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Soviet industrial espionage of the Concorde programme is alleged to have been carried out from 1959 to 1976. Not all allegations have been verified, but documents from Sud Aviation and BAC development did reach Soviet hands.
Although the Tu-144 does show great similarities with Concorde, and was designed and developed concurrently, it was not a direct copy, as has often been alleged. But, due to harsh self-imposed constraints of time, there were attempts by Soviet insiders to gain access to technological secrets of the development of Concorde. These constraints of time on the Tu-144 development would lead to a disaster. Its development was incomplete, and it had limited passenger service for a few months in early 1978.
Dr. Calder Walton, Assistant Director of the Belfer Center's Intelligence Project at Harvard University, has found that archives from Vasili Mitrokhin, a defected KGB archivist, indicate that Ivor James Gregory, an engineer at British European Airways, allegedly stole and passed approximately 90,000 pages of classified documents to Soviet intelligence in the 1970s. [1]
The Soviet Amtorg Trading Corporation had been conducting surveillance for decades. [2]
Engineers at Bristol Siddeley had been invited for 'friendly talks' at the Russian Embassy in London, to meet Russian engineers. Mysteriously, all of those British engineers, that were kindly invited to the embassy, were, without exception, all part of the Olympus 593 team. No other British engineers had been invited to the embassy.
Soviet interest in Concorde was discussed on Wednesday 14 May 1969 at the International Security Conference in the US. It was said that East Germany was the hub of Soviet industrial espionage in Europe. [3] [4]
On Friday 2 October 1981, Soviet interest in Concorde was discussed on Newsnight . A former spy said that the Soviets may have been given incorrect information about Concorde, which may have contributed to the Tu 144 crash. [5] [6]
On Thursday 22 August 1996, Channel 4 broadcast an hour-long documentary Konkordski [7] [8] about the Soviet espionage of Concorde. [9]
In parliament on Wednesday 30 November 1966, [10] Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, Liberal MP, engineering graduate and former Rolls-Royce manager, asked the aviation minister Julian Snow, Baron Burntwood if the Soviets were requesting senior executives of Bristol Siddeley, to give lectures in the Soviet Union, under benign false pretences of collegiate friendship. [11]
On 15 February 1973 in a discussion in the House of Commons between Tony Benn and Michael Heseltine, the Labour Burnley MP Dan Jones made the reference to Konkordski, where Conservative Bristol North East MP Robert Adley and Conservative MP Sir Kenneth Warren both mentioned that the development of the Boeing 707 was largely subsidised by the USAF in its need for the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. [12]
On Thursday 15 March 1973, in an official discussion about Concorde, William Hay, 15th Earl of Kinnoull, a former Conservative shadow aviation minister, referred to the Tu-144 as 'Konkordski' in the House of Lords; [13] the subsequent Concorde Aircraft Act 1973 was passed on 22 March 1973. Stretford MP Winston Churchill (1940–2010) also made the reference, in relation to the Kuznetsov NK-144 aircraft engine, in a discussion on the RAF in the House of Commons on Wednesday 4 May 1977; [14] and on Wednesday 12 January 1977 in a debate with Fred Mulley, the Labour Secretary of State for Defence, where he also referred to the bizarre decision by the post-war Labour government to innocently give the Soviet government a Rolls-Royce Nene engine, which was reverse-engineered into 15,000 Klimov VK-1 engines, for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 in the subsequent Korean War, which was the Soviet Union's first jet engine; [15] and in a discussion on Monday 28 March 1977 with Sir Patrick Duffy; [16] and in a discussion about security and intelligence on Thursday 2 February 1989, where he discussed contracts for British companies for the Kuznetsov NK-144 engine in December 1976, allowed by the Labour government. [17]
In the European Parliament on Tuesday 8 July 1975 Tom Normanton, a Conservative MP for Cheadle, who was also an MEP, claimed that plans for Concorde had been obtained by the Soviets, probably for nearly all of Concorde, if not all. It had been conducted through European machine tool companies that also had contracts for Romania. The machine tool companies were either in the EEC or also in Austria. In the European Parliament he referred to the nickname 'Konkordski'. He asked Guido Brunner that the EEC look into the matter, and for European companies to maintain secrecy. [18]
In February 1977, the Stretford Conservative MP had written to the Labour aviation minister about British companies making equipment for the Kuznetsov NK-144 engine, through the Russian LICENSINTORG trade organisation. [19]
A British electronics engineer, originally from Glasgow, in September 1971 claimed to have passed secrets to The Trade Delegation of the Russian Federation in the United Kingdom in Highgate in north London. He lived on Springfield Avenue in Ashley Down. He was paid £5,000. The Soviets also gave him 'dirty photographs' to 'help him make contacts with people'.
He met the Soviets once a month at Cockfosters tube station. He had been part of the British Communist party, but left in 1970. He was at BAC from November 1967 to February 1970. He would buy drinks for BAC staff at the former Anchor pub on Gloucester Road (A38) in Filton (now rebuilt as the Flaming Grill Air Balloon). [20] [21] [22] [23]
On 5 June 1969, the Tu-144 broke the sound barrier, with Concorde doing the same on 1 October 1969. The Tu-144 passed Mach 2 on 26 May 1970.
The French 001 Concorde explored the supersonic transition. The British prototype 002 would explore Mach 2 in late 1970. Concorde 001 reached Mach 2 (1370 mph) on 4 November 1970, for 50 minutes, in a two hours 5 mins flight at 52,500 ft over the Atlantic. [24]
The British Concorde 002 was planned to first go supersonic after about 30 flights, around May 1970, along the 800-mile corridor on Britain's west coast. [25] This date was moved to July 1970, and Concorde 002 was grounded from April 1970, until its next flight on Wednesday 12 August 1970, when it went supersonic for the first time, along the Irish Sea. [26]
On Saturday 22 August 1970, co-pilot Peter Baker took Concorde 002, from Fairford, to over 1000 mph over the North Sea; it was the first time that the engine inlet system was tested. [27]
Concorde 002 reached Mach 2 at 10 miles above the Irish Sea on Thursday 12 November 1970, with co-pilot John Cochrane. In a 1 hour 50 minutes flight from Fairford, the aircraft was supersonic for 64 minutes. The aircraft flew from RAF Fairford to Daventry at 20,000 ft, and reached The Wash at 25,000 ft, then accelerated along the North Sea, reaching Mach 2 east of Aberdeen, and flew supersonically to the south of Cornwall, returning to RAF Fairford, via Berry Head near Brixham.
Concorde first flew to Moscow in April 1985; tickets cost £995, including a seat at the Moscow ballet. [28]
The Tu-144 and Concorde were structurally different aircraft designs.
The Tu-144 did not have vortices over its wing to provide extra lift at low speed. There were no overseas demonstration sales flights, which Concorde had attempted. The engines were not flight tested before the Tu-144 had first flown. [36] [ improper synthesis ]
It was structural failure of the Tupolev aircraft, in a steep dive, that led to catastrophe at an international air show.[ improper synthesis ]
Concorde is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the UK signed a treaty establishing the development project on 29 November 1962, as the programme cost was estimated at £70 million . Construction of the six prototypes began in February 1965, and the first flight took off from Toulouse on 2 March 1969. The market was predicted for 350 aircraft, and the manufacturers received up to 100 option orders from many major airlines. On 9 October 1975, it received its French Certificate of Airworthiness, and from the UK CAA on 5 December.
The Tupolev Tu-144 is a Soviet supersonic passenger airliner designed by Tupolev in operation from 1968 to 1999.
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately 343.2 m/s. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) are often referred to as hypersonic. Flights during which only some parts of the air surrounding an object, such as the ends of rotor blades, reach supersonic speeds are called transonic. This occurs typically somewhere between Mach 0.8 and Mach 1.2.
The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, these effects were seen as constituting a barrier, making faster speeds very difficult or impossible. The term sound barrier is still sometimes used today to refer to aircraft approaching supersonic flight in this high drag regime. Flying faster than sound produces a sonic boom.
The Boeing 2707 was an American supersonic passenger airliner project during the 1960s. After winning a competition for a government-funded contract to build an American supersonic airliner, Boeing began development at its facilities in Seattle, Washington. The design emerged as a large aircraft with seating for 250 to 300 passengers and cruise speeds of approximately Mach 3. It was intended to be much larger and faster than competing supersonic transport (SST) designs such as Concorde.
A supersonic transport (SST) or a supersonic airliner is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 and it was last flown in 1999 by NASA. Concorde's last commercial flight was in October 2003, with a November 26, 2003 ferry flight being its last airborne operation. Following the permanent cessation of flying by Concorde, there are no remaining SSTs in commercial service. Several companies have each proposed a supersonic business jet, which may bring supersonic transport back again.
Supercruise is sustained supersonic flight of a supersonic aircraft without using afterburner. Many supersonic military aircraft are not capable of supercruise and can maintain Mach 1+ flight only in short bursts with afterburners. Aircraft such as the SR-71 Blackbird are designed to cruise at supersonic speed with afterburners enabled.
The Bristol Type 223 was an early design for a supersonic transport. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the Bristol Aeroplane Company studied a number of models as part of a large British inter-company effort funded by the government. These models eventually culminated in the Type 223, a transatlantic transport for about 100 passengers at a speed around Mach 2. At about the same time Sud Aviation in France was developing the similar Super-Caravelle design, and in November 1962 the efforts were merged to create the Concorde project.
The Bristol Type 188 is a supersonic research aircraft designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was nicknamed the Flaming Pencil in reference to its length and relatively slender cross-section as well as its intended purpose.
The Jet Age is a period in the history of aviation defined by the advent of aircraft powered by jet turbine engines and the social and cultural changes fostered by commercial jet travel.
Twenty Concorde aircraft were built: two prototypes, two pre-production aircraft, two development aircraft and 14 production aircraft for commercial service. With the exception of two of the production aircraft, all are preserved, mostly in museums. One aircraft was scrapped in 1994, and another was destroyed in the Air France Flight 4590 crash in 2000.
The droop nose is a feature fitted to a small number of aircraft types so the nose of the aircraft can be lowered during takeoff and landing to improve the pilot's view of the ground below. This feature is used with a very-low aspect ratio wing such as a delta wing. It is installed in aircraft capable of supersonic speeds but is lowered only during low-speed operation such as takeoff and landing.
A supersonic aircraft is an aircraft capable of supersonic flight, that is, flying faster than the speed of sound. Supersonic aircraft were developed in the second half of the twentieth century. Supersonic aircraft have been used for research and military purposes, but only two supersonic aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-144 and the Concorde, ever entered service for civil use as airliners. Fighter jets are the most common example of supersonic aircraft.
A supersonic business jet (SSBJ) is a business jet travelling above the speed of sound: a supersonic aircraft. Some manufacturers are designing or have been designing SSBJs, but none are currently available. Usually intended to transport about ten passengers, proposed SSBJs would be about the same size as subsonic business jets.
The Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 was an Anglo-French turbojet with reheat, which powered the supersonic airliner Concorde. It was initially a joint project between Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited (BSEL) and Snecma, derived from the Bristol Siddeley Olympus 22R engine. Rolls-Royce Limited acquired BSEL in 1966 during development of the engine, making BSEL the Bristol Engine Division of Rolls-Royce.
William John Strang, CBE, FRS, FREng, FRAeS was a British aerospace engineer, known for his contributions to the design of a number of British aircraft, including Concorde.
The 1973 Paris Air Show Tu-144 crash was the destruction of the second production Tupolev Tu-144 at Goussainville, Val-d'Oise, France, which killed all six crew members and eight people on the ground. The crash, at the Paris Air Show on Sunday, 3 June 1973, damaged the development program of the Tupolev Tu-144.
John Cochrane was a British test pilot for the Anglo-French supersonic airliner, Concorde.
Robert Murray McKinlay CBE FREng FRAeS is a Scottish businessman, a former chief executive of British Aerospace.
The 1978 Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crash occurred during a test flight of a Tupolev Tu-144 on 23 May 1978. The aircraft suffered a fuel leak, which led to an in-flight fire in the right wing, forcing the shutdown of two of the aircraft's four engines. One of the two remaining engines subsequently failed, forcing the crew to make a belly landing in a field near Yegoryevsk, Moscow Oblast. Two flight engineers were killed in the ensuing crash, but the remaining six crew members survived. The accident prompted a ban on passenger flights of the Tu-144, which had already been beset by numerous problems, leading to a lack of interest that ultimately resulted in the Tu-144 program's cancellation.
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