 C00174672
 Page: 10    of 27
 Concatenated JPRS Reports, 1993
 Document 7 of 19                                                 Page   1
 Classification:   UNCLASSIFIED       Status:        [STAT]
 Document Date:    20 Nov 92          Category:      [CAT]
 Report Type:      JPRS report        Report Date:
 Report Number:    JPRS-UMA-93-003    UDC Number:
 Author(s):  Olga Kuznetsova: "It Was Silly to Keep Us in the
 Background"]
 Headline:  Conversion: Navigation Institute
 Source Line:  93UM0266A St. Petersburg NEVSKOYE VREMYA in Russian 20
 Nov 92 p 2
 Subslug:  [Article by Olga Kuznetsova: "'It Was Silly to Keep Us in
 the Background " ]
 FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
 1.  [Article by Olga Kuznetsova: "It Was Silly to Keep Us in the
 Background"]
 2.  [Text] Passing through the streets of St. Petersburg, we scarcely
 pay attention to many institutions whose entryways have no plaques or
 signs explaining what department is located there. One such anonymous
 building is located on Vasilyevskiy island, not far from the Harbor.
 But- Just- recently--a -sign -was-flung--up: NINGI MUD which Scientific-Research Navigational-Hydrographic Institute of the
 Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.
 3.  I was the first newspaper person to cross the threshold of this
 institute, which on the inside is more reminiscent of a military unit
 than a scientific research institute.
 4.  Practically all national research in the field of navigation and
 hydrography has been concentrated here for dozens of years, on the
 corner of Bolshoy Prospekt and the Kozhevennaya Line. Here they
 developed and improved the onboard apparatus now in use (and not only
 by the military) without which not a single modern vessel would brave
 the open sea, and also the means for navigational equipment of sea
 routes and ports, and hydrographic and hydrometerological equipment.
 It was within these walls that a system was developed for determining
 the location of ships and other objects using artificial satellites.
 Even UFO-ology was within the field of research of the institute, and
 for many years they accumulated a lot of material here in this field.
 An enormous intellectual potential is concentrated at the institute:
 dozens of specialists have been awarded scientific degrees, and it
 has its own doctoral council.
 ZZ
 Approved for Release
 9-0 to
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 Document 7 of 19                                                 Page   2
 subordinate to the military department, are not going through the
 best of times now. Many institutes have had their financing cut, and
 the threat of closure looms. This has also affected NINGI. But
 finally it became clear to its leadership that if the institute was
 to survive, it had to emerge from the underground, since not only the
 military requires navigational equipment. But in the words of the
 deputy chief of NINGI, Captain 1st Rank Sergey Alekseyev, the
 traditional curtain of secrecy surrounding the institute did not
 allow it to openly use its scientific potential and rich data bank,
 the results of all national hydrographic expeditions since the
 twenties. According to existing instructions, scientists of the
 institute could not contact colleagues from other scientific
 institutions, and frequently there was duplication of research into
 the identical areas by civilians and the military. "It was silly to
 keep us in the background," Sergey Alekseyev believes.
 6.  But the process of conversion, part of which was liberation from
 the fetters of excessive secrecy, which recently has seemed to be
 simply an anachronism, has also touched NINGI. A year ago the
 decision was made to hold a scientific and technical conference at
 the institute, to which all interested parties could be invited,
 chiefly civilian organizations. And this conference "The Modern
 Status and Problems of Naval and Air Navigation" was a success.
 -Three---hundred-specialists, representing the major scientific organs
 and industrial facilities of Russian, thie CIS countries and-the--------------
 Baltics countries, for three days they shared their experience and
 became acquainted with the latest developments, for which an
 exhibition of new technical equipment was arranged.
 7.  Since the development of navigational equipment is a very
 science-intensive task, requiring great financial expenditures,
 commercial organizations were also invited to the conference. One of
 them, "Tranzas marin," has already concluded a contract with NINGI.
 8.  Now the institute is faced with a global task: creation of a
 federal radio-navigation plane for Russia which combines all
 information on navigation, marine as well as air and ground
 navigation. One hopes that by uniting its efforts with other civilian
 and military institutes, NINGI will successfully accomplish this
 task.

