THE SOVIET UNION IS UNDERTAKING A LARGE-SCALE EFFORT TO IMPROVE THE TECHNOLOGICAL QUALITY OF ITS HUGE WAR-FIGHTING APPARATUS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505010005-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 10, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: February 1, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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THE SOVIET CONNECTION I
DEFENSE 82
U.S. DEPARTMENT of DEFENSE
FEBRUARY 1982
STAT
STAT
THE SOVIET
Union is undertaking a large-scale
effort to improve the technological
quality of its huge war-fighting
apparatus. The assessment of the
Department of Defense and of the
Reagan Administration is that this
highly coordinated Soviet effort is
being carried out at the expense of
the Free World by a raid on our
technology base.
Soviet leaders have learned that
they have access to Western tech-
nology both through legal and il-
legal channels. Under the guise of
purchases for benign, civilian objec-
tives, the Soviets have obtained a
The USSR has taken advantage
of our loose export controls and-
legally or otherwise- acquired
vital goods and equipment.
got off with modest fines.
The result? The Soviet raid on our
technology base not only con-
tinued-it increased in scope.
Let me describe for you how all
this occurred, how the Soviets, prof -
ited as a result, and what we are
doing about it.
We would do well to recall that
By Richard N. Perle
Assistant Secretary of Defense
For International Security Policy
wide range of equipment critical to 'LLLy a uc%.auo as" LL, wazo iaaiiiuiiaujC
their military program. Where they to believe the Soviet Union would
have failed to get what they want shift its emphasis from military pur-
openly, they have resorted to a well- suits to improving the material well-
coordinated, illegal acquisition pro- being of its citizens. Many felt the
gram. Using agents, co-opting citi Soviets, with the right encourage
zens, taking advantage of unsus- ment, would manufacture fewer
pecting business men and women, guns and, instead, produce
moving goods through neutral and consumer goods greatly desired by
third world countries, exploiting the their people..ingly, national
and internatioonal nalco controls were re-
weaknesses in our control system, structured to give the Soviet Union
they are gaining access to Western more access to Western technology
technology on an unprecedented and products.
scale. Sophisticated goods and equip-
Until now, the West has failed to ment were sold with winks and nods
respond to this challenge. Our ex from Free World countries. Indeed,
port requirements were too loose. it is a sad fact the United States
Our enforcement program was lax. actually requested and received
Too many loopholes in our interna- more exceptions to the international
tional control system persisted. control list than any other partici-
Clear-cut violations of international pating Western nation. It is even
export laws were forgiven and for- more grim to note, in retrospect,
gotten. Violators, when they were many of the exceptions granted to
caught, were either not punished or the United States under the interna-
Frnm congressional testimony. November 12. 1981 tional control program contributed
directly to Soviet military moderni-
zation.
Today, we can see the result of
the laissez-faire attitude of the last
decade in the size and in the
technological capability of the
Soviet armed forces. The Soviets
have introduced new generations of
smart weapons, dramatically
improved their airlift capability,
made their nuclear weapons more
accurate and deadly, and enhanced
their command and control with
better computers and communica-
tions.
The Soviet Union fields some
50,000 effective main battle tanks
and over 20,000 artillery pieces, all
of which are protected by a sophis-
ticated anti-aircraft net which can
move with the Soviet land army.
There are more than 5,000 heli-
copters supporting the armed forces
including helicopter gunships, some
of which are in service in Afghani-
stan. In Eastern Europe alone, there
are 3,500 advanced tactical
bombers, interceptors, and fighter
aircraft. In the last eight years,
Soviet military industry has turned
out over 1,000 fighter aircraft each
year. The operational supersonic
backfire bomber can support Soviet
land and naval forces in critical
areas such as the Middle East and
Persian Gulf.
In addition, the Soviets are ex-
panding their nuclear arsenal.
cow'
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:Western Europe. Japan, and China
are under the shadow of a new
family of Soviet SS-20
intermediate range
ballistic missiles.
Each missile
is equipped with'
three independently
targeted nuclear
warheads.
Despite the evidence showing
that the Soviet Union continued its
military build-up and modernization
program, the liberalized system of
international export controls was al-
lowed to persist unchanged. As a
result, the Soviets continued to use
Western technology to support their
burgeoning military-industrial
system:
Today, there are over 135 military
industrial plants operating in the
Soviet Union, spanning over 40 mil-
lion square meters of factory floor
space and turning out more than
150 major weapons systems. In ad-
dition, there are hundreds of fac-
tories producing both civilian and
military goods, with the first
priority always for the military.
And, there is a stand-by system of
dedicated factory space to pick up
military production in wartime.
Since 1970, despite "detente," the
USSR has increased its military.
manufacturing base by 40 percent.
In the comparable period, our mili-
tary industry shrank as our defense
investment declined. While we
struggled over what weapon -
systems to produce, and cancelled
many important programs, the
Soviets pushed ahead dramatically.
. Nor did their effort stop with
adding manufacturing capacity. The
USSR has been enlarging its
research and development structure
to support its growing military in-
dustry. In aerospace alone, in this
past decade, they have expanded
their research and development
capacity by over 30 percent.
The manpower pool of scientists
and engineers for research and de-
velopment is also expanding. In
1980, this base of professionals con-
sisted of 900,000 engineers and
scientists-the world's largest. It is
sobering that for 1980, the Soviet
Union graduates an additional
300,000 engineers to buttress this
undertaking.
Even with her massive domestic
effort and the help she gets from the
Warsaw Pact countries such as East
Germany and Czechoslovakia, the
Soviets cannot, nor are they trying,
to go it alone. They rely heavily on
Western technology for industrial
modernization and new products.
From the Soviet point of view,
there are immense benefits from ex-
ploiting the West's advanced tech-
nology base. These benefits to the
Soviets include:
? Saving billions of dollars by
acquiring proven Western
technology,
? Saving years of research
time,
? Avoiding mistakes and errors
that are costly and time-consuming,
? Knowing in advance that
new systems will work properly and,
alternatively, knowing where to look
should a particular project get in
trouble.
The list of technology-for military
use acquired from the West is a long
one. It includes high-speed
computers used for designing
weapon systems, signal processing,
command and control and iritelli-
gence gathering; semi-conductor
manufacturing know-how used to
make Soviet weapons more reliable
and precise; guidance technology for
aircraft, ships, submarines, and mis-
siles; and equipment to improve the
Soviet military industrial base-
ranging from precision machine
tools to process know-how
technology.
Much of this has happened
because our international control
system has broken down. That'
control system is centered around a
voluntary organization called the
"coordinating committee," or
COCOM. Under COCOM controls,
critical goods were legally exported
to the Soviet Union'. Some examples
include:
? Western shipbuilding know-
how and equipment including dry
docks, expanding their naval con-
struction, and repair capabilities.
? Heavy vehicle construction
plants and plant support facilities
giving the Soviets a quantum jump
in load durability and reliability and
far better mobilization potential.
For example, Kama River trucks are
used by the Soviet army in Afghani-
stan.
0 Western semiconductor and
micro-electronics know-how, giving
the Warsaw Pact an electronics
manufacturing system that is
operating in support of the military.
In addition, modern printed circuit
facilities were exported to the Soviet
Union.
These legal acquisitions are sup-
ported by even more far-reaching il-
legal acquisitions. For example,
only this past summer, millions of
dollars worth of high grade elec-
tronic polysilicon were diverted to
the Soviet Union to fill military
needs.
Illegal acquisitions are taking
'place across a wide front. To give
just one example, the Soviet Union
illegally acquired IBM 360 and 370
main frame computers from the
West. Their objective was to use the
IBM computer as the base design of
their own Ryad computer series.
The copy was nearly exact, and for a
..very good reason. They wanted
their computers to work with future
generations of Western equipment.
It is interesting to note the Soviet
Ryad computer series uses the same
.repair manuals as the IBM.
There are many ways the Soviets
acquire embargoed equipment. One
is to'have the goods sent to a
neutral or non-aligned nation and
' then divert it to the Soviet Union.
Neutral countries generally do not
maintain embargo laws. Some very
sophisticated electronic gear and
manufacturing equipment have been
transferred this way.
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The Soviets support the illegal
acquisition drive through controlled
"front" corporations, by co-opting
business men and women and fac-
tory workers, through bribery and
shady deals.
They also maintain an intelligence.,
system keyed strongly on emerging '
technologies of high military value.
They-keep a close watch on the
latest developments in the computer
industry, in advanced large-scale
integrated circuit design and manu-
facturing know-how, on magnetic
bubble memory technology, on de-
velopments in genetic engineering,
fracture mechanics, and superplas-
ticity.
One part of this collection system.
is devoted to exploiting Western
technical literature, including tech-
nical information published by our
own government.
'The Soviets also are participating .
in commercial and scientific data ex-I
change programs. Through such
means they have access to a very
wide range of information about
Western business, industry, and i
science.
Richard N. Perle
Mr. Perle is a former staff
member of the Senate Perma-
nent Subcommittee or. In-
vestigations; Subcommittee on
Arms Control, US Senate,
Committee on Armed Services;
and Subcommittee on National
Security and International
Operations, US Senate. He
was a consultant prior to
assuming his present position.
Earlier he had been a consul-
In sum, the Soviets are managing.
an exploitation network essential to
improving the quality of their mili-
tary weapons and to the military-
industrial base that builds the
weapons.
They are taking advantage of
the gaps- in our export control sys-
tem and the vulnerability of the
West to easy exploitation. They are
using our free institutions and our
open system against us.
And, because our own national
defense system has not modernized
fast enough, the Soviets are exploit-
ing many civilian technological
breakthroughs yet to be used fully
to upgrade our own military hard-
ware.
It is here we face the greatest
danger. While we have committed
ourselves to rebuilding our national
defenses, it is going to take us time
to do so. It is essential, while we im-
prove our own defenses, we close
down Soviet access to the
technology they want for their mili-
tary build-up.
At stake is our ability to maintain
the balance of power and protect thel
peace. M
tant with Advanced Studies
Group, Defense and Space
Center, Westinghouse Electric
Corp.. and with Sandia Corp. His
education includes a BA (Inter?-
national Relations) from
UCLA, Honors Examinations
at London School of Economics
and Political Science, and an
MA from Princeton Univ.,
Department of Politics.
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