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New US Marine Intelligence Vs. Kursk Secret Torpedoes |
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(Source : Russian National Information Service ; issued Sept. 7, 2001)
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 The circumstances of the tragic accident of the brand-new Russian nuclear-powered Kursk submarine last year not far from the Kola Peninsula exposed a new kind of U.S. intelligence. The U.S. used it as it watched the Kursk performing a naval exercise, the largest in over the past decade. It was not the submarine itself that was the object of observation. U.S. intelligence had evidently learned whatever it could about the Kursk, but wanted information on the latest version of an entirely new Russian Squall (Shkval) torpedo. Submarines of the K-141 series, the Kursk being the lead ship among them, carry them. The U.S. used a new kind of intelligence, measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT).
The U.S. classed the Squall in the category of most dangerous means of naval warfare and regards it as the most effective and perfect torpedo according to current world standards. The torpedo is capable of diminishing the domination of the U.S. Navy in oceanic theaters of war.
The operation conducted by MASINT in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000, may be regarded as the finishing phase in the U.S. hunt for the Squall. It would have remained unnoticed if it were not for the spy scandal surrounding Edmond Pope, a former officer of the U.S. naval intelligence service. Pope operated in Russia as a businessman and under the cover of Prof. Daniel Kiley, who worked at the University of Pennsylvania's advanced research laboratory three months before the Kursk tragedy. In that laboratory, which perhaps concentrated on naval submarines, Prof. Kiley (he had taken part in testing the SSBN Ohio class missiles carried by the Pennsylvania Submarine). He and Pope worked together from 1994 to 1997, after which the latter went (or was sent?) to Russia, where he founded two private businesses - SERF Technologies International, studying foreign naval technology, and TechSource Marine Group Limited, openly designed for buying up Russian technology by the West. At the same time, the businessman exerted unbelievable effort to acquire the secrets concerning the fatal Squall torpedo.
The main task of businessman" Pope was to learn about two pieces of Russian technology - a gas-bubble injection system used for vessels and the development of high-velocity torpedoes. Pope couldn't do without recruiting agents. He bought information about the Squall for 30,000 dollars from Prof. Anatoly Babkin of the Bauman Technical University in Moscow. Pope later established a close contact with the professor.
The categorical tone in which the reasons for the intensive U.S. hunt for the Squall is justified because world opinion is amazing. The operation was allegedly performed to prevent the proliferation of dangerous military technology throughout the world. In this case, China is meant (it is alleged that a Chinese naval expert was on board the Kursk submarine during its last voyage). It was also maintained that the Chinese Navy might acquire powerful capabilities similar to Russia's that it could use to fight against U.S. aircraft carriers and submarines. China is said to have already purchased the fastest and most noiseless submarine from the Shark 971 class, which Americans were unable to detect sailing along its shores in 1995. In addition, it is alleged that Russia promised to sell high-precision underwater weapons, including the upgraded Squall torpedo, to China.
The U.S. intelligence service was worried to find out that U.S. Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Vern Clark had given away vital information to his Russian counterpart. It was later confirmed by President Clinton's national security adviser Sandy Berger in a talk with the then Secretary of Russia's Security Council, Sergei Ivanov. In an interview with France Presse, Ivanov emphasized two facts, much to the distress of the U.S. intelligence men: "The technical information that has been handed over contains the exact time and geographic location of the second of the two explosions."
It only remains to answer the question whether the ways and means of MASINT have changed in the different geopolitical conditions of the 21st century. Its chief goals, just as those of NATO, have not changed. There still is a close watch over Russia (which is a generator of ideas in new arms development), and China (which is regarded as the main military force capable of exceeding regional boundaries). As for the means, they multiply and are being improved in keeping with the new purposes and the scientific and technological achievements of the U.S.
(Originally published by Nezavisimaya Gazeta; translation by Russian National Information Service)
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