Byline: Dorothy Dawson

SINCE The Sunday Times broke the news in April that a Russian aerospace factory was building a flying saucer called the Ekip, Alexander Yermishin, director of the project at Saratov, 400 miles southeast of Moscow, has had a busy time, writes Dorothy Dawson.

More than 80 American companies have expressed an interest, and Yermishin spent last week negotiating with the Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation in California.

The Ekip has some attractive characteristics; it is versatile, cheap to run and cheap to build (a passenger version could be developed in Russia for Pounds 2billion, as opposed to Pounds 10billion in the West). Yermishin believes its potential merits development by an international consortium.

But before committing themselves, possible partners want proof...