, — The Telegraph
The K3 Scout unmanned aerial vehicles, which the British Royal Marines used for special forces operations, turned out to have a Chinese “surprise” inside. Chinese-made components were found in their cameras, and the equipment was sending data to an IP address in China.
After discovering the problem, the UK Ministry of Defence completely disconnected the cameras from the internet. The ministry says its investigation did not find that secret data, images, audio, coordinates, or military plans were transmitted to China. The issue involved technical messages confirming that the device was connected and functioning.
At the same time, a source for The Telegraph called the incident a serious failure to verify the origin of components and said it resulted in a loss of confidence in the platform. Separate concerns were raised that the devices could have been near sensitive sites and special forces operations.
These drones were also planned to be used as part of a future British aid package to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.