From smtpd Fri Dec 6 03:03:59 1996 Return-Path: <owner-foreignc@presence.lglobal.com> Received: (from smtpd@localhost) by suburbia.net (8.8.3/8.8.2) id DAA08167 for <proff@suburbia.net>; Fri, 6 Dec 1996 03:03:59 +1100 (EST) Received: from presence.lglobal.com(207.107.12.2) via SMTP by suburbia.net, id smtpd008159; Thu Dec 5 16:03:41 1996 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by presence.lglobal.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA02103 for foreignc-outgoing; Thu, 5 Dec 1996 15:43:37 GMT Received: from presence.lglobal.com (jessepub@presence.lglobal.com [207.107.12.2]) by presence.lglobal.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id KAA02097 for <foreignc@lglobal.com>; Thu, 5 Dec 1996 10:43:34 -0500 Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 15:43:33 +0000 (GMT) From: Local GlobalPublishing <jessepub@lglobal.com> To: foreignc@lglobal.com Subject: ForeignCorrespondent REVENGE OF HER MAJESTY'S SPOOKS Message-ID: <Pine.BSI.3.93.961205154318.2075A-100000@presence.lglobal.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Precedence: bulk Reply-To: emargolis@lglobal.com Sender: proff

Foreign Correspondent Inside Track On World News By International Syndicated Columnist & Broadcaster Eric Margolis <emargolis@lglobal.com> ,,ggddY"""Ybbgg,, ,agd888b,_ "Y8, ___`""Ybga, ,gdP""88888888baa,.""8b "888g, ,dP" ]888888888P' "Y `888Yb, ,dP" ,88888888P" db, "8P""Yb, ,8" ,888888888b, d8888a "8, ,8' d88888888888,88P"' a, `8, ,8' 88888888888888PP" "" `8, d' I88888888888P" `b 8 `8"88P""Y8P' 8 8 Y 8[ _ " 8 8 "Y8d8b "Y a 8 8 `""8d, __ 8 Y, `"8bd888b, ,P `8, ,d8888888baaa ,8' `8, 888888888888' ,8' `8a "8888888888I a8' `Yba `Y8888888P' adP' "Yba `888888P' adY" `"Yba, d8888P" ,adP"' `"Y8baa, ,d888P,ad8P"' ``""YYba8888P""'' REVENGE OF HER MAJESTY'S SPOOKS by Eric Margolis 5 Dec 1996 Comrade-in-Chief Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev banged his fist onto a solid oak table, knocking over bottles of Armenian mineral water and vodka, and bellowed at the ashen-faced chiefs of the Soviet aircraft industry: `The Motherland's honor is a stake. Beat the Concorde! Or you will all be designing coal mines cars in Siberia!' Such is the story I'm told by someone who was there. I'm recalling these events now because a group of US aircraft companies and NASA have partnered with Russia's Tupelov aircraft firm to take the old TU-144 supersonic transports out of mothballs and fly 32 test flights. My advice to the eager US aviation people is: watch the tests from the ground. Here's why: In the late 1950's and early 1960's, the Soviets were boasting they would shortly overtake America's capitalist technology. Soviet propaganda dismissed France as a nation of foppish boulevardiers, and Britain as a degenerate, toothless old lion. The `degenerate' British and French stunned and mortified Moscow by announcing development of a supersonic jet transport, made with European technology. The outcome of this project was the exquisite, technologically superb Concorde, which continues today to fly passengers at twice the speed of sound. The Kremlin ordered a crash program to develop a Soviet supersonic transport, or SST, no matter the cost. The famous Tupelov design bureau was selected to develop the plane, by `storming,' if necessary, 24-hours a day, until completion. Unfortunatly, Tupelov designers couldn't develop a workable design in the short time given them by the Kremlin. So KGB was ordered to steal the blueprints of the Concorde. A score of KGB agents were dispatched to England and France in a highly complex and expensive mission designed to infiltrate plants where the Concorde was being built. Such military-industrial spying is often used by nations trying to save time, money, or both. Agents of Israel's Mossad, for example, managed to steal the complete blueprints of the French Mirage III fighter after Paris refused to supply them to Israel. Now comes the fun part- as told to me by the late, distinguished RAF commander, Air Marshall Menaul. British counter-intelligence, MI5, according to Menaul, learned of the Soviet penetration and identified many of the agents whose haste, and deviation from KGB standard operating procedures, made them sloppy. The wicked British got their top aviation engineers to doctor a set of Concorde plans - so that the aircraft's center of gravity was too far aft, making it dangerously unstable, particularly at low speeds. The bogus drawings were left where they could be purloined by the KGB. A few days later, the tainted plans were in Moscow. On Dec 31, 1968, the TU-144 - instantly dubbed `Conkordski'- made its maiden flight - a few days before the Concorde's inaugural flight. Chairman Brezhnev was ecstatic. In 1973, the Soviets triumphantly sent their TU-144 to the Paris Air Show. There,. before the world's eyes, the `Conkordski' went out of control and crashed. The horrified Soviets became the butt of international ridicule. Another TU-144 crashed outside Moscow in 1978. From 'pride of Soviet aviation,' the poor TU-144 soon was called, `the supersonic coffin.' A few were put into Moscow-Tashkent service, first flying terrified passengers, then just mail. The `Conkordski' were taken out of service in 1978 after the second spectacular accident. I'm sure many toasts were drunken that night in London at MI5 headquarters. The new TU-144 flights are being conducted with the Americans to develop a future, 300-passenger SST. Tupelov has refurbished some of the aircraft, but I'm uncertain if the basic design flaw introduced by Her Majesty's spooks has been corrected. Probably not, leaving the Conkordski lethally wobbly. Such is the revenge of British intelligence, served up cold and lethal - as the best revenge always is. copyright eric margolis 1996 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** --------------------------------------------------------------- To receive Foreign Correspondent via email send a note to Majordomo@lglobal.com with the message in the body: subscribe foreignc To get off the list, send to the same address but write: unsubscribe foreignc WWW: www.bigeye.com/foreignc.htm For Syndication Information please contact: Email: emargolis@lglobal.com FAX: (416) 960-4803 Smail: Eric Margolis c/o Editorial Department The Toronto Sun 333 King St. East Toronto Ontario Canada M5A 3X5 ---------------------------------------------------------------