West ‘Subsidizing’ Soviet Military Buildup, U.S. Says

The Soviet Union is conducting a campaign to acquire Western technology that has been so successful that the West is “subsidizing the Soviet military buildup,” the Pentagon said today.

The Pentagon report, released by Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, said “only recently has the full extent of illegal Soviet technology collection efforts become known.”

“The sensitive information which has now been declassified which we’re divulging focuses on Soviet legal and illegal activities in the United States,” Weinberger said, “and it is fair to say it’s a far more serious problem than we had previously realized.”

“By their own estimate, more than 5,000 Soviet military research projects each year are benefiting significantly from Western-acquired technology,” Weinberger added.

Appetite Is ‘Voracious’

While there are signs that efforts by the United States and its allies to stem the diversion of technical information have made acquisition more difficult for the Soviets, much more must be done because “the Soviets’ appetite for Western technology will continue to be voracious,” the report concludes.

The document, although released by Weinberger, was described as the product of a special interagency technology transfer committee that included officials from the Pentagon, the CIA and 20 other U.S. agencies.

Much of the general information contained in the study had been disclosed previously, but the report does contain more examples of how the Soviets go about collecting information and products and what they do with the technology when they succeed.

Western Lead Cut

“Their objective is to achieve military-technical capabilities that are at least equal, if not superior, to those of the West,” the study said. “Their resource commitment is enormous by any measure; it has enabled them in recent years to narrow the Western lead in nearly all key technological areas, particularly microelectronics.”

The Soviets are known to have saved billions of dollars and years of research time by acquiring Western technology used in developing cruise missiles, advanced jet fighters and tactical radars, their version of the American space shuttle, new laser-guided artillery shells, and satellite navigation systems.

“The Soviets estimated that by using documentation on the U.S. F-18 fighter, their aviation and radar industries saved some five years of development time . . . and $55 million in project manpower and other developmental costs,” the study said.