U.S. EXPLORES RUSSIAN MIND-CONTROL TECHNOLOGY

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP96-00792R000600440002-2
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RIFPUB
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U
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2
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November 4, 2016
Document Release Date: 
May 17, 2000
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2
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Publication Date: 
January 11, 1993
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NSPR
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"Two-thirds reduction is great."We're all for that," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said during a Jan. 7 confirmation hearing for Defense Secretary-desig- nate Les Aspin. `But that doesn't reduce the num- ber of warheads that are out there by two-thirds. Quite the opposite. The numbers stay the same, and the two-thirds which are, now off alert are put in a position where they're less secure." Roughly half of the U.S. nuclear warheads per- mitted under START II would be deployed at sea while 100 long-range bombers could be converted to conventional roles, according to treaty docu- ments and private estimates. ventional roles while 94 B-52Hs are expected to .carry nuclear air-launched cruise missiles or radar- evading Advanced Cruise Missiles with nuclear war- heads. A 20-plane fleet of B-2 bombers is expected to be deployed with nuclear bombs. START H's verification provisions will allow, for the first time, inspectors to confirm weapon loads carried by the other side's strategic bombers. The provision allows Russian inspectors their closest look at the B=2 bomber, but the United States will be able to conceal most of the plane with shrouds. U.S. inspectors also will be able to observe SS-18 silo conversion and missile destruction procedures. Both sides made last-minute compromises that Dunbar Lockwood, an analyst with the Washing- cleared the way for completing the treaty that was ton-based Arms Control Association, estimated the signed in Moscow on Jan. 3. U.S. negotiators acced- number of weapons carried by U.S. strategic bomb- ed to Moscow's request to retain 90 SS-18 missile ers would decline from 3,700 warheads to 1,272 silos. The 10-warhead missiles must be destroyed warheads, or 36 percent of the total permitted un- under START II, analysts said, and cement will be der START II. poured into the silos to prevent reloading. The United States also would be able to reconvert Russian negotiators also gained an extension of a See START 11, Page 22 U.S. Explores Russian Mind-Control Technology By BARBARA OPALL Defense News Staff writer . WASHINGTON - The Russian government is perfecting mind- control technology developed in the 1970s that could be used to hone fighting capabilities of friendly forces while demoraliz- ing and disabling opposing troops. Known as acoustic psycho-cor- rection, the capability to control minds and alter behavior of civil- ians and soldiers may soon be shared with U.S. military, medical and political officials, according to U.S. and Russian sources. The sources say the Russian government, in the spirit of im- bands into the human subcon- scious without upsetting other in- tellectual functions. Experts said laboratory demonstrations have shown encouraging results after exposure of less than one minute. Moreover, decades of research and investment of untold millions of rubles in the process of psy- cho-correction has produced the ability to alter behavior on willing and unwilling subjects, the ex- perts add. In an effort to restrict potential misuse of this capability, Russian senior research scientists, diplo- mats, military officers and offi- cials of the Russian Ministry of Higher Education, Science & App?ovedrA a se 2000/08/09W .. :CIA-DP96-00792R000600440002-2 proved U.S.-Russian relations, is beginning to lift the veil of secre- cy surrounding the technology. The Russian capability, demon- strated in a series of laboratory experiments dating back to the mid-1970s, could be used to sup- press riots, control dissidents, de- moralize or disable opposing forces and enhance the perfor- mance of friendly special opera- tions teams, sources say. Pioneered by the government- funded Department of Psycho- Correction at the Moscow Medi- cal Academy, acoustic psycho- correction involves the transmission of specific com- mands via static or white noise Technology Policy are beginning to provide limited demonstra- tions for their U.S. counterparts. Further evaluations of key technologies in the United States are being planned, as are discus- sions aimed at creating a frame- work for bringing the issue under bilateral or multilateral controls, Correction A page three article in the Dec. 14-20 issue about agreement on the European Fighter Aircraft de- velopment incorrectly stated that the new EFA design called for .I.6Z SAGN ISNIJ30 866 T `L i-T i ,c.runuep __-Approved-For Release 2000/OR/OS ._:.~:_RDP S?0792R0.0.0?00440002-2 U.S. and Russian sources said. An undated paper by the Psy- chor Center, a Moscow-based group affiliated with the Depart- ment of Psycho-Correction at the Moscow Medical Academy, ac- knowledges the potential danger of this capability. The Russian ex- See CONTROL, Page 29 dramatically scaled down combat and radar systems. A family of EFA variants will be developed allowing each country to choose the level of sophistication it can afford. Approved For Release 2000/08/09 : CIA-RDP96-00792R000600 90 37 1993 DEFENSENEWS29 .-U.S., Russia Hope To Safeguard Mind-Control Techniques ICON TROL, From Page 4 pelts, including George Kotov, a er KGB general now serving in a senior government ministry post, present in their report a list of-software and hardware associ- ated with their psycho-correction program that could be procured for as little as $80,000. "As far as it has become possi- ble to probe and correct psychic contents of human beings despite their will and consciousness by instrumental means ... results having been achieved can get out of [our] control and be used with inhumane purposes of manipulat- psyche," the paper states. The Russian authors note that "World opinion is not ready for dealing appropriately with the problems coming from the possi- bility of direct access to the hu- man mind." Therefore, the Rus- sian authors have proposed a bilateral Center for Psycho-tech- nologies where U.S. and Russian authorities could monitor and re- strict the emerging capabilities. Janet Morris of the Global Strategy Council, a Washington- based think tank established by Ray Cline, former Central Intelli- gence Agency deputy director, is a key U.S. liaison between Rus- sian and U.S. officials. In a Dec. 15 interview, Morris said she and the Richmond,.Va: based International Healthline Corp. have briefed senior U.S. in- telligence and Army officials about the Russian capabilities, which Morris said could include hand-held devices for purposes of special operations, crowd con- trol and antipersonnel actions. Healthline Corp. is evaluating Russian health care technologies and will underwrite Russian dem- onstrations in the United States. "We talked about using this to screen and prepare special oper- ations personnel for extremely difficult missions and ways in which this could be integrated into doctrine for [psychological operations]," Morris said. She said Army officials were concerned about the capability being directed against armored systems and personnel through electronic communications links. Ground troops, she said, risk ex- posure to bone-conducting sound waves that cannot be offset by earplugs or. other current protec- tive gear. Morris added that U.S. countermeasures could include sound cancellation, a complex process that involves broadcast- ing oppositely phased wave forms in precisely matched frequencies. Maj. Pete Keating, a U.S. Army spokesman, said senior Army of- ficials had expressed interest in reviewing Russian capabilities but that repeated plans to sched- ule visits to the former Soviet Union were rejected by Donald Atwood, deputy secretary of de- fense. Keating said he was unfa- miliar with the mind-control tech- nology and could not discuss French Government Links Firms To Make Them More Competitive CONSOUDATE From Page 4 "The immediate benefits of common research and develop- .,:, m t are small, and the to -term On Dec. 29, the government also shifted 20 percent of its 99 percent stake in Aerospatiale to Credit Lyonnais, the nationalized specific details. U.S. sources said government officials and leaders from the business and medical communi- ties will consider Russian offers to place the mind-control capabil- ity under bilateral controls. At least one senior. U.S. sena- tor, government intelligence offi- cialso and! the U.S. Army's Office for Operations, Plans and Force Development are interested in re- viewing the Russian capabilities, U.S. sources said. In addition, International Healthline Corp. is planning to bring a team of Russian special- ists here within the next couple of months to demonstrate the ca- pability, company President Jim Hovis said in a Dec. 2 interview. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army's Ar- mament Research, Development & Engineering Center is conduct- ing a. one-year study of acoustic beam technology that may mirror some of the effects reported by the Russians. Army spokesman Bill Harris said Dec. 3 the command award- ed the one-year study contract to Scientific Applications & Re- search Associates of Huntington Beach, Calif. Related research is being conducted at the Moscow- based Andreev Institute, U.S. and Russian sources said. Despite the growing interest in a capability traditionally reserved for science fiction novels and cin- ema, industry and academic ex- perts are cautious and skeptical about its potential battlefield use. "This is not something that strikes me as requiring high-level attention," Raymond Garthoff, a defense and intelligence analyst at the Washington-based Brook- ings Institution, said in a Dec.2 interview. Morris contends that the capa- bility has been demonstrated in the laboratory in Russia and should be placed under interna- tional restrictions at the earliest possible opportunity. I _; 11 Aspi.n.?Staff- Memb ers To Fill Pentag~~ Posts A SPIN, From -Page is is unclear exactly what job he ^ Determining the future . will get. Sources said Smith's U.S. force structure and Amer- broad defense experience ica's role in U.N. peacekee_p- '.makes him well suited to 'head Approved For Release 2000/08/09 : CIA DP96 00792R00.066b44a0Q2-2