March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29
30
31
News Every Day |

How Did the Soviet Union Learn About America's Stealth Planes? A Journalist

Robert Beckhusen

Security,

The Soviets knew about stealth because they routinely read and translated American trade magazines and hobbyist books.

Here's What You Need To Remember: A mischievous 50-something, born in Great Britain and now living in America, Sweetman has long been the bane of Pentagon officials desperately trying to prevent, or at least control, public mention of their expensive—and sometimes flawed—new gadgets.

The Americans were up to something, and the Soviets knew it.

In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, the U.S. military was quietly developing sophisticated stealth technology meant to help aircraft evade detection by radar and other sensors.

Soviet intelligence agents had a pretty good idea what was going on. Not necessarily because they had eavesdropped on Pentagon communications or infiltrated the U.S. aerospace industry. They knew about stealth because they routinely read and translated American trade magazines and hobbyist books. Specifically, the reporting of one man, Bill Sweetman.

That’s the surprising conclusion of a declassified Central Intelligence Agency memo dated August 1988. “Bill Sweetman is frequently cited in Soviet military publications,” states the 10-page memo entitled “U.S. Stealth Programs and Technology: Soviet Exploitations of the Western Press.”

The memo describes Sweetman as “one of the most well-respected and authoritative reporters covering U.S. stealth programs,” and says that Sweetman’s reporting accounted for 40 percent of the references to U.S. and European press reports in Soviet literature on stealth. And partially as a result, the Soviets “likely have a good understanding of U.S. stealth programs” and “have begun a stealth development program,” the 25-year-old CIA memo claims.

The collapse of the Soviet Union, just three years after the document was written, stalled Moscow’s work on stealth. Russian firm Sukhoi unveiled its first radar-evading fighter prototype in 2009, 26 years after America’s original F-117 stealth warplane entered front-line service. But at the time the CIA memo was drafted, U.S. intelligence agents predicted a very different outcome. “The Soviets may be at the prototype stage,” the memo warns.

To his colleagues, Sweetman’s influence comes as no surprise. A mischievous 50-something, born in Great Britain and now living in America, Sweetman has long been the bane of Pentagon officials desperately trying to prevent, or at least control, public mention of their expensive—and sometimes flawed—new gadgets.

Sweetman was my boss at Defense Technology International a few years ago.

Since the late 1970s, Sweetman has tracked down secret warplanes, poured cold water on fear-mongering Pentagon assessments of Soviet weapons, poked holes in manufacturers’ promises of cheap, super-high-tech new aircraft designs and, in one 2010 incident, got briefly barred from covering Lockheed Martin’s controversial F-35 stealth fighter after writing on his Facebook page that the company’s “bullshit is expected to be dense.”

Now reporting for Aviation Week, Sweetman combines a clear writing style with deep technical expertise and an extensive network of sources to pull off some of the best aerospace reporting in the world. He was among the first to spot the U.S. Air Force’s secretive Sentinel spy drone and lately has been trying to shed some light on a new American stealth bomber prototype in development.

He helped reveal the radar-evading helicopter the U.S. Army used to hunt and kill Osama Bin Laden, describing the expose as “quick-draw fun.”

What’s most remarkable is that Sweetman was barely thirty when the Soviets and the CIA wised up to the intelligence bonanza his reporting represented. Sweetman started young, answering an ad in Flight for a cut-rate aviation reporter, “thinking that I was on a gap year before Uni,” he said. He just “never left,” he told Hush Kit.

While the CIA memo’s tone seems to be one of gruff admiration, it’s not entirely clear today how the agency really felt about Sweetman and his influence back in 1988. In the declassified memo, half a page is redacted following the first mention of the reporter.

This article first appeared in 2019 and is being republished due to reader interest.

News Every Day

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Ria.city






Read also

‘Electric’ – Alan Shearer loved one thing about Anfield that ‘you may not get at other big clubs’

Why your dog being thirsty is sign of DEADLY ‘Easter illness’- exactly when to take your pet to vet

Newcastle United Have Sandro Tonali Expectation Amid Betting Charges

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)



Sports today


Новости тенниса
WTA

Виктория Азаренко вышла в полуфинал турнира WTA-1000 в Майами



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

Актера Свиридова госпитализировали из-за инфицирования после операции в Москве


Новости России

Game News

Пробный запуск God Wars: Cross Worlds — idle-RPG с богами и путешествиями во времени


Russian.city


News Every Day

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s


Губернаторы России
США

США включили ряд российских блокчейн-платформ в список SDN


Лучшие в своей области: KEYBIZ CPAs & Advisors - бухгалтерская компания №1 в Турции

Московская область - Изготовление металлических навесов

В Москве за взятку арестован директор структурного подразделения «Росатома»

Минпросвещения дало рекомендации по информбезопасности для детей и родителей


Провести свой Большой Концерт. Тариф Большой Концерт.

Муж Нетребко Эйвазов перенес концерт на 40 дней из-за теракта в Crocus City Hall

АИРР на Стартап-туре 2024

Концерт благотворительного фонда Владимира Спивакова прошел в Солнечногорске


Рыбакина о том, что не играла в Индиан-Уэллс из-за болезни: «К сожалению, восстановление заняло много времени»

Хачанов победил Черундоло и пробился в 1/8 финала турнира ATP в Майами

Россиянка Александрова обыграла первую ракетку мира Свентек

Азаренко вышла в полуфинал турнира WTA-1000 в Майами



Заказать недорогой ремонт кухонной мебели в районе в Москве и Московской области

МЧС предупредило о рисках подтоплений в 47 регионах России

Топливному компромиссу между Украиной и Азербайджаном пришел конец?

Эксперты КА «Главный Советник» приняли участие в форуме «Тренды и антитренды корпоративного видео сегодня»


Продолжается регистрация на форум «Мы вместе.Спорт»

Актера Свиридова госпитализировали из-за инфицирования после операции в Москве

Финал всероссийского студенческого трека Олимпиады Кружкового движения НТО «Летающая робототехника» 2024

“Интерстрой” предлагает апартаменты в тихом районе Алушты


В складках бархата затаилась история

Правительство России направило дополнительно 1 млрд рублей на программу промышленной ипотеки

Румыния с 31 марта впервые начнет выдавать шенгенские визы россиянам

Пристройку к Немчиновскому лицею на 950 мест достроят в Одинцове в 2025 году



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Сергей Шнуров

Сергей Шнуров и Гарик Мартиросян «не смогли поделить» участницу «Новой Фабрики звезд»



News Every Day

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости