[sasquatch]

If I recall, much of the titanium came from the Soviet Union.

[AFreeBird]

Most of it did. Acquired through CIA front companies scattered around the globe.

[Paal Gulli]

"If I recall, much of the titanium came from the Soviet Union."

Not much, all. The CIA set up a shell corporation to buy it from the USSR.

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, that’s the punchline — the CIA set up a front, I think in India, got the ore mined and shipped out of Central Asia (then part of the now-mostly-defunct USSR), and brought to the US to be turned into spy planes to overfly the USSR (among other places). Gotta believe they were allowed to find that out. :^)