STOLEN U.S. TECHNOOGOY BOOSTS SOVIET STRENGTH, REPORT SAYS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000200730007-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 1, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: November 15, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/01 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000200730007-2
THE WASHINGTON POST
15 NOVEMBER 1982
Stolen U.S. Technolog______
Soviet Strength, Report says
By Dan Morgan
W'ashtnpton Post stet! Wttter
The Soviet Union. in what appears to be a
carefully planned program approved by the
Kremlin's top leadership, has used large
amounts of stolen and legally acquired U.S.
technology to achieve "giant strides in mil-
itary strength," according to 'a Senate report
released yesterday.
The report by the Senate permanent sub-
committee on investigations was based on a
declassified Central Intelligence Agency
study and on testimony' that' disclosed,
among other things, how Soviet agents setup
a U.S. company that transferred $10 million
worth of sensitive microprocessor manufac-
turing equipment to the Soviet Union.
"The U.S. research and development es-
tablishment is viewed by the Soviets as a
mother lode .... In fact, they tap into it so
frequently that one must wonder if they re-
gard U.S. B and D as their own national as=
set," Jack Verona of the Defense Intelligence
Agency told the subcommittee in a May
hearing.
Soviet efforts to obtain the technology
came at a time when Yuri V. Andropov, the
new Soviet leader, headed the KGB, the So-
viet security police and intelligence agency.
The Senate report culminates an investi-
gation of more than two years that was led
by Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), now the sub4
committee's ranking minority member.
It charges the Commerce Department
with slipshod enforcement of trade controls
and calls on the U.S. intelligence community
and law enforcement agencies to be more
aggressive in stemming the flow of microelec:
tronic, laser, radar and precision
manufacturing technology to the So-
viets.
In detailing a pattern of at-
tempted theft, bribery and other
abuses by the Soviets, it appears to
buttress the Reagan administration's
ongoing campaign for tough restric-
tions on trade involving products
and processes with a potential mil-
itary application.
On Saturday, President Reagan
announced that allies, including Ja-
pan, had agreed to improve the mon-
itoring of high-technology trade with
the Soviets, while lifting trade sanc-
tions on oil and natural gas equip-
ment with no direct military appli-
cation.
Although there is broad agree-
ment that the Soviets are engaged in
a massive effort to acquire western
technology by any means, the extent
of the damage to national security is
a subject of debate.
A declassified CIA study released
in April said the Soviets have been
able to obtain aircraft catapult tech-
nology, precision ball bearings
needed for missile accuracy, and gy-
roscopes.
The study said western microelec-
tronics know-how "has permitted the
Soviets to systematically build a
modem microelectronics industry
which will be the critical basis for
enhancing the sophistication of fu-
ture Soviet military systems for dec-
ades."
Soviet Ryad computers, for exam-
ple, are patterned after IBM 360
and 370 mainframe computers pur-
chased in the West.
Nevertheless, some industry rep-
resentatives have questioned wheth-
er the Soviets, given their difficulties
in mastering complex manufacturing
techniques, can use effectively infor-
mation they have been receiving.
Former CIA deputy director
Bobby R. Inman acknowledged in
his testimony to-the subcommittee
that the agency is in the early stages
of examining the problem. .
As a result, the U.S. government
has only piecemeal evidence of what
the Soviet military has obtained
from this country, the now-retired
Navy admiral said.
Earlier this year, a special panel of
the National Academy of Sciences
concluded that there has been a
"substantial transfer of U.S. technol-
ogy-much of it directly relevant to
military systems-to the Soviet
Union from diverse sources."
But it maintained that very little
technology had been transferred
through -universities and scientific
exchanges.
Scientists had expressed fears tT at
undue concern about loss of-technol
ogy to the Soviets could result in
overclassification of government doc-
uments and an end to exchanges
that in some cases add to U.S.
knowledge.
While the report dealt only with
the Soviet Union, law enforcement
officials note that 'U.S. firms have
also been victimized by domestic
competitors and other nations, such
as Japan.
Thefts of electronic technology
and commodities totaling $100 mil-
lion were reported in California's
Silicon Valley alone over the last five
years. according to Douglas K. Sou-
thard, deputy district attorney of
Santa Clara County, Calif
During five days of hearings in
May, witnesses detailed several So-
viet intelligence operations. against
_ U.S. "high-tech" industries.
The boldest known espionage ef-
fort involved West German"Werner
J. Bruchhausen, who set up a group
of companies in West Germany and
southern California with the help of
a U.S. accomplice known as Tony
Metz, a naturalized American born
in the Soviet Union.
Between 1970 and 1980, Bruch-
hausen's companies bought comput-
er-aided design equipment, photo-li-
thographic devices for making inte-
grated circuits and other items
needed to make quality microproces-
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