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Step 1. US hears there's a new Soviet program. Step 2. Create equivalent program and subcontract out to civilians. Step 3. There's always a civilian company w
by ethbro 8y ago
Step 1. US hears there's a new Soviet program.
Step 2. Create equivalent program and subcontract out to civilians.
Step 3. There's always a civilian company which will do X if the government says it will pay them.
Step 4. Soviets find out we have a program to do X. Turns out they didn't have one (theirs did Z).
Step 5. Soviets start new program to do X to maintain parity.
Step 6. US hears there's a new Soviet program that's translated as doing Y.
Step 7. Goto Step 1.
- skykooler 8y agoThis is sort of how the Buran "Soviet Space Shuttle" got built. Soviet leaders saw the American space shuttle and basically told their engineers "we need one too", despite the engineers knowing there was no point (much of the Shuttle's design stemmed from an Air Force requirement that it be able to launch on a polar orbit, go around the planet once and land back on American territory, which required the wings for that much cross-range capability. The USSR didn't have that problem due to how much longitude Russia spans; but the leaders only saw the finished product, not the politics that went into it.)
- paulie_a 8y agoThe Soviet Union did espionage on the space shuttle even though the plans were public through foia because they are a civilian agency. They literally could have just asked.