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130 FIGHTING THE ELECTRONIC WAR
NATO aircraft flying near the Inner German Border were now
operating on a fully-armed 'fire back' basis. 18
Discussions between the four occupying powers over the RAF
Lincoln did not go well. In 1945 the Allies had agreed that there
would be three air corridors stretching from different points in
the Western Zones of Germany across the Soviet Zone to Berlin,
which was itself divided between the four powers. Sensibly, the
Soviets suggested replacing the complex and confusing system
of three different air corridors with a single wider corridor or
'funnel'. The Allies refused, because although this solution would
have been safer, each of the three corridors passed over a subject
of 'intelligence interest'. Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick, who represented
the British, explained to officials in London:
*
The crux of the matter is really how much importance we
attach to the intelligence interest. The Americans are at
present very strong on this (they are particularly anxious
to retain ability to watch the Fulda Gap), and have suggested
to us privately that we are not attaching sufficient importance
to intelligence interest in the Northern Corridor.
*
Negotiations were made more complex by the fact that the
French, who also had a sector in Berlin, were 'obviously' not
told about the intelligence issues during the negotiations. 19
The Americans later explained that the retention of the
southern corridor was 'an absolutely vital requirement' for
them, since what they needed above all was early warning
of any concentration of forces signalling an impending Soviet
attack. As well as the regular sigint flights that travelled down
the corridors, the Americans were now using special aircraft
equipped for lateral photography, claiming that the photographs
were so good you could 'see a golf ball on a tee at 40
miles'.20 The Americans were 'entirely rigid' on intelligence
interests being paramount. Accordingly, the negotiations
foundered, and the existing system, with its three corridors,
remained largely unchanged. 21