Short Circuit

Was the KGB outfoxed?

It seemed to be a glaring example of the West's inability to keep sensitive high technology out of the hands of the Soviets. Last March, Favag S.A., a Swiss electronics firm, ordered two machines used in the production of microcircuitry from Perkin-Elmer Corp. of Norwalk, Conn. After receiving guarantees that the equipment would not fall into Soviet hands, the U.S. Government approved the sale. Favag, however, promptly shipped the machines to a second Swiss company, Eler Engineering, which is reported to be a channel through which East bloc countries obtain Western technology.

Now it appears that the Soviets may have been outfoxed. Apparently, the U.S. embassy discovered the subterfuge, and the commercial attache in Bern intercepted the machines in France while they were en route to Moscow. Cooperating with the French counterintelligence service, he short-circuited the wiring and removed vital parts, reducing $500,000 worth of equipment to electronic scrap. But Swiss authorities warn that the scam may have a different twist: accounts of the CIA's role might have been planted by the KGB to reduce Western anxieties about the wholesale theft of technology by the Soviets. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.