PRODUCTION OF COMPUTER DISC DRIVES IN THE USSR AND EASTERN EUROPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00608R000600010012-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 13, 1999
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: February 14, 1975
• Content Type: MF

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WnSHIN(;T7N. D.C. 20505
MEMORAtiDUtii FCR: bir. Robert B. Wr~i~t, Director
Office of East-~?~est Trace
.Department of State
~ ~ ~~e ors
Production of Computez? Disc Drives in
the USSR and Eastern Europe
REFERENCE Depart_*:(ent of State :~'_e^orandu-~,
dated 30 January 1y75, =_ccest for
Assess-ert o. .as==== ''~ _ '~=s _
Count; ^c- per -_ -_cai Cac=bility
yes ~, - -
? 1. Attached ~.s our response to your rea~sest for
infor>nation on the caaabilities oz Cow::~rzist co?L:ntries to
manufacture aisc drive- a:,d pack= ? Alt-:ough ire have not
been able to resolve tZ?_ c-,:estion full: , we hoce tzat the
limited information we can offer will be :.elp.ful.
25X1A9a Additional cuesti~.^.s ~~ay ne directP3 to
Of=ice of Ecoro~ic Reseaich, (x-6501) , o
25X1A9a Office of Scien3.:ific .~rte11i5er_ce, (x-5011) , who
prepared the attac:~.-lent.
EDWARD W. PROCTOR
Deputy Director for Intelligence
CARL E. DUCY.ETT
Deputy Diz:~ector for Science and Technology
Attachment:
As stated
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Attachment
Prc,duction of Disc Drives and Pack;s
in the USSR and Eastern Furoee
?. 1. According to our info ., ation, disc iirives of the
'IBM-2311 type: are under develo~~:aent in ?the UBSR, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Poland. Each of these
countries has developed and ex'~ibited a prototype disc d=ive
syst:m. Each clams to be "producing" disc drives . t4i t..z the
' exception of Bulgaria, we believe that disc drives are s;.ill
is a developmental stage -- that is, not in production -- ixi
`~ all of these countries. Bulgaria is the only C.Eri~ count=y
that claims to have disc packs in serial production
2. ,The case of Bulgaria is complex. The evidence seems
? convincing that Bulgaria is producing disc drives (~zd com-
a
patible packs) of the TB:i-2311 tyae. 3ulgaria Chas built two
modern plants, equipped mostly with western machinery, at
Stara Zagora and Pazardzhik -- specifically for t'>:E; pro3~:ction
?e~f disc drives and disc packs, respectively. Accordin7 to -
Bulga~iar, officials, production has been underway since ._.
Octobex 197''1 at Stara Zagora and since early 1973 at Pazardzhi'~.
US visitors to these facilities in 1973 observed drives a.~d
packs in production. Only Bulgarian disc drives have been ob-
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3. The current rate of production of disc drives is
not known. US visitors to Stara Zagora in 1973 estimated
output capacity at abut 80-100 drives per nonth. Actual
output (in mid-1973) was estimated to be fa..~ below this
level. Probably, no .:.ore t'~a.-~ 500 syste.:.s were produced
during 1973.
4. .All of the disc drives that, were produced in Bul-
garia in 1973 aL^iost certainly e.:.ployed S~~e::tern-r.:ade heads .
Between Ju*~e 1972 and Dece~er 1973, Bulgaria illegally
acquired fro: a US suc~Iier at least 15,000 completed head
units, and additional qua_ztiti es o? other u_?~corpleted disc
drive subasse.*^.blies. Gnspeci=led quantities of head u_*~its
and other subasse.^.blies allegedly have been illegally
obtained in Western E;:rcpe as well. At L,.:r~e Stara Zaycra
plant, Bulcarian officials have atte.~pted to disguise the
foreign origin of the recording heads.
.5. Bulgaria appears to hare acquires at least enough
heads to produce a rainir.t;m of 1500 disc drive syste.::s. If
the estivate of output of disc drives in 1973 is reasonably
accurate (500 syste_^.s) , Bulgaria would have had a quantity
of heads sufficient to support capacity output of disc drives
at Stara Zagora (80-100 per month) during, most or all of 1974.
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6. We cannot detex-mine, on the basis'of information
available to us, whether Bulgaria currently is serially
producing disc drive systs:ns usin~~ imported heads, heads
assembled using imported parts, or purely Bulgarian-made
heads. All requests by US visitors to observe disc head
production have been dEnied. There is evidence that Bu1-
gaYia has made at least some heads on its ok:~~ A US finn
acquired three heads in Bulgaria in late 1973 and was told
that they were Bulgarian-made and were representative
samples. Electrical tests concluded that the heads were
suitable for 2311 type disc drives. Visual examination by
US experts revealed that the YY~;ads could be purely
Bulgarian-made but based on West~:.li design features . The
acquired heads could have been prototypes.
7. The Performance Subgroup of the CSTAC has estimated
that Bulgaria has prc;duced 20 , 000 of its own heads
a
In any event, we think it likely that the
estiruate, if it is accurate, includes a very larger number of
Western--made heads (see paragraph 4 above) .
8. Several Bulgarian disc packs that have been tested,
have been found to contain defects and to be below acceptable
-3=
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Western standards. Further, Bulgarian officials have ad-
mitted that pack yields are not satisfactory. Poor gr.~:litl'
disc packs could result in urre3.iable disc systPirs even if
the disc drive itself was of good quality.
9. There is no evidence that disc units equivalent to
the more advance IBM-2314 ;.urreatly are being produced in
the USSR or Eastern Europe. All 231 = ~:ype drives that S4estern
observers have seen operating with Communist computers have
been of Western origin. Bulgaria anc~ the USSR are known to
have 2314 type drives under development, and the Soviets have
exhibited a non-working model of a disc drive with clairned
2314 characteristics. .
10. Bulgaria and fine USSR still have a. long y~ay to go
before they can hope to produce, serially, double density
2314 or 3330 type disc drives. Bulgarian 2311 type heads will
have to be further refined and developed; voice coil actuators
n
will have to be designed an3 developed (Bulgaria has illegally
ac.~uired a small number of Western-made voice coil actuators,
probably to aid native development); neither Bulgarian drives
a~or the prototype Soviet drives that have been observed employ
the kind of stabilized base plate design needed for reliable
high performance. It is not now evident that either the Bul-
garians or the Soviets fully appreciate the base plate
requirements. Also, grease seals and other electromechanical
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parts in Soviet drives are of poor quality: Finally, sub-
titantial improvement in c~,isc Facks, over those that have
been examined, would be needed for the development of 2314
and 3330 type disc dr~,ves systems.
11. Stmmarizing, the information available to us
supports the view that 2311 type disc drives are in produc-
tion i:i 3ulgaria. However, we cdnno~ establish that the
technology is Pxclusively Bulgarian, or that Bulgaria does
not depend on Western suppliers for components. Th Q con-
tinued interest in the purchase of large numbers of Western
heads (and other subassemulies), raises strong suspicions
that Bulgaria either does not produce its own heads, or does
not yet have the capability to manufacture sufficient
quantities of critical recorc:ing heads of the 2311 type with-
out help.
12. We believe that the USSR, Bulgaria, and other
n
Eastern count.~-ies will not have the capability to produce sub-
stantial numbers of more advanced type systems -- 2314 ,and
3330 types -- without Western help, for a few years. These
Countries can be expected to press for the acquisition of
a) f*izr~~shed disc units; b) production technology; and
e) complete computer systems incorporating 2314 and 3330 type
disc units. Some design technology and maintenance experience
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could be derived from acquisition of finished disc units;
probably, it would not be sufficient to enable these
coun'ries to produce disc sys~cems ~ On the other hand, if
finished disc units were acquired in quantity so that
priority uses could be satisfie~3, tt~.ere would be little
need, in the short run at least, for a native 'production
capGbility. In past approaches to 4~estern firms for the
purchase of large quantities of disc units, Co*_m'^.unist
countries have insisted upon follow-on transfer of disc
production technology. The acquisition of a li.~ited nurber
of complete computer systems, with 2314 or 3330 type disc
systems tailore3 for these sys ~ez:~s , would minir.~i.ze the tech-
nological gain to East European countries ~~nd the possibili-
ties of division cf disc systems to unauthor~.zed uses.
CIA/OER/OSI
12 Feb 75
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Distribution: (5-6776)
Orig. & 1 - Mr. Robert B. Wright
Director, EII/ITP/E-4T '
Department of State, w/att
1 - DDI, w/att
1 - DD/S&T, w/att
1 - D/OER, w/att
1 - St/P, w/att
1 - Chief, D/U, w/att
2~- U/MC, w/att
25X1A9a OER/U/MC:-:nen/6901 (12 February 1975)
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