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fapangel · 7 years ago

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Difference between F-18, F/A-18, and F/A-18alphabetsoup? Am Canadian, want to know why we should buy new aircraft rather than more hornets from AUS.

The F-18 is a substantially larger, more powerful, longer ranged, more capable airframe in pretty much every aspect. The Hornet is a legendarily great knife-fighter (which should tell you how utterly full of shit Pierre Sprey is for claiming it’s a “dog” compared to his precious waifu F-16) but the Super Hornet is almost its equal in that realm simply because of improved engine thrust that offsets its larger size. And despite the larger size, it has a substantially reduced RCS compared to the legacy Hornet, because they realized that was going to be a Thing when they designed it. Also note what that linked article says about the AESA radar:

In the air-to-surface environment, there are not too many differences between the jets. Both aircraft use the JHMCS and ATFLIR. However, the Rhino’s APG-79 allows for synthetic aperture radar mapping, or SARMAP. When I first saw this I couldn’t believe it; the radar was painting the ground and displayed an image as good as the ATFLIR.

Now, specifically, for Canada’s use-cases, the greatly improved radar, the greater capacity for external stores (i.e. air-to-air missiles) and above all, the markedly superior unrefueled range. Canada, as you might know, is a really big goddamn country - and the Hornet only has a combat radius of 350 miles or so. The only aerial tankers Canada has are two CC-150 Polaris airframes. (None of the CAFs C-130s are tanker-configured.) This drastically limits the force’s flexibility when covering/controlling Canadian airspace over the interior. On one’s own ground you can plop a small auxiliary airbase anywhere you please, and I’m sure Canada still has some in operation left over from the Cold War/NORAD buildup, but such spartan facilities only offer utility for actual war or national emergencies; they’re not an effective way to base aircraft long-term. The support infrastructure for planes is immense and for the pampered, prima-donna pilots, even greater - this is why the US has flown so many strike missions against theaters worldwide from bomber bases in the continental United States. It’s much more easier and cost-effective to build base facilities to accommodate a dozen KC-135 tankers across the world than it is to accommodate three dozen B-52s anywhere we might need them. The same will be true of Canada.

Oh my, here we go, have a map. Note that every airbase in the inhospitable north are actually old NORAD Forward Operating Locations (hence the FOL.) And they have “accommodations for up to six fighters.” Going by the 1/3rd rule (standard operational tempo, if you want to keep a constant air presence in operation, usually works out to 1/3rd of the force in the air, with 2/3rds being maintained/turned around at any time,) so that’s a whole walloping two Hornets airborne to cover any one part of that vast northern frontier at any given time. Considering the F/A-18s short legs, that’s not much coverage at all. And you’ve got a whole two tankers to support them. Yeehaw. Sure, you could surge a larger presence to them (they’re built into existing civilian airports, after all,) but still - as far as I can tell, Canada’s plan for defending its north-west airspace boils down to “Americans in Alaska.”

Now a while back someone asked me if Canada should buy the F-35, and my answer boiled down to “it depends on if Canada wants to actually participate in NATO operations, or only wants to defend their own airspace.” I get it, Canada - just because you’ve hitched your defensive wagon to a big empire with global commitments doesn’t mean you’re keen on getting dragged into their every foreign entanglement. It wasn’t fun with the Brits, it’s not much fun with the US. But if you wanna go that route, you’ve gotta expect said nation to shrug if you come calling for help and most of their assets are tied up elsewhere. You have to be able to defend your own airspace - and presently, there’s not much Canada can do to stop a zerg-rush of Tu-95s from nuking half of Canada, aside from “all our important cities are close to the US border, US pls halp.”

Okay, sure, Russia’s not going to do that. But in international affairs, planners look at capabilities, not intentions. That’s because capabilities usually determine intentions. For instance, South Koreans hate Japan with a hot, hot hate, probably because of all the murdering and raping they inflicted upon Korea in WWII and before. So does North Korea. But Japan and South Korea are allies, because they need each other’s support against the likes of North Korea and China - whom also hate Japan, for the same reason. Likewise, North Korea’s Japan-hate didn’t mean much until they started acquiring ballistic missiles, and nuclear warheads to put on them. Their ability to act on their intentions determines just how much of their shit-talk they’ll walk the walk on, because of the allies capability to push their shit in. If one’s capabilities are weak, one often finds reasons to not piss off people that can kill them. As Will Rogers said, “Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘nice doggy’ until you can find a rock.”

Canada benefits from relative geographic isolation and relative irrelevancy - it’s like inverse Russia, a vast cold chilly forest filled with funny-hatted polite people. So maybe you don’t need that much capability to make attacking you more trouble than its worth... but you do need something, for fucks sake. And a bunch of obsolete, worn-out F/A-18s you buy secondhand from the Ausfags ain’t gonna fucking cut it, pal.

As an example - and this is just one example - consider the radar. Not so long ago the Russians started bragging about sending one of their cruise-missile subs for a stroll along our coastline with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, which is why Washington, D.C. now has permanent airborne radar platforms in the form of tethered blimps. All the ground-based radars in the world can’t overcome the simple problem of the earth’s curvature, which is one reason why AWACS, airborne radar, is so important - it can “look down” and see terrain-hugging cruise missiles. Canada doesn’t have any AWACS capability, so its fighters would have to find incoming cruise missiles all on their own. I fired up CMANO to give you a rough idea of the difference in radar coverage between a CAF Hornet and a modern US Super Hornet:

Fucking seriously, lads. The legacy Hornets days are numbered - even if the airframes were NOT simply wearing out, you’d have to spend just as much money pouring upgrades into them as you’d spend on a much more capable, upgradable, and cost-effective Superbug. Canada needs to decide if they’re a real fucking country with their own armed forces, or just America’s hat.

UPGRADE YOUR SHIT.

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jnglcat21 · 7 years ago

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There is no denying submarines evoke a sense of danger, stealth, and adventure, and they all have nail-biting stories to tell. But even amongst these silent stalkers, few are as legend-worthy as the USS Halibut (SSGN 587). Her keel was laid in April 1957 and just 2 years later she hit the water. After her official Naval commission in early 1960, she was deployed on her first cruise on March 11 of that year. Halibut was already a history-maker by being the first nuclear-powered submarine designed to deploy guided missiles, but she cemented her place in the history books by becoming the first nuclear sub to successfully launch said missile while at sea. Over the next five years, Halibut would participate in seven patrols throughout the Pacific, but missile technology was moving fast, and by 1965, she was replaced by the George Washington class of Polaris submarines. It was a short patrol life, but not to fear: her true adventures were about to begin. After a brief stint testing the capabilities of the Permit class submarines, Halibut was taken to Pearl Harbor in February 1965 for a massive overhaul. You see, the somewhat-clunky-looking Halibut had caught the eye of John Craven, an ocean engineer working for Naval Intelligence, who was tasked with locating and recovering launched Soviet missiles from the seabed. He took one look at the Halibut and he knew he had the potential for a deep sea recovery vessel. By late 1967, after two years of massive renovations, and countless failed tests, Halibut was ready for her first research mission. She was sent out to recover the cone of a Soviet ballistic missile, but problems with the cables attached to her recovery equipment thwarted that attempt. She tried again in January 1968, but she couldn't locate a missile to recover (and she nearly lost a man who was washed overboard while the ship was surfaced one night). Halibut headed back to Pearl Harbor from her second failed recovery attempt, and there she learned the Soviets had lost a Golf II class submarine of their own somewhere in the Pacific. It took a fair bit of decoding but Naval Intelligence learned K-129 had left port on February 24, 1968 and sometime in April, when she was out in the mid-Pacific, her transmissions stopped. The Soviets had tried to locate their lost sub, but failed to find it. So now, the Americans would try. What a boon to Naval Intelligence during these hot Cold War years to recover a Soviet sub with ballistic missiles, codebooks, and other military technology on board. And what better vessel to locate the missing K-129 than the USS Halibut? This type of mission is what Craven had designed her for, and though she had failed in her attempts to locate missile pieces, a full submarine was a different treasure altogether. After using underwater acoustics to pinpoint a possible location of the Golf II wreck, Naval Intelligence dispatched Halibut on July 15, 1968. And after days of searching the sea floor using "fish" - mini subs with attached cameras and lights - the crew hit the jackpot. There she was, intact, with a 10-foot hole in the hull just aft of the conning tower. Halibut had done it. She had successfully located a target on the ocean floor. Halibut pulled out all the stops by capturing over 22,000 images of the sunken K-129 before returning to port in September 1968. Her successful discovery led directly to the 1974 Project Azorian - the United States' attempt to raise K-129 from her seabed grave using a specially-built recovery vessel called the Glomar Explorer. Finding K-129 was an incredible success, but Naval Intelligence wasn't finished with Halibut just yet. In 1970, they concocted a new mission for the research sub: locate and tap a Soviet telephone cable in the Sea of Okhotsk. It was the riskiest and most questionably legal operation yet of the Cold War, but the potential return in intelligence was too much to pass up. Therefore, Halibut headed back to the port at Mare Island for yet another refit, but this time, some of the new additions would include decompression and lockout chambers for deep sea divers. By October 1971, she was ready to go, and Halibut set out for what her sailors called the "Sea of Oshkosh." It took several days of searching (trimmed significantly from the potential search time thanks to an intelligence officer's idea to look for "Do Not Anchor, Cable Here" signs like ones he remembered seeing along the Mississippi River as a kid), but the Halibut located, and tapped, the desired cable. It was a boon even greater than the location of the sunken K-129. The US could now eavesdrop on Soviet military conversations, something none of their other spy technology (such as satelittes) were capable of doing at the time. Furthermore, Operation Ivy Bells - the official name for the cable tap mission - yielded invaluable data, and remained undiscovered by the Soviets, for over 10 years. Halibut would make return trips to the cable tap in the Sea of Okhotsk (on her second trip, she had a close call when she crashed "belly first" into the seabed to avoid surfacing during a violent storm), but her glory days were over. Clunky, loud, and oddly shaped - her crew started calling her the "Bat Boat" because she resembled the Batmobile in their eyes - she had nevertheless proven indispensable to the United States' Cold War efforts. USS Halibut was decommissioned in June 1976 and fully scrapped by September 1994. An ignoble end, but she retains a glorious legacy...

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gameraboy2 · 2 months ago

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1967 Polaris Nuclear Sub ad

#polaris #submarine #1967 #1960s #vintage #ad #ads #advertising #advertisement #vintage ad #vintage ads #vintage advertising #vintage advertisement

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ericfruits · 7 years ago

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Mutually assured detection

ON JULY 20th 1960, a missile popped out of an apparently empty Atlantic ocean. Its solid-fuel rocket fired just as it cleared the surface and it tore off into the sky. Hours later, a second missile followed. An officer on the ballistic-missile submarine USS George Washington sent a message to President Dwight Eisenhower: “POLARIS—FROM OUT OF THE DEEP TO TARGET. PERFECT.” America had just completed its first successful missile launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from beneath the ocean. Less than two months later, Russia conducted a similar test in the White Sea, north of Archangel.

Those tests began a new phase in the cold war. Having ICBMs on effectively invisible launchers meant that neither side could destroy the other’s nuclear arsenal in a single attack. So by keeping safe the capacity for retaliatory second strikes, the introduction of ballistic-missile submarines helped develop the concept of “mutually assured destruction” (MAD), thereby deterring any form of nuclear first strike. America, Britain, China, France and Russia all have nuclear-powered submarines on permanent or near permanent patrol, capable of launching nuclear missiles; India has one such submarine, too, and Israel is believed to have nuclear missiles on conventionally powered submarines.

As well as menacing the world at large, submarines pose a much more specific threat to other countries’ navies; most military subs are attack boats rather than missile platforms. This makes anti-submarine warfare (ASW) a high priority for anyone who wants to keep their surface ships on the surface. Because such warfare depends on interpreting lots of data from different sources—sonar arrays on ships, sonar buoys dropped from aircraft, passive listening systems on the sea-floor—technology which allows new types of sensor and new ways of communicating could greatly increase its possibilities. “There’s an unmanned-systems explosion,” says Jim Galambos of DARPA, the Pentagon’s future-technology arm. Up until now, he says, submariners could be fairly sure of their hiding place, operating “alone and unafraid”. That is changing.

Hello, buoys

Aircraft play a big role in today’s ASW, flying from ships or shore to drop “sonobuoys” in patterns calculated to have the best chance of spotting something. This is expensive. An aeroplane with 8-10 people in it throws buoys out and waits around to listen to them and process their data on board. “In future you can envision a pair of AUVs [autonomous underwater vehicles], one deploying and one loitering and listening,” says Fred Cotaras of Ultra Electronics, a sonobuoy maker. Cheaper deployment means more buoys.

But more data is not that helpful if you do not have ways of moving it around, or of knowing where exactly it comes from. That is why DARPA is working on a Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation (POSYDON) which aims to provide “omnipresent, robust positioning across ocean basins” just as GPS satellites do above water, says Lisa Zurk, who heads up the programme. The system will use a natural feature of the ocean known as the “deep sound channel”. The speed of sound in water depends on temperature, pressure and, to some extent, salinity. The deep sound channel is found at the depth where these factors provide the lowest speed of sound. Below it, higher pressure makes the sound faster; above it, warmer water has the same effect.

Changes in the speed of sound (or for that matter light) cause sound (or light) waves to bend, a phenomenon known as refraction. The higher speed of sound above and below the deep sound channel thus bend sound back into it, allowing it to propagate for thousands of kilometres, especially if the sound’s wavelengths are long. It is a natural analogue to the process that keeps light in an optical fibre. Some zoologists believe whales use it as an ocean-wide telephone system.

In the POSYDON system, buoys on the surface would receive a GPS fix from satellites, then retransmit that data into the deep sound channel in acoustic form to submerged submarines and AUVs. Dr Zurk’s team is now determining the optimum frequencies for propagation, and modelling ways to correct for variable conditions. The simplicity of POSYDON would allow AUVs to offload a lot of the expensive equipment that they currently use to decipher positioning, says Dr Galambos. That means the possibility of more room on the drones for other useful stuff, or more money for more drones.

Even in heavily surveilled seas, spotting submarines will remain tricky. They are already quiet, and getting quieter; new “air-independent propulsion” systems mean that conventionally powered submarines can now turn off their diesel engines and run as quietly as nuclear ones, perhaps even more so, for extended periods of time. Greater autonomy, and thus fewer humans—or none at all—could make submarines quieter still. “As we pivot from manned to unmanned, no air cavity, maybe no propulsion motor, that’s a really challenging platform to find,” says Dr Zurk.

A case in point is a Russian weapon called Status-6, also known as Kanyon, about which Vladimir Putin boasted in a speech on March 1st. America’s recent nuclear-posture review describes it as “a new intercontinental, nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered, undersea autonomous torpedo”. A Russian state television broadcast in 2015 appeared to show it as a long, thin AUV that can be launched from a modified submarine and travel thousands of kilometres to explode off the shore of a major city with a great deal more energy than the largest warheads on ICBMs, thus generating a radioactive tsunami. Such a system might be seen as preserving a second-strike capability even if the target had a missile-defence system capable of shooting ICBMs out of the sky.

Despite such disturbing possibilities, many experts think that the balance of advantage is currently with seekers, not hiders. Sebastian Brixey-Williams of the British American Security Information Council thinks that “tracking and trailing” submarines will, within a decade, become significantly easier. Passive systems which simply listen will be a key part of this. Mr Brixey-Williams predicts that a few important choke points, such as the gap between Scotland and Iceland could now be completely surveilled by an array of just 15 acoustic sensors, far more sophisticated than the chain of hydrophones which did that job in the cold war. If a submarine is detected by such a system, it can then be trailed by another submarine, or some new form of drone.

New cold war

One part of the ocean that has become particularly interesting in this regard is the Arctic. Tracking submarines under or near ice is difficult, because ice constantly shifts, crackles and groans loudly enough to mask the subtle sounds of a submarine. With ever less ice in the Arctic this is becoming less of a problem, meaning America should be better able to track Russian submarines. Its Assured Arctic Awareness programme, also run by Dr Zurk, aims to develop new sensing techniques that can provide year-round monitoring without requiring a human presence. It is working on probes that can be deposited on the ice by drone, then melt their way down to the ocean beneath. Dr Zurk also talks of tagging icebergs with sensors, thus getting free rides across the ocean.

Greater numbers of better sensors, better networked, will not soon make submarines useless; but even without breakthroughs, they could erode the strategic norm that has guided nuclear thinking for over half a century—that of an unstoppable second strike. If a country even suspects that the location of its second-strike submarines might be known, their value for nuclear deterrence decreases. As Mr Brixey-Williams wrote in 2016: “The political tensions and threat to strategic stability that [tracking and trailing] would create should not be underestimated...and may be more dangerous than the technology itself.”

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fortheking16 · 5 years ago

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1960s Comic Book Ad Polaris Sub - January 21, 2020

1960s Comic Book Ad Polaris Sub – January 21, 2020

I always wanted to buy it, but by the time I saw the first ad, it was a lot more than $7. As the years went on, the price kept going up on a regular basis; it felt like the price increases far outpaced inflation. Here’s one article, there are a number of other articles you can find – http://secretfunspot.blogspot.com/2007/12/polaris-nuclear-sub-photo.html. Glad I didn’t buy it. Some of the…

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#Naval History

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courtneytincher · 5 years ago

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North Korea: A Submarine Superpower or Total Joke?

North Korea’s latest submarine is a step in a different direction, the so-called Sinpo or Gorae (“Whale”) class ballistic-missile submarine (SSB). The SSB appears to blend submarine know-how from previous classes with launch technology from the Soviet Cold War–era Golf-class ballistic-missile submarines; North Korea imported several Golf-class subs in the 1990s, ostensibly for scrapping purposes. Both the Golf and Gorae classes feature missile tubes in the submarine’s sail. The tubes are believed to be meant for the Pukkuksong-1 (“Polaris”) submarine-launched ballistic missiles currently under development. If successful, a small force of Gorae subs could provide a crude but effective second-strike capability, giving the regime the opportunity to retaliate even in the face of a massive preemptive attack.North Korea should by all rights be a naval power. A country sitting on a peninsula, Korea has a long naval tradition, despite being a “shrimp” between the two “whales” of China and Japan. However, the partitioning of Korea into two countries in 1945 and the stated goal of unification —by force if necessary—lent the country to building up a large army, and reserving the navy for interdiction and special operations roles. Now, in the twenty-first century, the country’s navy is set to be the sea arm of a substantial nuclear deterrent.Recommended: America Has Military Options for North Korea (but They're All Bad)

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ghostcultmagazine · 2 years ago

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gyrlversion · 5 years ago

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Labour MP was spy for Czechs: But millionaire issues furious denial

Cold War documents report that Geoffrey Robinson (pictured) divulged highly sensitive information about Britain’s nuclear deterrent with a spymaster from Communist Czechoslovakia

One of Jeremy Corbyn‘s most senior MPs was a spy who passed confidential Government documents to an enemy state, according to intelligence files unearthed by The Mail on Sunday.

The Cold War documents report that Geoffrey Robinson, a Minister under Prime Minister Tony Blair, divulged highly sensitive information about Britain’s nuclear deterrent over the course of 51 meetings with a spymaster from Communist Czechoslovakia.

The files also describe alleged contact between Mr Robinson and Russian KGB agents.

Given the codename Karko by the Czechs, Mr Robinson, who was then an ambitious Labour Party apparatchik, allegedly:

Passed the Czechs 87 pieces of intelligence between 1966 and 1969, including highly sensitive details relating to Britain’s Polaris missile programme and Nato briefing notes;

Accepted gifts worth more than £12,000 in today’s money, including Harrods vouchers, cases of wine and a gallon of whisky;

Declared himself a ‘Leninist’ and was hailed as one of Czechoslovakia’s ‘most productive sources’ in the UK.

The documents held in an official Prague archive claim that Mr Robinson acknowledged at the time that he ‘was involved in espionage’ and would be ‘sent to prison’ if caught.

Last night Mr Robinson, Labour MP for Coventry North West since 1976, strenuously denied the allegations. He issued a statement through lawyers denying any wrongdoing.

‘At no time did he ever pass confidential government documents or information to any foreign agent and he did not have access to such material,’ it said.

‘The allegations made by the Czech authorities 50 years ago are a lie.’

The files were examined by leading Czech intelligence expert Dr Daniela Richterova, of Brunel University, who said: ‘I don’t know whether what he allegedly did at that time was illegal, but it could be looked upon as betrayal. People working for government should not have been passing off intelligence to the Russians or its satellite states.’

One of Parliament’s wealthiest MPs, Robinson was a central New Labour figure, closely allied to both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Well connected: With Gordon Brown, the then Chancellor, and Economic Secretary Helen Liddell at 11 Downing Street on Budget Day 1998) The files also describe alleged contact between Mr Robinson and Russian KGB agents. Last night Mr Robinson strenuously denied the allegations

But he was forced to resign as Paymaster General in 1998 after it was revealed that he gave Peter Mandelson an undeclared £373,000 loan to buy a house in Notting Hill.

During a successful business career which made him millions, he became involved with a number of disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell’s engineering interests. Maxwell was a Czech national who was himself accused of being a spy.

The extraordinary claims are contained in 390 pages of Cold War files archived by the current Czech government.

Complied by the StB security service, they are now administered by the country’s State Security archive, which allows applicants to ‘trace files… on persons of interest about whom dossiers were maintained’.

The Mail on Sunday has written permission to publish extracts. They detail Mr Robinson’s alleged cultivation as a source and how he was expensively wined and dined at exclusive London restaurants and clubs.

Polaris, the ballistic missiles that could wipe out Moscow

by Mark Hookham

Geoffrey Robinson handed over sensitive information about Britain’s nuclear weapons to the Czech communist regime, the files claim.

It was a critical time in the Cold War. After years of development, Polaris, the UK’s first submarine-based nuclear weapons programme, was just entering service.

HMS Resolution, the first of four submarines armed with nuclear missiles, was commissioned into the Royal Navy in October 1967.

HMS Resolution, the first of four submarines armed with nuclear missiles, was commissioned into the Royal Navy in October 1967. Pictured is a Polaris missile breaking through water from the submarine off Cape Kennedy

Each sub was designed to be able to obliterate up to ten Russian cities, including Moscow. But even as HMS Resolution completed sea trials, a debate raged about the effectiveness of Polaris.

By the late 1960s, the Soviet Union and the US were drawing up plans for how to intercept incoming ballistic missiles with a ‘defensive shield’. The successful introduction of such a system would mean that Polaris warheads would be unable to penetrate Soviet defences unless they were redesigned.

The Czech files claim that in June 1967, Robinson told his handler that US Vice President Hubert Humphrey had tried to persuade the UK to replace Polaris with Poseidon, a costly new US missile system.

The Czechs regarded this as ‘interesting information’ and noted that their informant had learnt it from Defence Secretary Denis Healey and an aide to France’s President de Gaulle.

Robinson informed the Czechs that the British had rejected the US offer both on economic and political grounds. The MoD, he reported, had drawn up an alternative plan to try to extend the working life of Polaris and enhance the warheads.

Two months later, the files claim Robinson told his handler that the ‘Government had decided to purchase the new nuclear warhead for the Polaris missiles from the US’.

This information appears to have been wrong but it came amid uncertainty over the future of Polaris, and talks were held on whether it should be abandoned. However, Polaris was saved at a Cabinet meeting in 1968.

Even after the Czech regime and its Soviet allies brutally suppressed the Prague Spring uprising in 1968, killing 137 civilians, the Labour official allegedly continued to collaborate with the StB.

The revelations follow a series of claims about high-profile Labour politicians’ contact with hostile Cold War spies.

Former leader Michael Foot was accused of acting as an ‘agent of influence’ for Russia’s KGB, and last year it was revealed that Mr Corbyn met a Czech spy on four occasions in the 1980s.

A highly placed senior British intelligence source was shown the Robinson file on Friday.

Stationed in the Eastern Bloc during the same period, the source initially suggested that Robinson was, perhaps, working for the British security services as a double agent.

The documents held in an official Prague archive claim that Mr Robinson (pictured) acknowledged at the time that he ‘was involved in espionage’ and would be ‘sent to prison’ if caught

But several hours later, following discussions with former colleagues, he was less certain of this, adding: ‘I have spoken to people who would have known him and they have no recollection of him.’

In the files, Czech agents told of meetings in which Robinson was plied with drink and given expensive gifts.

His interest to them lay partly in the access they believed he had to Defence Secretary Denis Healey and Foreign Secretary George Brown.

Several sections of the documents give a revealing insight into the way the StB worked closely with Russia’s intelligence services, describing alleged contact between Robinson and KGB agents – called ‘Soviet friends’– and how Robinson was said to be passing them ‘classified’ information.

According to the documents, the two countries apparently vied for control of the Labour official, before the Russians eventually backed down.

The files say that Mr Robinson developed a close relationship with his Czech handler Karel Pravec – codenamed Comrade Pelnar, the head of StB’s bureau in the London embassy. Pravec is now 88 and living in New Jersey.

His reports from the time are included in the files. He wrote that meetings with Robinson were often oiled with copious amounts of alcohol, particularly ‘large quantities’ of the Labour official’s favourite: whisky and ginger ale.

But the documents claim the meetings would always return to ‘business’, with Robinson passing information and bundles of documents – sometimes marked ‘confidential’ – to be copied by Pravec.

The MP was then working in the Labour Party’s Transport House research department during Harold Wilson’s Labour Government, before moving to the newly formed Industrial Reorganisation Corporation (IRC), Wilson’s attempt to restructure British industry.

He first met Pravec at the Labour conference in October 1966 in Brighton, where he is reported to have introduced the spymaster to Healey.

He offered to meet Pravec again and then began passing a steady flow of information to his handler, which he Czech agents described as ‘reliable’.

It included details on the withdrawal of British troops from West Germany and across much of the rest of the globe, ‘confidential’ Nato military briefing files, and details of discussions on replacing Britain’s Polaris nuclear deterrent.

By December 1966, the Czechs were already in possession of a briefing note on Britain’s plans to reduce its troop numbers in West Germany – six months before Healey told the Cabinet of the planned cuts.

At a meeting in June 1967, Robinson is said to have given Pravec information on US-UK discussions over the replacement of Polaris.

Robinson is said to have told how US Vice-President Hubert Humphrey was placing ‘pressure on the UK to purchase the Poseidon rockets’, America’s upgraded nuclear missile. Apparently the information came ‘straight from Healey’.

The report added: ‘The Defence Ministry here has drawn up an alternative plan under which the first step will be to try to extend the working life of the existing Polaris missiles as much as possible.’

Later, in September 1967, Mr Robinson is reported to have also tipped off his handlers that the UK intended to buy its ‘new nuclear warhead for Polaris from the US.’

The files state Robinson implored Pravec to ‘handle this information carefully, as it could have unpleasant consequences [for him] if he were linked to the disclosure.’ Ultimately the UK decided against buying new warheads from the US.

Earlier, in March of the same year, Robinson allegedly informed Pravec about planned British troop withdrawals East of the Suez Canal, including the Middle East.

The report came ten months ahead of the Government’s official announcement by Wilson in January 1968. But the Czech agents were sceptical about this report and said they could not verify its accuracy.

An agent in Prague, writing in September 1967, said: ‘This report is incomplete as it fails to recognise the importance of the simultaneous construction of new military bases in the area. Verification of this report by our Near East and Middle East units was negative.’

The files say that Mr Robinson (pictured with his wife Marie Elena after his 1976 election victory) developed a close relationship with his Czech handler Karel Pravec – codenamed Comrade Pelnar, the head of StB’s bureau in the London embassy. Pravec is now 88 and living in New Jersey

At this time, the documents allege, Robinson was also passing information about sensitive discussions between the UK Government and foreign heads of state, including negotiations about Britain joining the European Economic Community. In June 1967, the files say Robinson reported that French President Charles de Gaulle was ‘devoting exceptional attention to stopping the UK from joining the EEC’.

Pravec always opened his reports with a matter-of-fact description of his spycraft, in one case stating: ‘No surveillance or other problems were detected.’

One rendezvous, in February 1968, came at a time when Robinson was moving from Transport House to the IRC, which the Czechs feared would make his asset less valuable.

But in an apparent bid to help his handlers, Robinson is reported to have handed over any material he could get his hands on before leaving his old job.

In the files, Pravec wrote that Robinson ‘increased his intelligence service activities to the maximum. He handed over quite a number of reports and materials – virtually everything he could give us from the position he held.’

During one meeting, Robinson is alleged to have handed over bundles of documents to be copied by StB agents, including Foreign Office and Cabinet Office files and a proposed speech by Healey on Britain’s military plans.

A ‘hasty and tense’ pub rendezvous later that month saw Robinson pass four bundles of ‘confidential Nato materials’ including some titled ‘East-West relationships’, ‘Development outside the Nato region’, ‘Ideological basis of Nato’ and ‘Problems with Nato’, said to have had Robinson’s handwritten notes in the margins.

The Czechs reportedly rewarded Robinson with expensive gifts during his collaboration including £200 of Harrods vouchers – worth around £3,500 today – as a gift following his wedding to Marie Elena in 1967.

He also is said to have accepted a gallon of whisky, a briefcase and requested a case of wine worth £50 in the summer of 1969, worth £800 in today’s money.

But he later reportedly turned down another £100 of Harrods vouchers, saying it should be returned as ‘[Czech] labourers worked really hard’ for the money. He also refused explicit financial reward from the agents.

The spy agency described their satisfaction at the low cost of their operation, writing: ‘Karko’s intelligence results were highly profitable from the financial point of view.’

Assessing Robinson’s motives, agents suggested he enjoyed to ‘eat very well’ with Pravec and that this is ‘typically what he asks’ for – while he also appeared to have a ‘personal liking’ for the agent.

In the files, it is reported he also described himself as a ‘Leninist’ to Pravec in one of their early meetings and that he was also active in the Left-wing Fabian Society.

To disguise the true nature of the meetings, the files say Robinson had told his boss he was having regular discussions with diplomats as part of his research role. But he admitted to his handler that knew Pravec was ‘not a straight diplomat’.

And in another report, Robinson is said to have admitted to Pravec that the Czech ‘could send him to jail immediately’ by revealing his actions.

At several meetings, the Labour official is said to have displayed crippling anxiety at the thought of being discovered, particularly with a stream of Soviet spy stories in the British press.

The Czech agents stated that they ‘never detected any surveillance’ of their meetings, but became concerned at Robinson’s few calls to the embassy, which they believe would have been noticed by MI5.

By 1969, the Czech agents were preparing to induct Robinson into full ‘agent’ status from his ranking as ‘DS’ – a confidential informant who knowingly commits espionage.

But Pravec was suddenly removed from the Czech embassy in 1969, causing a break in the relationship and ‘complicating the situation’.

Prior to this episode, it had apparently been Robinson’s transfer to Wilson’s economic project which unsettled the relationship.

Pravec reported that the economic reports he began to hand over in his new role were not of the same use and that his ‘intelligence gathering possibilities’ had ‘declined considerably’.

The files said the StB had offered to make up his salary had he stayed at Transport House, and Pravec is said to have told Robinson ‘that the help from foreign governments to prospective politicians is common and that there are people in the British Cabinet who have moved up in their posts only thanks to the help from abroad.’

Robinson is reported to have declined the offer. It left Pravec to conclude: ‘I think he was drawn by the certainty of higher income, whereas working for me only gave him the hope of a pay rise.’

The ‘Leninist’ accused of sharing secrets over fine wines, fillet steak – and shows at the Pussy Club

Famed for its caviar and oysters, it was the society haunt where Edward VIII wooed Mrs Simpson. But on October 21, 1966, according to intelligence files seen by The Mail on Sunday, the first act in an altogether different courtship was unfolding inside Maison Prunier in St James’s, Central London.

That night, two men, anxious not be overheard, were in the Art Deco dining room discussing politics in muted tones over a lavish seafood meal.

One was Geoffrey Robinson, then an ambitious but unknown 28-year-old Labour Party apparatchik. The other was Czech spymaster Karel Pravec, who was eager to recruit him.

One was Geoffrey Robinson, then an ambitious but unknown 28-year-old Labour Party apparatchik

Guided to their table a few minutes earlier, they might well have passed a Cabinet Minister or two, landed aristocrats down from the shires, captains of industry, or possibly stars of stage and screen. Once a favourite of Winston Churchill, few restaurants were as celebrated as Maison Prunier.

Given the two men’s political beliefs, it certainly made for an incongruous backdrop to their discussions. According to the files, both Russian-speaking Robinson and Pravec, 35, claimed to be Leninists, yet their tastes were anything but proletarian.

They became acquainted two weeks earlier at the Labour Party conference in Brighton and their dinner was the first of 51 assignations. They always ate and drank in style.

And as the cultivation of Robinson intensified, so too did the two men’s friendship. Before his wedding in 1967, the files say that Robinson even suggested they go on a ‘wild’ stag weekend in Paris ‘from where he would go straight to the altar’.

Mostly their playground was the Establishment heartland of St James’s. The irony of grooming an aspiring British politician under the noses of the elite must have tickled Pravec.

For his part, Robinson – who told his handler he broke off contact with his factory-owning father partly because he didn’t want to be labelled a capitalist – is portrayed in the previously secret reports as a man who relished both the high life and Pravec’s largesse.

Their favoured haunts amounted to a Who’s Who of late 1960s fine dining. They included Overton’s – once popular with 007 author Ian Fleming, who said its pate maison was the ‘best in town’ – and San Frediano in Chelsea, whose regulars included Princess Margaret.

Quaglino’s in St James’s was another favourite, as was Veeraswamy on Regent Street, the oldest Indian restaurant in the country, and the Paramount Grill, off Leicester Square, which claimed to serve the best steak in the world.

Once a favourite of Winston Churchill, few restaurants were as celebrated as Maison Prunier

This was the apogee of Swinging London: the Beatles were recording Sgt Pepper’s, the beau monde thronged the catwalks of Carnaby Street and the Kings Road, and, thanks to fashion designer Mary Quant, miniskirt hemlines had never been shorter.

But while neither Robinson nor Pravec could be called groovy, they were determined to have fun.

They visited nightclubs, among them The Georgian Pussy Club, staggering distance from Quaglino’s – it featured ‘gorgeous hostesses’ who waited on tables dressed in cat outfits comprising leotards and knee-high boots.

Another venue was the Pigalle nightclub in Piccadilly Circus, which was often frequented by the Kray twins and known for its racy cabaret shows.

And sometimes they ventured into Soho to watch the ‘fabulous floorshow’ at Tolaini’s Latin Quarter nightclub in Wardour Street.

According to the files, Robinson handed over confidential documents on numerous occasions. Once, during a restaurant meeting, he wrote down instructions from his handler on a napkin.

Occasionally, the two men played squash at Dolphin Square, the giant ten-storey block of flats looking out over the River Thames at Pimlico, which has long been home to MPs, spies and other notables.

If they needed to request an urgent rendezvous, Robinson’s handler telephoned his home using the cover of arranging a squash match.

On that first night at Prunier, though, beyond the political tenor of their conversation, what the two men discussed is not recorded in the files, only that Karko – Robinson’s Czech codename – ‘provided three items of information’.

Famed for its caviar and oysters, Maison Prunier in St James’s, Central London, was the society haunt where Edward VIII wooed Mrs Simpson

Their meeting began at 7pm and ended at 11.40pm.

If their rendezvous had been the following evening, October 22, Robinson might well have been markedly more nervous.

That day George Blake, the Soviet double agent, escaped over the wall of Wormwood Scrubs and fled to Moscow.

As it was, the first move in a carefully calibrated operation to try to ensnare Robinson, later a Minister under Tony Blair, was a success – at least that’s how it seemed to the StB, the Czech intelligence service.

Robinson, according to the files, was ‘impressed’ by his new friend – ostensibly first secretary at the Czech Embassy – and saw him ‘as an interesting partner from his personal point of view’.

At the time, Robinson worked in the international section of Labour’s research department, apparently affording him access to sensitive material.

A Czech interior ministry memorandum would later state that: ‘[Robinson] regularly provides our unit with information of a political nature, as well as classified materials pertaining to his line of work.’

This appeared true of another meeting three days before Christmas 1966 at the Golden Carp, an upmarket fish restaurant in Mayfair. It was here, the files say, that Robinson claimed to have access to coded communications from British missions abroad.

At first he was reluctant to reveal them, though it is later claimed that he changed his mind.

The two men also discussed the European Economic Community. ‘Karko announced that his arguments [in favour of joining] were backed up by a speech’ made by George Thomson, a Minister in Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s Cabinet, given to the Western European Union, an international organisation and military alliance.

The files, which use the codename Comrade Pelnar for Pravec, state: ‘After the meeting, Comrade Pelnar reminded Karko that he had promised to show him Thomson’s speech.

‘At first Karko hesitated, but then (after he had been given a gallon jar of whisky as a Christmas gift) he took Comrade Pelnar to his car and allowed him to read the speech… marked “confidential”.’

It was at this meeting that the Czechs first noted what they called Robinson’s ‘tendency to boast’.

Explaining why he had to cancel a rendezvous earlier that month, he said he had been delayed in Paris because the French Prime Minister, Georges Pompidou, invited him to dinner. ‘The explanation he gave was that the French PM wanted to talk to him on an unofficial basis about various views on the British joining the EEC,’ said one report.

As they finished their meal, the files say that Robinson expressed concern that his handler was lavishing too much money on him.

‘He was delighted to hear that Comrade Pelnar had a monthly allowance and it made no difference to him whether he spent it with someone all at once or bit by bit.’

At this time, newspapers were full of stories about Cold War traitors and Robinson, according to the files, was prone to jitters. In the spring of 1967, he met his handler in the Georgian nightclub but for once was unable to enjoy the entertainment. He became nervous about the presence of a man sitting at the next table. The files report that he was probably a musician since he was making notes on sheet music, but Robinson was ‘uneasy’ and, believing they could be overheard, insisted on moving elsewhere.

‘You can’t talk freely here,’ he is said to have told his handler.

The files claim that the two men were never followed – the Czechs always carried out counter-surveillance measures.

Yet in July that year, returning from a meeting with Robinson, Pravec ‘was dazzled close to his front door’ by a ‘spotlight fitted on to an unknown vehicle’.

And once inside his London flat, where he lived alone, the spy noticed that the light was on in his bedroom, though it was off when he left for work in the morning.

There had been another unsettling episode some months earlier. Over dinner at Veeraswamy, Robinson noticed a Labour MP, whom he knew well, sitting at the next table with his lover. ‘As he [the MP] clearly felt uncomfortable about being spotted by Karko he left… after a short while.’

There was interest in Robinson from other foreign agents, among them a Russian identified in the files as Mogilevcik.

In one report, Pravec writes: ‘When Mogilevcik finally reached Karko on the phone at work, Karko accepted his lunch invitation in order to prevent further unwelcome phone calls.

According to the files, Robinson handed over confidential documents on numerous occasions. Once, during a restaurant meeting, he wrote down instructions from his handler on a napkin

‘Mogilevcik asked Karko what restaurant he prefers and Karko unfortunately mentioned Paramount, a restaurant that I go to for short lunches when Karko does not have much time and has to go to eat somewhere near his office.

‘Karko accepted my criticism that it was not a very smart thing to do… I think it would be correct to warn Soviet advisers that Karko is being recruited and that the approach of their staff is damaging [and] gravely irresponsible.’

According to the files, Robinson appeared to have had serious qualms about his meetings with Pravec, initially at least.

One report from November 1967 notes that ‘he is most likely aware that he is walking on the edge of a risky adventure that can jeopardise his future career. In order to maintain balance, he appears to have created a notional red line that he strives not to cross.’

But the files suggest he later was in a more useful position to help, although he was far from being in the pay of Communist Czechoslovakia. ‘He made it clear in several interviews that he knew he was involved in espionage and that [Pravec] might “send him to prison any time”. He restricted his co-operation by refusing to share information that might lead to harm to his country in the case of war.’

On one occasion he met his handler at The Red Lion pub in St James’s, tucked away in Crown Passage, a 17th Century alleyway, and perfect for secret assignations. After ‘handing over materials’, the files claim Robinson left to attend a meeting in Parliament before reconvening with Pravec an hour and a half later at a restaurant.

Another venue was the Pigalle nightclub in Piccadilly Circus, which was often frequented by the Kray twins and known for its racy cabaret shows

In early 1968, Robinson was offered an executive job with the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation, set up by Harold Wilson to shake up British industry. Pravec tried to dissuade him from taking it and offered to make up the difference in salary. Robinson declined.

A report from that month says: ‘He [Pravec] indicated that the help from foreign states to prospective politicians is common and that there are people in the British Cabinet who have moved up in their posts only thanks to help from abroad. Karko reacted that he knew something about these cases.’ Robinson ‘made clear that money is not the main thing for him and he has the bonds from his father’s company but that he doesn’t use them because he wants to stay faithful to his political principles and that he wants… a political career.’

The report adds that Robinson believes Pravec has ‘given him a lot’ by sharing ‘his life experience’.

Still, though, the contact continued. From around the same time, another report outlined Robinson’s position: ‘He doesn’t get the codes on his desk as he stated before but he reads them during various contacts at FO!! [Foreign Office] Concerning a confidential material, he has the possibility to make a photocopy or to borrow the material and copy it at his workplace. But he cannot make the photocopy with the secret materials and… take them out of the building.’

What would have taken Robinson to the next level – full recruitment as a spy – was to have taken place during the World Ski Championships in February 1970 in Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia.

‘He was very excited about his planned stay and was fully prepared for a further specification of his existing collaboration,’ claim the files. But they go on to say this never happened because ‘the connection with Karko’ was lost.

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