Soviet computing technology smuggling, both attempted and actual, was a response to CoCom ( Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls) restrictions on technology transfer.

History

Mainframe successes

Initially the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

focused on

mainframe A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...

computing technology, particularly the IBM 360 and 370. Between 1967 and 1972 much effort went into

reverse engineering Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...

what they "acquired." Their first IBM-like machine was based on a 360/40 smuggled in via Poland. The second Soviet-built machine was from a 370/145. Their focus subsequently shifted to super-

minicomputer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a class of smaller general purpose computers that developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, ...

s. Failure in 1983 to import a VAX-11/782 did not stop their efforts. "Reverse-engineered and copied Apple IIe parts" brought microcomputers to the Soviet Union; it also brought computer viruses too.

IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones ...

computers were also smuggled in. Production of

Iron curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

mainframes, at one point, was estimated to be 180 per year.

VAX failures

The failure of the Soviets to acquire a VAX-11/782, a dual-processor variation of the VAX-11/780, the original VAX, unraveled much of their smuggling system. U. S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger made a public display of the system, about which ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' headlined "Seized Computer Put on Display" in later 1983. The computer had been exported from the United States to South Africa, from which it was to clandestinely be reshipped; it was seized "moments before its scheduled shipment to the Soviet Union." Weinberger stated at a news conference that the VAX was intended for assisting production of "vastly more accurate . . . and more destructive weapons." Like the 360/40, the smuggling process involved multiple shipments. The 360 had been disassembled and placed in a large number of suitcases. A smaller number of "huge containers of parts" held the 782. The latter's route involved transhipping, some more than half via Sweden, others via West Germany. A U.S. official describe potential "military uses, including the operation of a missile guidance system." The exact configuration was not released even by over a year later: '' APnews'', which noted that the smuggling operation was spread across ten countries, cited $1.1 million as the system's price ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' described the same system's price as $1.5 million. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote "between $1.5 and $2 million." Another VAX-smuggling attempt, five years later, involved a VAX 8800; this too ended in a failure. This time also, the computer involved was a dual-processor system. American government wiretapping revealed that some of the parties involved considered even settling for a VAX 8700, a uni-processor system.

References

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History

Mainframe successes

VAX failures

See also

References

Further reading