Best heist of the century: AIM-9 Sidewinder missile
Beginning:
The time is the seventies of the last century; After World War II, the Cold War was at its height. The most dramatic arms race in history was going on between the United States and the Soviet Union. Because of this, both sides were eager to get an idea of the enemy's arsenal, and intelligence was the main means of getting an idea. But stealing?
Yes, you heard it right, one such incident happened in the seventies of the last century. But, it was not just theft, but the theft of the world's first 'heat-seeking' air-to-air guided missile. Before going to the main discussion we will try to know briefly about the importance of Sidewinder Missile.
Importance of Sidewinder Missile
Until the invention of the heat-seeking missile, the only hope in air warfare was the 'dog fight', in which two or more aircraft would engage in close combat with cannon fire until one or both aircraft were hit, which was fatal to both sides.
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| AIM-9 Sidewinder Missile; Credit: Getty Images / Tim Ziegenthaler |
The invention of the heat-seeker missile completely turned the tide of air warfare in America's favor, as seen in the air war between China and Taiwan during the Second Taiwan Crisis in 1958. On September 24 of that year, 126 Chinese MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighter jets entered Taiwan's airspace, one of the best fighters of the time. Taiwan sent 48 Saber fighter jets armed with America's newly invented Sidewinder missiles to counter them. China lost 9 fighters in the conflict, 6 of them by Sidewinders. The Taiwanese fighters engaged the Chinese fighters at a distance of about 9,000 feet, but the Chinese knew early on that they would have to come within at least 700-800 feet for a shootdown. That's why Taiwan didn't lose a single plane.
Sidewinder in the hands of the Soviet Union
A sidewinder collided with a Chinese MiG-17 in the Sino-Taiwan conflict, but did not explode, and stuck to the aircraft's airframe. The Chinese later sent it to the Soviets. Soviet engineers reverse-engineered it to create a copy.
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| Soviet MiG-23 equipped with K-13 copy of Sidewinder; Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons |
But the US has already developed a new version of the Sidewinder missile. So they needed an updated version of Sidewinder to close the technological gap with America.
Soviet intelligence while architect, businessman and playboy
Manfred Raminger, a West German architect, businessman, and playboy—who owned a construction company and essentially lived a life of luxury.
His fortunes turned upside down in the sixties when his construction company faced huge losses. He became desperate to regain wealth and a life of luxury.
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| Manfred Raminger with his Ferrari in a car race in 1960; Image Credit: GP Library/Universal Images Group via Getty Images |
Józef Linoski, a Polish engineer who worked for Raminger, arrived at the Soviet Embassy in Sohm on August 26, 1963. He went to the embassy and said that his firm could supply the Russians with anything that the Russians could not buy legally. Diplomats forwarded the proposal to the Soviet military intelligence agency GRU. Grue officials thoughtfully invited Raminger to Moscow to get to know him better.
After Raminger arrived in Moscow, he reached an agreement with Grue, saying he could provide something like a missile.
The heist of the century
Arriving in Germany, he sent word that he could steal an updated version of the Sidewinder missile, which the Soviets had long desired. Gru officials found the offer genuine and called him to Moscow to consult again.
But Raminger, a believer in the 'action first, talk later' mantra, went to Moscow, but with missiles. He was taken to Hotel Ukraine in Moscow, where he told the story of the theft.
Very hard work when very easy
Raminger enlisted German Air Force pilot Wolf-Diethardt Knoppe, who himself needed a lot of cash. Knop was well versed in security protocols and alarm systems. He makes a clay mold of the warehouse key, with which Linwaski makes a copy. Linwaski provided a burglar bug bag containing a lock opener, wire cutters and pliers. On the other hand, Raminger provides hydraulic lifts and trolleys.
October 23, 1966; Linwaski, Knopp, and Trollke were transported through the base's barbed wire fence by Raminger elevators at Neuburg Airfield in Bavaria in foggy autumn weather. Knop deactivated the alarm and Linwaski entered the warehouse. They fired the missile, and then locked and reactivated the alarm. He made a small hole in the barbed wire wall and took the missile out of the base. Well, the main task is over.
Now it's time to surprise Moscow
What Raminger did this time is beyond imagination. He airmailed the missile parts to Moscow as car parts, and he also took another plane to make sure the missiles arrived safely.
"The mail service didn't ask him any questions, just charged him $79.29 for the excess weight."
But he went to Moscow and saw that his parcel had not arrived. An angry Raminger flew back to Berlin to the mail service to discover the airline had misdirected his parcel.
Crew officials were surprised to see the missile. Gru gave him $8,500 (a lot in the sixties) and he happily returned to Germany.
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| Image Credit: Getty Images |
Soviet engineers reverse-engineered the missile into the R-13M air-to-air missile. In other words, they bridged the military technological gap with their adversary's technology.