US Navy couple held over nuclear submarines spying

A US Navy engineer and his wife have been charged with passing on secrets of America’s nuclear submarines to a foreign power.

The Virginia-class attack submarine New Mexico undergoes trials in the Atlantic. Picture: AFP.

A US Navy engineer and his wife have been charged with passing on secrets of America’s nuclear submarines to a foreign power, after the plot was uncovered by the FBI.

Jonathan Toebbe, who has top-secret clearance, “has passed, and continues to pass, restricted data as defined by the Atomic Energy Act … to a foreign government … with the witting assistance of his spouse, Diana Toebbe,” according to documents unsealed in a West Virginia court.

The papers claim that an FBI official intercepted a package last year that was intended for the unnamed foreign country. Inside were US Navy documents, a letter and instructions on how to enter an encrypted dialogue with the sender, the Washington Post reported.

“Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency. I believe this information will be of great value to your nation. This is not a hoax,” the letter said.

FBI agents then posed as spies for the foreign country and opened communication with the sender. Toebbe resisted requests by the agents to meet in person but eventually agreed to carry out a “dead drop” of further secrets.

Diana Toebbe was seen “acting as a lookout” when her husband dropped off another package in Jefferson County, West Virginia, in June. Inside was a data card concealed in a peanut butter sandwich. The card was found to hold details of the design, operation and performance of the nuclear reactors on Virginia-class submarines, which carry the latest US stealth, surveillance and weapons technology.

Toebbe and his wife were arrested in West Virginia on Saturday and charged with conspiracy to communicate restricted data. They are scheduled to make their first appearance in court on Tuesday.

The US has 19 Virginia-class submarines, with more than 60 planned. The submarine was designed as a fast attack vessel. It is set to be armed with nuclear warheads on top of its existing capacity for torpedoes and missiles.

The Virginia-class is one of the principal candidates, along with the British Astute-class, to be bought by Australia under the AUKUS defence pact.

The Times