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Swords
Into Plowshares: Annual Report
by
Rabbi Shimon Silman
Director, Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib
Research Institute on Moshiach & Science
This paper was written for the zechus of the Rabbi Chaim Yehudah Kalman ben
Rochel, for an immediate refuah sheleimah.
Eight years ago this week (the week of Parshas Mishpatim, 5752), a well
known conference took place in New York City at the United Nations between
the leaders of the major nations of the world - President Bush, Yeltsin,
other leaders of major military powers. In this meeting they made a joint
declaration and commitment to begin reduction of armaments and use the
resources and technology to further the improvement of economic conditions
in the world, to increase food production and to benefit mankind in
general.
This meeting and the announcement were probably overlooked by most of us,
but the Rebbe Melech Hamoshiach who sees deeper into things talked at
length about this the next day at the farbrengen Shabbos Parshas Mishpotim,
5752. Melech HaMoshiach explained that this announcement by the leaders of
the nations of the world to reduce their military operations and increase
food production in the world is the beginning of the fulfillment of the
prophecy of Yishayahu HaNovi (the Prophet Isaiah) that in the times of
Melech HaMoshiach the nations of the world will beat their swords into
plowshares. Melech HaMoshiach emphasized that this was the direct effect of
Melech HaMoshiach on the nations of the world - the decades of hafotzas
hama'ayonos, the spreading of Chassidus and Yiddishkeit throughout the
world and especially the spreading of Sheva Mitzvos B'nai Noach among the
non Jews is what eventually lead to the collapse of the atheistic
government in Russia and ultimately to this strong declaration by these
nations to beat their swords into plowshares. Another aspect of the Geulah
had begun to unfold before our eyes.
Since this is an act of Melech HaMoshiach and an event of Yemos HaMoshiach,
once it starts it continues and progresses. It was not a single isolated
event which took place back then. Rather it was the beginning of a process
which now continues at an accelerated pace. Various international
organizations have been established to document it and several books have
been written to report on it. At the annual Moshiach & Science
conferences of the Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib Research Institute on Moshiach
and the Sciences we report on what's new in "Swords Into
Plowshares." The Swords Into Plowshares transformation has become so
prevalent throughout the world that a group of physicists from the China Academy
of Engineering Physics were prompted to write, "The peaceful use of
military technology represents the trend of history," or, in our
terminology, "We are in the Era of Moshiach."
In this year's report we will look at the transformation of a major Russian
military research institute and the transformation of two Russian military
bases in Poland.
The
Transformation of a Military Research Institute
We consider first the restructuring of the Central Aerohydrodynamic
Research Institute (TsAGI) from a military research center into a research
center for peaceful applications.
TsAGI was established in Moscow in 1918 and grew to become the largest
aerospace test center in the world. Its facilities were moved to Zhukovsky
outside Moscow in 1939. Zhukovsky is now a city of 100,000 people whose
economy revolves around the aviation industry. By World War II, TsAGI had
already branched out into several divisions.
TsAGI has been involved in the design and testing of every major Soviet
military and commercial airplane, helicopter, missile and spacecraft. It
also engages in flight -simulator design and training. Its facilities
include wind tunnels for subsonic, transsonic and supersonic aerodynamic
tests as well as chambers for thermal strength testing. Some of these
facilities are the most advanced in the world. It has extensive software
development and computational capabilities as well as prototype
manufacturing facilities that are used for producing test instrumentation
and experimental models.
After the Swords Into Plowshares declaration, TsAGI began to reorganize
itself in a way that would make maximum use of its technology and
facilities to develop new products and provide services of economic benefit
while retaining its key technical personnel and providing challenging scientific
work for them. (While many of its employees left and went into other
commercial pursuits, this itself is considered by many analysts to be a
"passive conversion" from military to peaceful.)
To achieve these goals, TsAGI formally consolidated its core aerodynamic,
thermal and mechanical testing facilities into the TsAGI State Science
Center (TSSC) in 1994. The Science Center itself has three categories of
subsidiaries (see diagram). Category I comprises companies that are most
closely linked to the Science Center's core capabilities and activities.
They all involve high technology and use key scientific personnel from what
was TsAGI before the establishment of the Science Center. Some of these
subsidiaries are also involved in marketing the services of TSSC to
domestic aerospace customers who could not afford the higher costs of
working directly with the TSSC. The main difference between these Category
I subsidiaries and the Science Center itself is that while TSSC provides
technology services for the state (it's similar to government owned
national laboratories in the US), the Category I subsidiaries are involved
in providing these services for private customers, both inside and outside
Russia.
In addition to carrying out commercial businesses, these subsidiaries
engage in advanced applied research that may have further commercial
potential. The objectives of these subsidiaries are clearly the long-term
enhancement of TsAGI's basic capabilities and commercial viability.
Subsidiaries in this category include a helicopter plant, facilities for
producing measurement instruments, testing-equipment supply and testing
services, and a software firm. Aerospace technology has been reapplied by
enterprises in this category to produce automobile testing equipment and
medical equipment.
The second cotegory of subsidiaries also involves technology and skilled
personnel from TsAGI, but the technology is used to develop new commercial
products and services that don't involve the basic testing services of the
Science Center as the main element of the product or service. These
subsidiaries are basically free to do business on their own. Much of the
required capital comes from private investors.
As an example, one of these Category II subsidiaries specializes in solar
heaters. The enterprise grew out of a research group at TsAGI that was
working on commercializing technical processes developed at the institute.
Initially focusing on prefabricated building materials, the group utilized
a flexible thin metal sheet developed by TsAGI. Later the group turned to
the development of solar panels. The metal sheet technology enabled the
group to develop piping for the panel that was cheaper and more efficient
than the traditional copper models. TsAGI's aerospace technology in surface
coverings was also applied to the solar panel to increase its absorptive
capacity and dampen energy release. While the solar- collector project was
initially oriented toward developing a solar water heater, in 1994 TsAGI
researchers began developing applications in air conditioning,
desalinization, drying equipment, and other areas. The firm has received
orders from the Moscow Regional Government and even from some foreign
companies.
Other enterprises in this category include a firm that provides repair and
certification work for foreign aircraft, an enterprise that uses a large
vacuum chamber for high-altitude thermal strength testing, a producer of
machine tools for wood processing, and a flight simulator.
Category III comprises subsidiaries that were established to provide
employment for excess production workers, to utilize idle space and
equipment, and to generate revenue without monetary investment. Some of
these subsidiaries stress employment while others stress income. It is
important to emphasize the significance of this step. One of the aspects of
Marxist philosophy that the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach criticized was the idea
that the individual good must be sacrificed "for the good of
society." Judaism, l'havdil, emphasizes the significance of the
individual and says that a single act or even a single thought of an
individual can bring about a change for the good of the entire world. In
the formation of these Category III subsidiaries we see a complete reversal
of the Marxist philosophy: An institute is reorganized and a subsidiary is
set up whose primary purpose is to provide employment for the former
employees of the original institute. (Even in the U.S. we do not always see
this step taken in the reorganization of corporations.)
The Category III subsidiaries are low-technology product ventures such as
production of furniture and shoes or services such as a cafeteria and a
management training program, but they have little or nothing to do with the
science center's base activities. From a "Swords Into Plowshares"
perspective, however, these subsidiaries are especially important since
they were established primarily to provide employment and their products
are consumer goods.
Other examples of Category III subsidiaries are: 1) A subsidiary that manufactures
various instruments. TsAGI provides the building, equipment, and personnel;
an Israeli firm provides technology and some equipment, a US firm provides
marketing and sales and a Swiss firm provides financing. Each partner
receives 25 percent ownership. 2) An industrial diamond manufacturer. This
is a joint venture with 55 percent ownership by TsAGI and participation by
firms from Israel, the United States and Sweden. 3) A management-training
program (55 percent owned by TsAGI with participation by Moscow State
University, the Open University (UK), and Univiersity of Michigan), 4) A
wood-processing plant and 5) A food-services organization.
Here we have seen how a major military research institute has subdivided
into divisions where the military technology itself is used for peaceful
uses, as well as divisions which directly provide consumer goods.
The
Transformation of Military Bases
Military bases throughout Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as military
research institutes, have been transformed and are being used for peaceful
purposes. We will look at two Russian military installations in Poland and
see how they have been transformed.
Following World War II, the Soviet Union took over the former German
barracks facility in Poland's northwestern port city of Szczecin. Situated
directly between Berlin and Gdansk, this city of 420,000 is the logistic
and population center of the region. Shortly after the Russian soldiers
withdrew from Szczecin the barracks complex was converted into an educational
complex consisting of three schools: 1) The Institute of Computer Science
of the Szczecin Technical University, 2) A campus of the University of
Szczecin and 3) The Maritime University of Szczecin. The barracks hospital
was converted into a civilian hospital owned and operated by the city. The
current level of activity in this complex greatly exceeds the former,
military base level.
The city of Legnica is located in southwestern Poland and is the capital of
Legnica Province. During World War II, it was the Eastern Forces
Headquarters of the German army. As the Russian troops advanced, the
Germans abandoned it. The Russian army took it over and in 1955 it became
the headquarters for the entire Soviet Northern Group Forces.
During their presence in Lognica the Soviet troops occupied 1200 buildings
- 840 that had been built by the Germans and 360 that the Russians
themselves built. To assure security and separation from the residents of
the city, the Russians built walls around various sections of the city
which contained these military buildings. One such walled section, called
the Russian Square, a five block area in the heart of Legnica, housed the
Russian elite - officers and high ranking party officials. It consists of
massive houses, which are at least a hundred years old, with large yards.
After the Russians left, these buildings were used for housing. The larger
buildings were bought by developers to transform into apartment buildings
and the smaller buildings were sold to individuals for private homes.
One building located just outside Russian Square had been built by the
Germans in the 1800's as a villa for visiting athletes. After World War II
the Soviet military took over the residence as a guest house for visiting
officers. After the Russians left, the city government converted the
building into a retirement home under the management of the Legnica City
Office of Social Assistance. After a lengthy and expensive renovation it
began functioning as a home for seniors in 1996.
Finally we mention that several military airbases are in the process of
being transformed into civilian airports but this takes much longer because
of the tremendous expense involved in removing the pollution and
contamination left by the military, rebuilding and expanding the buildings
and the runways and, in general, meeting the safety requirements for a
civilian airport.
As we consider the above examples and follow this trend of transformation
of military technology, military research institutes and their personnel,
military airbases, army bases and naval bases etc. into peaceful uses, and
the redirection of the funds previously used to finance these operations to
peaceful purposes, we see that Swords Into Plowshares is indeed "the
trend of history."
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