Britain learned of South African nuclear programme from USSR
Previously secret papers released at the National Archives show how James Callaghan, the Labour prime minister, was informed in August 1977 of a secret test site in the Kalahari Desert in a personal letter from Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet president.
A Soviet spy satellite had discovered the site at Vastrap, in a remote area south of South Africa's border with Botswana, a week earlier. Two 750-foot shafts had been drilled in preparation for underground explosions. The Americans appear to have possessed similar satellite imagery but failed to inform their closest ally until after the Brezhnev letter.
In his letter of 8 August, the Soviet leader said he wanted to draw Callaghan's attention to a matter of "very great importance". Citing "available information", he went on to identify the Kalahari site and called on the British to exert pressure on Pretoria to cancel its clandestine programme.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
A Soviet spy satellite had discovered the site at Vastrap, in a remote area south of South Africa's border with Botswana, a week earlier. Two 750-foot shafts had been drilled in preparation for underground explosions. The Americans appear to have possessed similar satellite imagery but failed to inform their closest ally until after the Brezhnev letter.
In his letter of 8 August, the Soviet leader said he wanted to draw Callaghan's attention to a matter of "very great importance". Citing "available information", he went on to identify the Kalahari site and called on the British to exert pressure on Pretoria to cancel its clandestine programme.