[Milsurplus] Russian equipment-KGB espionage-etc.

[mikea]

On Tue, May 04, 2004 at 09:44:40PM -0400, Bob Camp wrote:
> Hi

>  From what I have seen their first approach was to directly buy 
> technology on the open market. If that didn't work they went in for the 
> back door approach. If they couldn't get it that way then they would 
> start a program to develop it on their own. It certainly cut down on 
> the R&D investment required to keep up with the west.

This was _very_ true indeed. 

I have first-hand knowledge of very large IBM and CDC mainframe
computers being intercepted while in transit from the US to
intermediates who were then going to ship the computers to the SU.

The word I got at the time was that they were intended for their A-
and H-bomb design facilities, the so-called "numbered cities".

At the same time, they developed their own versions of the IBM S/360 
series, mostly from the Principles of Operations manuals and the 
Functional Characteristics manuals describing the particular S/360 
model. They never got the I/O channel system quite right, though. 

-- 
Mike Andrews
mikea@mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin