Spy stories. The Cocoon Project
The beginning of the described events dates back to the 70s of the last century. Then, an underwater cable was already connected connecting Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, through which there was encrypted (and not only) correspondence within the Soviet Union. At one point, it was discovered by American nuclear submarines: they began to hover over the cable and intercept the passing information. Then this information was transferred to the appropriate structures, where it was analyzed with interest. The fact is that it was in Kamchatka that various missile tests took place, and thus, in addition to encrypted messages, urgent open messages were also transmitted (“3 meter deviation”, etc).
The problem was that atomic submarines always had different goals, and hovering in one place for several days was not their most effective use. Then the National Security Agency, having invested a lot of money, developed and implemented a truly unique project called "Cocoon".
A seven-ton container was created containing a signal receiver, a system for storing and transmitting a signal to "his" submarine. The radiation was directed by a narrow beam upward and detected not more than a few meters above the container. In order to provide the device with energy, an atomic reactor was built into it. And the container was put right on the bottom on which the cable lay. The whole created system worked perfectly: periodically one of the submarines shot the stored signal, and in the meantime, the container continued to feed on its own energy and intercept the signal.
This continued until 1980, when an unsuspecting group of fishing vessels engaged in fishing directly in the Cocoon area. As a result, a cable break occurred (I think it was most likely a disconnection of one of the sections). A large number of various ships, submarines, and other mechanical gizmos immediately went to this area. Having discovered the place of a cliff during cable repair, suddenly one of the divers noticed a strange healthy object, which was also warm to the touch.
No one had any idea what it was, no one suspected the existence of this Cocoon. It was a real sensation. It was supplemented by the fact that, in addition to the designers of Cocoon, the assemblers also decided to distinguish themselves with genius - on one of the walls was proudly flaunted the plate “Made in USA”.
They began to think what to do with this gift, besides it was also warm. After reasoning of the “blow up / study in Moscow” type, the head of the Politburo Andropov decided to open and study it in Moscow. There, the goals of the device and the method of work were clarified. The Americans did not suspect any discovery of Cocoon all this time, until two Soviet submarines met the nuclear submarine with the planned data collection flight :)
That's how the Cocoon project was completed. In the museum of the National Security Agency there is a Cocoon model, which says that this is an outstanding achievement of American scientists, which allowed to reveal a number of ciphers of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union did not recognize the opening of ciphers.
Source: Professor Saliy Vyacheslav Nikolaevich, Saratov State University, 2010.
PS It’s good that the Americans didn’t foresee destabilization of the reactor with, for example, changing the water pressure ...
UPD: This story is in the version of en.Wiki
Photo:
Link to the Russian-language article: www.dive-tek.ru/archiv/2005/6/64- 67.html
UPD2. An article appeared in the habr with a more detailed presentation, with differences from the above.
The problem was that atomic submarines always had different goals, and hovering in one place for several days was not their most effective use. Then the National Security Agency, having invested a lot of money, developed and implemented a truly unique project called "Cocoon".
A seven-ton container was created containing a signal receiver, a system for storing and transmitting a signal to "his" submarine. The radiation was directed by a narrow beam upward and detected not more than a few meters above the container. In order to provide the device with energy, an atomic reactor was built into it. And the container was put right on the bottom on which the cable lay. The whole created system worked perfectly: periodically one of the submarines shot the stored signal, and in the meantime, the container continued to feed on its own energy and intercept the signal.
This continued until 1980, when an unsuspecting group of fishing vessels engaged in fishing directly in the Cocoon area. As a result, a cable break occurred (I think it was most likely a disconnection of one of the sections). A large number of various ships, submarines, and other mechanical gizmos immediately went to this area. Having discovered the place of a cliff during cable repair, suddenly one of the divers noticed a strange healthy object, which was also warm to the touch.
No one had any idea what it was, no one suspected the existence of this Cocoon. It was a real sensation. It was supplemented by the fact that, in addition to the designers of Cocoon, the assemblers also decided to distinguish themselves with genius - on one of the walls was proudly flaunted the plate “Made in USA”.
They began to think what to do with this gift, besides it was also warm. After reasoning of the “blow up / study in Moscow” type, the head of the Politburo Andropov decided to open and study it in Moscow. There, the goals of the device and the method of work were clarified. The Americans did not suspect any discovery of Cocoon all this time, until two Soviet submarines met the nuclear submarine with the planned data collection flight :)
That's how the Cocoon project was completed. In the museum of the National Security Agency there is a Cocoon model, which says that this is an outstanding achievement of American scientists, which allowed to reveal a number of ciphers of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union did not recognize the opening of ciphers.
Source: Professor Saliy Vyacheslav Nikolaevich, Saratov State University, 2010.
PS It’s good that the Americans didn’t foresee destabilization of the reactor with, for example, changing the water pressure ...
UPD: This story is in the version of en.Wiki
Photo:
Link to the Russian-language article: www.dive-tek.ru/archiv/2005/6/64- 67.html
UPD2. An article appeared in the habr with a more detailed presentation, with differences from the above.