[daveslash]

>> A patent isn't going to prevent a foreign government from copying a technology in their own country

Absolutely agree. But that's probably a moot point if the secret in question has already gotten out and you're/we're aware of it ("gotten out", at least from an intelligence standpoint). If that's the case, maybe they're just trying to protect the rights to said technology within the U.S. -- if they know the secret has gotten out to a foreign state, it would be problematic to have said foreign state patent said secret here, thereby preventing U.S. companies from making it? Just guessing...

[close04]

> It’s also worth noting the well-established trend of the U.S. military making use of the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 to file patents unavailable for public viewing

I could be that real patents are filed under the Invention Secrecy Act, and misdirection patents are made public.