American Notes TOURISTS

When a pair of the needle-nose supersonic bombers known as Blackjacks roared through patchy clouds above Kubinka Air Base near Moscow last week, a special ^ visitor was craning his neck to get a glimpse: Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, the first American allowed to see the Soviets' top-secret plane.

Carlucci later eased into the cockpit for a closer look at the Soviets' most sophisticated jet, capable of speeds reaching Mach 2 with a range of 4,500 miles. During field exercises at nearby Taman Division army base, Carlucci watched as warplanes streaked overhead and the earth trembled from mock explosions. The spectacle was a high point in the new military exchange between U.S. and Soviet officials. Several weeks ago, Soviet Chief of Staff Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev was allowed near the American B-1 bomber. Still, on- site inspections are not likely to replace sophisticated satellite reconnaissance. Of his unprecedented inspection of the Blackjack, Carlucci said, "I couldn't tell one instrument from another."