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Innovators, Copycats, or Pragmatists? Soviet Industrial Espionage and Innovation in the Military Aerospace Sector during the Cold War

Ingesson, Tony LU orcid (2023) In International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 36(3). p.816-846
Abstract
The article presents a theoretical framework for analyzing domestic innovative capability in relation to industrial espionage, drawing on material from the Soviet military aerospace sector, 1946–1990. It employs a structured comparative case study of six Soviet aircraft systems, which are compared to their closest Western equivalent. Three ideal types are used to categorize each case: copycat (mostly copying, virtually no innovation), innovator (mostly innovation, virtually no copying), and pragmatist (copying of specific parts or subsystems). The study concludes that only one of the studied aircraft is a copy, while three are innovative. The remaining two are categorized as pragmatic designs, where some parts may have been copied. This... (More)
The article presents a theoretical framework for analyzing domestic innovative capability in relation to industrial espionage, drawing on material from the Soviet military aerospace sector, 1946–1990. It employs a structured comparative case study of six Soviet aircraft systems, which are compared to their closest Western equivalent. Three ideal types are used to categorize each case: copycat (mostly copying, virtually no innovation), innovator (mostly innovation, virtually no copying), and pragmatist (copying of specific parts or subsystems). The study concludes that only one of the studied aircraft is a copy, while three are innovative. The remaining two are categorized as pragmatic designs, where some parts may have been copied. This indicates that Central Intelligence Agency estimates of Soviet technological capability seem to have been mostly correct, while some in academia and at the policy level during the Cold War clearly underestimated the Soviets. The general conclusion is that large-scale industrial espionage should not automatically be seen as an indicator of a lack of domestic innovative capability. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
industrial espionage, Soviet Union, Cold War, Aircraft, Case Studies, Intelligence Analysis, central intelligence agency
in
International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence
volume
36
issue
3
pages
816 - 846
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85137013560
ISSN
0885-0607
DOI
10.1080/08850607.2022.2109081
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
03c89cca-9725-4fe9-9993-88432be18494
date added to LUP
2022-08-10 16:00:48
date last changed
2023-06-02 08:00:47
@article{03c89cca-9725-4fe9-9993-88432be18494,
  abstract     = {{The article presents a theoretical framework for analyzing domestic innovative capability in relation to industrial espionage, drawing on material from the Soviet military aerospace sector, 1946–1990. It employs a structured comparative case study of six Soviet aircraft systems, which are compared to their closest Western equivalent. Three ideal types are used to categorize each case: copycat (mostly copying, virtually no innovation), innovator (mostly innovation, virtually no copying), and pragmatist (copying of specific parts or subsystems). The study concludes that only one of the studied aircraft is a copy, while three are innovative. The remaining two are categorized as pragmatic designs, where some parts may have been copied. This indicates that Central Intelligence Agency estimates of Soviet technological capability seem to have been mostly correct, while some in academia and at the policy level during the Cold War clearly underestimated the Soviets. The general conclusion is that large-scale industrial espionage should not automatically be seen as an indicator of a lack of domestic innovative capability.}},
  author       = {{Ingesson, Tony}},
  issn         = {{0885-0607}},
  keywords     = {{industrial espionage; Soviet Union; Cold War; Aircraft; Case Studies; Intelligence Analysis; central intelligence agency}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{816--846}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence}},
  title        = {{Innovators, Copycats, or Pragmatists? Soviet Industrial Espionage and Innovation in the Military Aerospace Sector during the Cold War}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08850607.2022.2109081}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/08850607.2022.2109081}},
  volume       = {{36}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}