Note: This article was published originally in 2010 as a post on one of the forums, and thus spread on the Runet (Russian social media network). But since this topic constantly pops up in discussions, it was decided to design it as a full-fledged article.
Author – A. Kudryavets
Translated from Russian into English. Source – https://a-kudryavets.livejournal.com/24110.html
The lunar race is a poorly researched area, since it is believed that many events of the 60s of the last century went on their own and were not connected in any way. Additionally, some of them are completely covered with a halo of mystery. For example, it is pointed out that the beginning of Soviet-American cooperation in the space area was not only at the height of the lunar race (1967), but also during the period of fierce fights in Vietnam, to which both countries were directly related and were enemies. But who was behind this rapprochement and who specifically did the negotiations?
Obviously, the hidden from prying eyes Soviet-American contacts began after the election of US President Nixon in November of 1968 and when Henry Kissinger joined his administration. The power change in the White House immediately brought its fruit – USSR began dragging out the manned flight to the Moon, but the Americans already announced its realization. Having only one event on hand it is difficult to determine the synchronism of actions, so we will continue our historical digression.
In Vietnam, as mentioned above, there was a war in which the major geopolitical competitors have collided. Moreover, if we assume there was a secret bargaining between them, then it should manifest in one or another way, including the planet’s hottest point.
In 1968 the Vietcong’s main forces were defeated. USA directed their action to the suppression of North Vietnam’s army. It would seem the final success would be to destroy the North Vietnamese supply bases and block the Ho Chi Minh trail, but the Americans slowed down and passed the “reins of power” to their Vietnamese allies. On the top of that a total withdrawal of their troops began in July of 1969. In the same month, quite by accident, the initiative with Apollo-11 was launched, and NASA’s Frank Borman visited the USSR.
Did, by accident, Americans fail in Vietnam and win the lunar race at the same time? Someone may say “anything can happen …” Who could remember now when the Americans once again declared themselves in Vietnam? And it happened – yes, you will not believe it – in the days of the completion of the Apollo-17 program (the last of the Apollo program). On December 19, 1972 Apollo splashed down and on the same day, the first bombing strikes were carried out on Hanoi. The operation Linebacker II even began on December 18, when the main part of the Apollo-17 show was still playing. The operation lasted for 10 days and ended up with complete success. North Vietnam was forced to sit down at the peace talks.
From July 1969 to December 1972, the Americans had a hard time. All this time they did not take any active action, just barely suppressed Vietcong’s and North Vietnam’s efforts. When their hands were untied – with the end of the lunar missions – then the fury and cruelty were revealed to the world in all of its glory, leaving no doubt in the real military power of the United States.
[The US Air Force B-52 bomber in Vietnam sky]
After placing the warring parties – North and South Vietnam – on the Paris negotiation table the US demonstratively left Vietnam. Apparently USSR’s position influenced the negotiations at this point. Soviet Union would not tolerate the resumption of full-scale hostilities in Vietnam, as they were before Apollo’s lunar missions. USSR had in its hands a powerful pressure lever which was used all the time. As the reader might guess, this is in regards of the arrangements for the Moon. In accordance with them, USSR got Vietnam who joined the socialist camp, becoming its member.
So far we can enlist the following coincidences during the Vietnam War:
- US cease most military activities in Vietnam before the beginning of Apollo’s lunar missions (1968).
- US withdraw a significant part of its contingent from Vietnam before Apollo’s central event – the landing on the Moon (July 1969).
- US left the initiative to Vietcong and North Vietnam, yet participating in defense battles predominantly while the lunar missions were taking place.
- US conduct one of the largest operations during the entire Vietnam War period right at the end of the moon missions (December 18, 1972).
From the USSR point of view Vietnam positively influenced the image of the socialist system and brought tangible geopolitical results: Laos and Cambodia followed Vietnam. Cambodia subsequently caused a lot of troubles, but this is another story.
To reader’s amazement Vietnam hardly could be considered a sufficient payment for the moon. Firstly, the support of friendly regimes requires considerable expenditure. Secondly, the USSR itself experienced economic difficulties, and the extra burden was very unpleasant. Thirdly, the Vietnamese prize was stretched up in time and until 1973 its future owner was in a state of uncertainty. Therefore, it is logical to assume that the list of bonuses received by the USSR should be more tangible in a physical sense.
KAMAZ is one of them. In the 60s the USSR began to experience an acute shortage in heavy trucks, so there was a need for a new plant. But the things went on as usual, not shaky and not swingy – could not find a place for construction, no money at the beginning for a long-term construction (“long-term construction”, if someone does not remember – the usual state of the Soviet construction, stretching for decades), designers based on on the technical base available in the USSR, were unable to offer a modern model of the truck. The help came unexpectedly… from the US who provided their models of trucks for copying:
“The fifty-year-old Anatoly Mavrikievich, nostalgic for the times of working on ZIS-150 and KAZ-585 (as known, created on the basis of cargo International), insisted on the International-110 as a prototype for the Kama car … For its time, International-110 were the most common middle-class trucks in the United States.
[The American truck “International-110”]
The basic model for future KamAZ was chosen International from the series 110 and 220, after which the work boiled (ibid.):
“On December 13, 1969, on the shore of Kama, the first bucket of soil was taken out, the grandiose construction began.
…
By September 1972, the delivery of equipment begins: from Moscow already turned lathes, from Saratov – intragrinding, from Voronezh – forging hammers. The first orders were made by the DDR and Switzerland, supplies are coming from Italy, England, the USA and other countries.
At this time, a group of American journalists representing the leading US publications – The New York Times, Washington Post, Baltimore San, etc. visited the construction of the Kamsky Automobile Plant. “
We can say that an inspection arrived in the USSR from a friendly country (hard for us to decide – friendly, in quotation marks or not).
About 700 foreign companies supplied the equipment for KamAZ, including from the USA and Japan. There is also unconfirmed information that the US has opened a credit line for the USSR for the construction of the plant. Indeed, because of the fall in exports, foreign exchange inflow to the USSR was reduced at a catastrophic rate, and the construction of such a plant was too expensive for him, and there were still huge expenditures on the lunar program and the ever-growing arms race.
How could the USSR take foreign currency funds if its products are not competitive, and the US imposed an embargo on exports to Western countries of oil and gas? But, as you know, the US is making a broad gesture and lifting the embargo. And “absolutely by accident” this occurs in 1968 – Soviet gas went to Austria. It was followed by Germany, France and Italy. And it soon became clear that the capacity of the pipelines was not enough, so it was urgent to finish the oil and gas pipelines. By coincidence, the construction of the Druzhba-2 oil pipeline began in 1969 and the same year the Soviet foreign trade association Soyuznefteexport, which specialized in selling natural gas abroad, began bilateral negotiations on the beginning of gas supplies to the FRG. Whatever it was, the fruitful joint efforts of the United States and the USSR helped the country of the Soviets with foreign exchange earnings for many years to come.
[Oil pipeline “Friendship”]
The sharpest problem for the USSR was also the backlog in the field of electronic technology and the introduction of digital technologies. Cybernetics, being a theoretical discipline, could not solve the problem with the release in the USSR of competitive electronic computers (computers). We needed specific developments that took into account the elemental base that existed in the USSR, which, by the way, by no means shone. The situation was exacerbated by the above-mentioned embargo – the imposed ban on deliveries of high-performance computer machines to the USSR and the socialist countries. And suddenly the “Gordian knot” of computer problems is cut in one fell swoop. It happened on the same days, when “on the shore of Kama the first ladle of soil was taken out” under the foundation of the future KAMAZ plant:
“Exactly forty years ago, on December 18, 1969, a historic meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Radio Industry of the USSR took place, which radically changed the vector of development of domestic computer technology. The debate over whether the decisions were correct and necessary, or mistaken and taken from the calculation of immediate benefits, go until now. “
What were the high officials and the best minds of the USSR arguing about? In fact, there was no dispute as such (ibid.):
“The December 18 meeting, which was attended by almost everyone who was then involved in the management of developments in this area, decided to focus on IBM / 360. The fact that technical documentation and software will actually have to be stolen, and IBM / 360 – the development of 1963-64 year, and was decidedly obsolete by the time of the meeting, no one stopped it. “
[The American computer “IBM-360”]
But they did not have to steal anything; The United States unexpectedly allowed the sale of IBM-360/370 machines to its geopolitical enemy. “Enemy”, without a long thought, copied these machines, putting the beginning of a series of EC-computers. A little later, the USA sold the computer “DEC PDP-11” to the USSR, from which a series of SM computers was born in the homeland of the victorious socialism.
“Obsolete this technique or not obsolete” – a topic for demagogic reasoning. In the USSR, there was nothing like this on paper or in metal, and, as is known, do not look at the gift horse. Therefore, there is absolutely nothing to argue about. Another thing is interesting: one side of the disputants, having sensed the dirty trick from the world oppressor of the proletarians, realized correctly-your enemy went to meet you for no reason. But she could not even imagine what was behind this event!
There was one more important question, which caused longing for the leaders of the USSR. It was an arms race that pulled huge resources out of the USSR, which had a negative impact on the standard of living of the population and the state of the economy as a whole. The topic is rather complicated and very delicate. Nobody wanted to give generous gifts to his enemy, and he did not keep it in mind. After lengthy negotiations in Moscow and Washington, conducted personally by Kissinger, a concept of strategic parity was worked out, and at a relatively low level acceptable for both superpowers. The result of this work was the conclusion of the SALT-1 contract, followed by a series of agreements that marked the so-called “relaxation of tension.” It remains to mention the next coincidence: the talks began on November 17, 1969 …
Let’s continue the list of “strange” coincidences:
- In 1968, the United States lifted the embargo on the export of energy resources from the USSR to the West, oil and gas. In the same year the gas went to Austria.
- On December 13, 1969, on the bank of the Kama, with the direct participation of the USA, construction of the KamAZ plant began.
- On November 17, 1969, negotiations began between the USSR and the USA on limiting strategic arms.
- On December 18, 1969, the board meeting of the Ministry of Radio Industry of the USSR directed to focus on IBM / 360, i.e. it was a question of full copying of the American computer IBM / 360 family.
- In 1969 the construction of the Druzhba-2 oil pipeline was started, which subsequently increased the country’s export capacity more than twofold.
- In 1969 negotiations began on bilateral negotiations on the beginning of gas supplies to the Federal Republic of Germany and in the same year Soviet export gas went to Italy.
The apotheosis of the rapprochement between the US and the USSR was the joint flight of the “Union” and “Apollo” with the subsequent docking in orbit:
[The Crew of ASTP: D.Slayton, T.Stafford, V.Brand, A.Leonov, V.Kubasov. 1975.]
But what was the foundation for such a warm relationship, given the fact that both countries are de facto fighting each other in Vietnam? And the nature of warming demonstrates an obvious one-sidedness – one side does the other’s favor and in return receives nothing.
In order to place all the dots over the “i” in the matter of unilateral concessions and inexplicable gifts, we will give one more example concerning the topic of personal relationships between the leaders of the United States and the USSR. The fact is that Brezhnev, though worried for the country, but had weaknesses, which in those days were qualified as ideologically alien and unworthy of the builders of communism. We are talking about:
– In 1971, Nixon gives Brezhnev a Cadillac. It is unclear for what merit, because they have never even met.
– In 1972, Brezhnev received as a gift from Nixon another car, “Cadillac Eldorado”:
[1972 Cadillac Eldorado]
And Brezhnev himself asked for this service. It turns out that the Americans were in his debt. And how else to explain these piquant relationships? On top of the theme of “Cadillac Eldorado” a small touch: “Cadillac” made by personal order Brezhnev and delivered to Moscow by a US Air Force transport aircraft. If we take the standards of the Stalin era, then it dragged on betrayal of the homeland with the due penalty.
– In 1973, Brezhnev again asks Nixon for the car – now “Lincoln Continental”. Needless to say, the special order is executed as soon as possible and free of charge.
[Leonid Brezhnev raises a toast to the health of Richard Nixon, 1973.]
All this looks ridiculous and even fantastic, if we assume that for the list of “random coincidences” given, Brezhnev’s gifts and concessions from the US, there is absolutely nothing. In fact, we are dealing with a list of evidence proving that the US has conscientiously paid for the service rendered by the Soviet Union and personally by the Comrade General Secretary. It can be said with complete confidence that if the Secretary General refused to cooperate with the United States, there would not be any “lunar missions”, since the USSR had all the possibilities for exposing lunar scams and without its support, no one in their right minds and good memories, would not have dared at such an unprecedented falsification.
What does humanity know about the “conquest” of the moon today? Only what the Americans told and showed him. Hundreds of kilograms of lunar soil, supposedly delivered to Earth, are stored for “seven seals” and are inaccessible for study. Those insignificant quantities that appear in different reports could easily have been obtained by automatic stations. A large array of photo and video documents shot during the “missions” cause a lot of puzzling questions, because of which the defenders of NASA are forced to admit that some of the materials “were being fetched in Hollywood” in order to present them in the best possible form. The same version is followed by Alexei Leonov. However, the question immediately arises: if in the US were able to produce lunar cadres, the reality of which was believed, then why not to film all the missions in Hollywood? Why fly somewhere, if the lunar soil can be obtained with the help of automatic stations, and video and photographic materials removed in terrestrial conditions?
Neither do they convince nor the images from the LRO program – this is another series of American “evidence”, easily produced on any computer. No country in the world has reported the discovery on the moon with the help of its spacecraft of the traces of “Apollo” missions, and what is more surprising is that neither the USSR nor its successor Russia has ever shown interest in conducting inspections of the moon, about what the Americans say so colorfully.
But, given the above circumstances, it becomes clear: there is nothing surprising in the fact that Russia covers NASA.
THE LUNAR RACE AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT
THE LUNAR RACE PREDICTED THE VIETNAM WAR’S OUTCOME
