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Re:The USSR covertly mapped American and European cities by dogma1138 on Sunday October 15, 2017 @08:57AM (#15476916)
Every military and intelligence outfit has their own mapping unit why is this exactly surprising?

The only reason why these maps gathered any attention is that funny enough they were actually use by some western companies as they were effectively either very cheap or without any royalties at all while most western maps are a copyright hell that would cost you a fortune to even look at.

The article also seems to glance over a lot of the inaccuracies that ended up in the soviet maps including made up places from movies and other popular culture.

Re:The USSR covertly mapped American and European cities by travmatt on Sunday October 15, 2017 @10:40AM (#15477283)
I’m reading a book, “The Great Game”, about the 18th century geopolitical competition between Russia and the UK to control swaths of Central Asia. A good portion of the book is just explaining the dates and destinations of secret expeditions, which were dedicated to mapping terrains and scouting rivers.
Re:The USSR covertly mapped American and European cities by jaggajasoos33 on Sunday October 15, 2017 @09:11AM (#15476960)
When it comes to topographic maps of Kashmir the USSR maps have been cheaper (and outdated). The indian government keeps their maps secret.
Re:The USSR covertly mapped American and European cities by dogma1138 on Sunday October 15, 2017 @09:17AM (#15476981)
Most governments keep their most accurate maps secret, especially maps that include terrain and soil traversability information.