Russian Military Inspectors to Fly Over Spain

[SajeevJino]

Russian Military Inspectors to Fly Over Spain​

Russian military inspectors will make a surveillance flight over the territory of Spain under the international Open Skies Treaty within a period starting Sunday, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Russian experts will conduct the inspection flight on board an Antonov An-30B (Clank) aircraft between March 10 and 16, the spokesman said.

The aircraft will take off from Getafe Air Base to cover a total distance of 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles).

During the flight, Russian and Spanish specialists will monitor the operation of surveillance equipment on board the aircraft as set out in the Open Skies Treaty.

This will be Russia's fourth observation flight this year under the agreement.

The Open Skies Treaty, which entered into force on January 1, 2002, establishes a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the territories of its 34 member states to promote openness and the transparency of military forces and activities. Russia ratified the deal in May 2001.


Russian Military Inspectors to Fly Over Spain | Defense | RIA Novosti

 

[W.G.Ewald]

India is not a Party to the Treaty on Open Skies.

Treaty on Open Skies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Treaty on Open Skies entered into force on January 1, 2002, and currently has 34 States Parties. It establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants. The treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information about military forces and activities of concern to them. Open Skies is one of the most wide-ranging international efforts to date promoting openness and transparency of military forces and activities. The concept of "mutual aerial observation" was initially proposed to Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin at the Geneva Conference of 1955 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower; however, the Soviets promptly rejected the concept and it lay dormant for several years.[citation needed] The treaty was eventually signed as an initiative of US president (and former Director of Central Intelligence) George H. W. Bush in 1989. Negotiated by the then-members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the agreement was signed in Helsinki, Finland, on March 24, 1992.