Pentagon Plans Deep-Cover Spying Program for Economic Warfare

The United States Department of Defense is planning a deep-cover spying program designed to conduct economic warfare against China and other global competitors. The initiative involves deploying nonofficial cover officers (NOCs) who pose as private-sector businesspeople to operate without overt government affiliation or diplomatic immunity, a strategy that carries significant operational risks.

Tom Rakusan, a former CIA deputy director of operations and current senior adviser to Deputy Defense Secretary Steven Feinberg, is overseeing the planning phase. The program is intended as a covert complement to the overt Economic Defense Unit, which has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign and domestic mining and refineries, including a $750 million investment in rare earth minerals in Brazil.

The initiative has reportedly caused tension with the Central Intelligence Agency, which traditionally manages human intelligence. Experts from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security have also been recruited to assist in the effort.

The Pentagon has denied the existence of the program. Deputy Press Secretary Jacob Bliss stated that the claims were "simply not true."