Report: Air Force One data given to Russia

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- Information about Air Force One's unique navigation system was provided to a Russian company in 1998, a U.S. government investigation found.

The U.S. State Department found a subsidiary of defense contractor Northrop Grumman provided portions of the computer source code of Air Force One's navigation software, ABC News reported Saturday.

Investigators said the breech by Litton Industries, which Northrop Grumman bought in 2001, "resulted in harm to the U.S. national security," government documents say.

Los Angeles-based Northrop has agreed to pay a $15 million fine for 110 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the network reported.

"The United States government has never authorized the export of this critical source code, even to our closest allies," the charging letter said. "This unauthorized export resulted in Russia obtaining knowledge in developing critical INS software that is specifically unique to Air Force One."

Officials also said that between 1994 and 2003, the company failed to notify the State Department that the computer guidance system information was also transferred to Angola, Indonesia, Israel, China, Ukraine and Yemen.