AIRPLANES' HUM ECHOES TENSIONS OF SUPERPOWERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505400010-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: October 10, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505400010-8
ARTICLE APPEARED
0I PACF .~
Airplanes' Hum
Echoes Tensions
Of Superpowers
The increasing tension between
the two superpowers is alarmingly
illustrated by top-secret air traffic in
the Caribbean, across the Atlantic
and from the nation's capital to 1.n-
diana.
Here's the story on the three mis-
sions, all of which have ominous
strategic implications in the East-
West military rivalry. My associate
Dale Van Atta learned the details of
the flights from high-level military
and intelligence sources.
? In the Caribbean, the Soviets
have quietly flown 14 of their older
jet -fighters-MiGl7s' made in the
mid-1950s-from eastern Europe to
Cuba. where they are now ready for
delivery to the Sandinista regime in
Nicaragua.
The move was in response to the
bombing of Managua in early Sep-
tember by planes of the anti-Sandi-
nista guerrillas. The bombing runs
were the brainstorm of the CIA,
which persuaded its "contra" clients
that they must escalate their falter-
ing campaign on the ground to an air
war if they hoped to show Congress
they were worthy of continued U.S.
support.
WASHINGTON POST
10 October 1983
The bombing may not have im-
pressed Congress, but it convinced
.Nicaraguan officials that counter-
measures had to be taken. At their
request, the Soviets flew the MiG17s
to Cuba, where they reportedly will
.be turned over to trained Ni.
caraguan pilots.
The MiG17s may beantiques by
-state-of-the-art combat. standards,
but they are more than match for
he ..anti-Sandinistas' bombers. In
addition to a clear ability to sweep
the skies clear of enemy raiders, the
MiG17s can also be effective in
.ground attack .against rebel hideouts
in rural Nicaragua and in any aerial
combat . with Honduran fighter
planes.
In retaliation, the Pentagon is se
riously considering a `surgical strike"
against the MiGs if they ever do ar-
rive in Managua. V
Thus the CIA, which unleashed
the anti-Sandinista guerrillas in the
first place, has succeeded. in escalat-
ing the Nicaraguan conflict to a level
that could now involve direct U.S.
military action.
? The secret trans-Atlantic flights
were by U.S. military transport
planes, which have been shipping
missile parts to West Germany and
other European locations. The mis-
sions will frustrate the West German
protest movement, whose leaders are
trying to find out where and when
Pershing and cruise missiles are ar-
riving for deployment in their coun-
try.
The protesters hope to block the
arrivals with massive demonstra-
tions. But with .the missile parts al -
ready in Europe for assembly, the
Pentagon hopes to have the first of
the Pershings ready for operational
deployment by the Dec. 15 target
date. .
-+ Another secret flight will be that
of the president's "doomsday plane," I
the converted Boeing 747 that is to
be the commander-in-chiefs air-
borne command post in the event of
nuclear war. It will be moved from
Andrews Air Force Base in suburban
Washington to a location in Indiana.
The reason is simple and scan- in
the event of a Soviet attack, there
wouldn't be , enough time for the
president to reach Andrews and take
off in the airborne command post.
Soviet submarine-launched missiles. I
coming in at a low trajectory, would
cut the warning time from half an
hour to less than 10 minutes. The
president would never make it to his
command post.
The plan now is to move the pres-
ident inland during the early stages
of a crisis, or send him by chopper to
a bunker command post when the
first warning of a Soviet launch is
given. Later he would be transported
to the airborne command post in
Indiana
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505400010-8