ABROAD

BAGHDAD In Relief The stalemate of Western policy in the Middle East following the withdrawal of peacekeeping troops from Beirut has thrown into relief Soviet positions in the region, according to diplomatic observers here. While Soviet support for Syrian and Libyan initiatives is taken for granted, observers say that the resumption of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Cairo, following a long series of conciliatory moves, must be counted a clear success for Soviet diplomacy. Moscow is also now considered tobeina position of considerable strength in the Persian Gulf. Not only has it reassumed its earlier position as principal military supplier to Iraq—with whom, for example, it recently signed a nuclear assistance treaty—but it has also maneuvered with some success within the Tudeh, the Iranian Communist party, to reduce its hitherto unconditional support for Islamic fundamentalism.

FARNBOROUGH Buying Soviet The Soviet Union will attempt to make a commercial breakthrough in sales of civilian aircraft and equipment to Western airlines at the British air show at Farnborough in September. A fifty-man-strong Soviet delegation will hustle three different aircraft and entertain Western buyers at a lavish hospitality house during the show in an unaccustomed exhibition of salesmanship. The planes are the I1-86, a wide-bodied, 350-passenger commercial “airbus”; the An-72, a twin-engined cargo carrier designed for short runways; and the huge Mi-26 helicopter, which has eight rotor blades and a normal twenty-ton payload, five tons more than its biggest American rival. Heretofore, Soviet aviation products have flopped in the West, mostly because the Soviets have consistently refused to let Western buyers into their factories to check on production methods and quality-control procedures. The helicopter will probably arouse the most interest, even though it has been used so far only in military service. Two large trucks can fit into its main cargo space, and it recently flew to a level of 13,000 feet carrying a load of 25 tons, an unprecedented feat.

Featured Tags

BAGHDAD In Relief The stalemate of Western policy in the Middle East following the withdrawal of peacekeeping troops from Beirut has thrown into relief Soviet positions in the region, according to diplomatic observers here. While Soviet support for Syrian and Libyan initiatives is taken for granted, observers say that the resumption of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Cairo, following a long series of conciliatory moves, must be counted a clear success for Soviet diplomacy. Moscow is also now considered tobeina position of considerable strength in the Persian Gulf. Not only has it reassumed its earlier position as principal military supplier to Iraq—with whom, for example, it recently signed a nuclear assistance treaty—but it has also maneuvered with some success within the Tudeh, the Iranian Communist party, to reduce its hitherto unconditional support for Islamic fundamentalism.

FARNBOROUGH Buying Soviet The Soviet Union will attempt to make a commercial breakthrough in sales of civilian aircraft and equipment to Western airlines at the British air show at Farnborough in September. A fifty-man-strong Soviet delegation will hustle three different aircraft and entertain Western buyers at a lavish hospitality house during the show in an unaccustomed exhibition of salesmanship. The planes are the I1-86, a wide-bodied, 350-passenger commercial “airbus”; the An-72, a twin-engined cargo carrier designed for short runways; and the huge Mi-26 helicopter, which has eight rotor blades and a normal twenty-ton payload, five tons more than its biggest American rival. Heretofore, Soviet aviation products have flopped in the West, mostly because the Soviets have consistently refused to let Western buyers into their factories to check on production methods and quality-control procedures. The helicopter will probably arouse the most interest, even though it has been used so far only in military service. Two large trucks can fit into its main cargo space, and it recently flew to a level of 13,000 feet carrying a load of 25 tons, an unprecedented feat.