Methinks, it was a mistake - there was nothing to be gained from such an act, and the level of incomptenece among officers of various branches of service is quite high. I used to work for a military "intelligence" (isn't that a contradiction in terms?) outfit several years ago. Below is a conversation (as I memorized it) between an Air Force Colonel (the chief of that particular department) and one of his subordinates, a captain, if memory serves:
The colonel shows up in the captain's office with a sheet of paper.
Colonel: You did that report, right? Captain: Yes. Colonel: So check those figures, they are wrong! Captain: What do you mean? Colonel: Look, this should ad to a hundred thousand, but you reported one million. Captain (similing): yeah, right, one zero too many, not a big deal. Colonel (agitated): It is a big deal, it should be a hundred thousand dollars not a million dollars! Captain (nonplussed): So I said, it is just one zero, what's the problem, I can correct that. (laughter from other offices can be heard) Colonel (with resignation): Ok ok, it is just one zero. So please redo that report and bring it to my office.
After that scene, I though what if the "one zero" in question was not in some bullshit financial report, but in a missile coordinate. Well, it looks that such might have been the case.
wojtek