Published on CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov) (https://www.cia.gov/readingroom)


CONVICTED SPY GAVE POLISH AGENT DETAILS OF STEALTH, B1 BOMBERS AND F15, CIA SAYS

Document Type: 
CREST [1]
Collection: 
General CIA Records [2]
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00552R000100510015-0
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
June 23, 2010
Sequence Number: 
15
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
April 29, 1982
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon CIA-RDP90-00552R000100510015-0.pdf [3]64.51 KB
Body: 
STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100510015-0 ARTICLE iJ'?z.4F ON PAGE ED J5. WALL STR3 T JOURNAL 29 April 1982 Convicted SP Gave Polish Agent Details Of Stealth, BI Bombers and F15, CIA Says Bpa WAIL. Sm, ,-r Juu,, i StuffRepurter WASHINGTON - Warsaw pact intelli- gence agencies have obtained classified de- tails of the U.S. stealth and BI bombers. the F15 fighter and other major American weapons, the Central intelligence Agency disclosed. t The CIA, In a report made available at the Pentagon, said a Polish agent was handed secret information on these weapons by William H. Bell, the former Hughes Air- craft Co. engineer convicted of spying last year. Z, According to the report, called "Soviet Acquisition of Western Technology," Bell gave the agent, Marion Zacharski, more than 20 "highly classified reports on ad- vaned future U.S. weapons systems or their components." The CIA said the information "probably" also made its way to Soviet In. Although the Bell case was widely'publi- cized, a Pentagon spokesman said the CIA report provides the first government ac- counting of just how many sensitive U.S. weapons were ..compromised by the engi- neer. Defense. Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who has been campaigning for tighter secu- rity in U.S. technology, ordered the report distributed at the Pentagon. The CIA pre- pared the document at- the request of a House science. subcommittee chaired by Rep. Albert Gore Jr. (D., Tenn.). - -`, According. to the document, Bell handed over information on the "quiet radar sys- tem" to be used on both the $30 billion BI bomber fleet and the top-secret. radar-evad- ing stealth bombers. Another highly secret U.S. radar weapon, the "look-down shoot-down" system that gives the F15 fighter an edge over Soviet ri- vats, was also compromised by Bell, the re- port says. -. Other weapons whose classified details were passed to the Polish agent, the CIA said, included the Navy's premier air-to-air missile, the Phoenix; the Patriot and Hawk surface-to-air missiles; a submarine sonar system, and radar systems for tanks and ships. "The Information in these documents put in jeopardy existing weapons and advanced future weapons of the U.S. and its allies," the report declared. Poland and the U.S.S.R. will save "hundreds of millions ? of dollars" in re- search costs because they have the U.S. se- crets, the CIA asserted, and will be able to develop defenses against the compromised weapons and field copies of them more quickly. The CIA said the Polish agency paid only $110,000 for the information, despite its much higher value to the Soviets. Bell, who pleaded guilty in the case, was sentenced to as long as eight years in prison and fined $10,000. Zacharski drew a life sentence. Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100510015-0

Source URL: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp90-00552r000100510015-0

Links
[1] https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document-type/crest
[2] https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/collection/general-cia-records
[3] https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00552R000100510015-0.pdf