I just love how people seem surprised that Russia still spies on the west just because teh Cold war is over. No on estopped spying on anyone. Everyone spies on everyone else.
The US on the UK, the UK on France etc...
I disagree with Perilscope about how the Soviets lacked funds for research, there whole setup was geared to military research, they lagged behind in some areas of electronics mainly semiconductor research but to say they would have stayed in the 70's without spying is over egging the pudding. There are/were numerous areas where they were ahead.
Also there is teh question of pragmatism. Why spend millions researching what someone else has when you can just steal it, study it and in some areas improve on it.
Don't think the UK never did that on ol' Uncle Sam.
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