9/4/2007: Intel News Brief: Naval Secrets Revealed on "Virtual Earth":

During the Cold War you could be shot for spying if you snuck into a
submarine base and snapped pictures of the high tech propellers used
on nuclear submarines.

Now it seems that all you have to do is pop into Microsoft's Virtual
Earth and it is all there for you.

According to MilitaryChina.com,**(See URL Below for full story), Dan
Twohig was scanning the houses on the Bremerton side of Puget Sound
looking for a nice place to live.

He came across an image of a US ballistic submarine in dry dock and
its exposed propeller. Twohig posted a link to the photo on his Web
site.

Analysts are all in a spin about the propeller being revealed, as it
is normally is concealed from spy satellites. A propeller design is a
state secret because it is a key part of the technology of how the
subs keep themselves quiet.

Other Virtual Earth searches found a ballistic submarine in an East
Coast shipyard with its missile tubes open.

Recently new Chinese ballistic missile submarines have appeared
online.

** Full Story plus pictures: http://military.china.com/zh_cn/important/11052771/20070817/14283500.html