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research and development of electronic devices. The director of WAT, Gen. J.S. Kaliski, is Deputy Minister of National Defense and a full member of the PAN.
Poland is one of the few Communist countries that openly discusses military applications of television. In 1966 the Polish Army displayed portable manpack television surveillance systems that consisted of cameras and transmitters and were intended for use at tactical command posts. In late 1970 the Alpha-3 transistorized closed circuit television system was being studied by the army for training and for field use. This prototype system apparently was produced at the Warsaw Television Factory.
The Quantum Electronics group of the Institute of Electron Technology and Research at the Warsaw Polytechnic University has a substantial laser research and development program. The group utilizes many types of operational lasers, including argon and krypton ion lasers, transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) lasers, and neodymium-glass lasers. Research also is conducted at the Institute of Physics of PAN, the universities of Wroclaw, Poznan, Torun, and several other scientific institutions. Gas dynamic lasers are also under development.
Research begun in 1966 at the Warsaw Polytechnic Institute led to the design of the ML-1 laser microtool. It is used for welding and drilling and has application in thin film and integrated circuits technology. The Poles have built lasers since 1963 with domestically produced materials, and have conduced laboratory experiments in modulation and detection of laser beams. A precision linear measurement system was to be completed early in 1970, using a continuously operating gas laser with a small digital computer to produce the results. Lasers constructed since 1963 include ruby, helium-neon, semiconductor types, and a carbon-dioxide gas dynamic unit operating at a continuous power level of 1 kilowatt.
High priority is accorded optics research; the present Five Year Plan (1971-75) includes development of a modern optical glass facility. The Industrial Institute for Electronics conducts research in ceramics, glass and electronics, and manufactures radios and radars, mainly for the Polish Army. Poland proposed to effect the transition to totally transistorized communications equipment by 1970, including the national telephone/telegraph system, but the plan has not been realized fully. The Poles are considering integrated digital communications systems.
Poland has a considerable interest in the development, manufacture, and use of computers, and ranks next to the U.S.S.R. among the European countries in computer capabilities. The laboratories of the Wroclaw Electrotechnical Works (ELWRO) has been successful in translating new machine designs into industrial production models and is the leading facility for development of production models of computers. ELWRO is the most successful computer producer in Poland, producing both digital and analog machines. The plant developed and produced the ODRA series of machines, which was the first East European model for which complete servicing provision was specified. ELWRO received considerable assistance from British International Computers, Ltd., in the design of the ODRA models 1304 and 1314. In the cooperative U.S.S.R.-East European Communist country plan for an IBM-360 compatible development of a series of computers, called the Ryad or ES series, Poland is responsible for the model 30. Originally responsible for the software, Poland now has been assigned responsibility for peripheral and other hardware as well.
The Institute of Mathematical Machines (IMM) has displayed strong capabilities in basic research on logic design and in the development of new programming languages and automatic processing techniques; some of the results have been adapted by the U.S.S.R. The only model that has achieved productions status in Poland is the UMC-1 vacuum tube model. A number of more recent development is the ZAM series. The most recent is the ZAM-51 prototype, which has a design sophistication that appears to be beyond Polish production capabilities. Measuring Instrument Works in Warsaw has shown an interest in further development of disc storage drives and cathode ray tube terminals and is attempting to market its minicomputer, the K-202, which is built with Western components. It uses integrated circuitry and reportedly has a per operation rate of 2 nanoseconds. The Poles are experiencing difficulties in preparing second- and third-generation computers because of delays in mastering production techniques and solid-state technology. Relatively strong emphasis is placed on acquisition of Western technology to produce electronic data processing systems and components.
The application of computers includes their use in data processing for economic planning and accounting, as well as in problem solving to support military, scientific, and industrial projects. The number of computers in the country increased from 100 in 1967 to more than 140 in 1968. In 1966 the government instituted a national program to establish computing centers throughout the country under the direction of the Organization of Electronic Technical Computers (ZETO). The purpose of the program is to
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070028-8
