Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

An independent non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Information
    • History
    • Leadership
  • CCS Active Case Updates
  • Human Rights Resources
    • Human Rights Orgs
    • General HR Res
    • US Govt Agencies
  • Donations

Russia, Again, Arrests Elderly Scientist for Allegedly Leaking Classified Information

August 25, 2021

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/russia-wages-a-paranoid-war-on-hypersonic-scientists

Russia wages a paranoid war on hypersonics scientists

by Eugene Chudnovsky | August 14, 2021 07:00 AM

Alexander Kuranov, 73, has devoted his life to the study of hypersonic propulsion. His work involved the fundamental physics of plasma and material science, which used to be unclassified and published in the open literature.

However, the military applications of hypersonic technology have made Russia increasingly worried about leaks of information to the West and China. Russia is especially concerned about protecting knowledge that is being used to build its fleet of vehicles capable of evading missile defense systems.

Russia’s centerpiece weapons system is the Avangard. It’s a nuclear-capable glide vehicle delivered atop an intercontinental ballistic missile that can move through the air in a zigzag manner 20 times faster than sound, which is 10 times the speed of a bullet from a high-power rifle. At that speed, it takes 48 seconds to fly from Washington to New York. The next in line is the 3M22 Zircon, an anti-aircraft-carrier hypersonic cruise missile launched from a submarine that Russia has scheduled for deployment in the first half of 2022.

Kuranov has been the general director of the Hypersonic Systems Research Institute in St. Petersburg. His latest effort was focused on the development of a novel hypersonic aircraft called Ajax (pronounced Ayaks). Its design is based on the idea of the prominent Soviet-era rocket engineer Vladimir Freigstadt to recycle the energy of the fireball created by a spacecraft on its entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Other areas of research include civilian applications of extreme-heat studies, such as the protection of heat-stressed technological elements.

Kuranov is a prominent figure in Russian hypersonic research. In addition to directing the HRSI, he holds the position of professor in the department of controlled systems and technologies at the St. Petersburg Polytechnical University. He is also a CEO of the holding company Leninets that partially sponsors research at the HRSI. It is believed that his commercial ties with the West and his scientific contacts with Western researchers, American ones in particular, are the reason for his arrest by the FSB security service earlier this week.

After a short court hearing Thursday, Kuranov was detained on suspicion of high treason until Oct. 9. According to Russian media reports , he is accused of passing sensitive information to representatives of unspecified foreign countries.

Kuranov’s situation is far from ideal. Renowned Russian hypersonic scientist Victor Kudryavtsev was imprisoned in 2018 for the alleged transfer of sensitive information to the Belgian Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics. This is a charge that the VKI denied in an open statement.

After spending more than a year in Lefortovo prison, he was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 lung cancer. His 77-year-old co-worker Sergey Meshcheryakov was placed under house arrest. Another co-worker, Roman Kovalev was sentenced to seven years in a maximum-security colony. Recently arrested hypersonic scientists include professors Anatoly Gubanov and Valery Golubkin of the Moscow Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. Both have denied charges of passing secrets to NATO.

Top line: Russian leaders are clearly paranoid about losing the edge in hypersonic and other modern weaponry to the United States and China. As the competition is growing, so is the number of arrests, making Russian scientists increasingly fearful of their interactions with the West.

Eugene M. Chudnovsky is a distinguished professor at the City University of New York and the co-chair of the Committee of Concerned Scientists.

Filed Under: Russia Tagged With: Alexander Kuranov

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

Search Site

View Results in New Window...

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Search in posts
Search in pages
Filter by Categories
Additional Information
Angola
Annual Reports
Australia
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Belarus
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cameroon
CCS Board
CCS Cases
Chile
China
Colombia
Cuba
Egypt
Ethiopia
France
Germany
Good News
Greece
Highlights
History
Human Rights Resources
India
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Malaysia
Morocco
North America Issues
Pakistan
Pakistan
Palestinian Territories
Peru
Petitions
Philippines
Poland
Press
Previous Highlights
Prominent Cases
Related Articles
Reports
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Spain
Sudan
Swaziland
Syria
Thailand
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United Nations
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam

Browse by Country

Archives

Join Us

Become a member of our humanitarian enterprise.

Sign up

Support CCS

Remember to register with AmazonSmiles as a donor to the Committee of Concerned Scientists. Then anytime you shop there CCS will receive a donation from Amazon. Since people spend a lot during this time of year it can benefit CCS greatly if you remember to do this. There is no additional cost to you.

FURTHER DIRECTIONS

Translate This Page

Click on the flags or use the menu below for a translation of this page.

[google-translator]

Press Enter to Search

Like us on Facebook

Committee of Concerned Scientists

c/o Alexandra R. Bender, Executive Director
P.O. Box 273
Mountainhome, PA 18342
Phone: (570) 994-2093
abender@concernedscientists.org

Copyright © 2023 • Concerned Sci Child Theme on Genesis Framework • WordPress • Log in