A Russian aircraft entered U.S. airspace Monday with the intent of surveilling the U.S. as part of a legal reconnaissance mission.
The Russian Tu-154M LK-1 passenger jet, which was equipped with special camera equipment, was headed to the U.S. and then to Canada for Russia's ninth and 10th such observation missions of the year. The flight, which would follow a previously agreed upon route, was covered under the Treaty on Open Skies signed in 1992 by the U.S., Russia and 32 other nations, including the majority of Europe. It was enacted in 2002. Despite heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow, the post-Cold War agreement permitted the two world powers to essentially spy on another with certain limitations.
"Within the framework of the Treaty on Open Skies, a group of Russian inspectors is planning to carry out an observation flight on Tu-154M LK-1 aircraft over the United States and Canada," Sergei Ryzhkov, head of the National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, told Russia's Sputnik News Monday.
Signatories to the Treaty on Open Skies were only allowed to fly aircraft that were unarmed and fitted with certain kinds of equipment. These tools were limited to "optical panoramic and framing cameras, video cameras with real-time display, infra-red line-scanning devices and sideways-looking synthetic aperture radar," according to the State Department. Devices capable of intercepting communications were prohibited and U.S. and Canadian officials would be on board this week's Russian flight to assure it was up to protocol, according to Ryzhkov.
More:
http://www.newsweek.com/russia-military-plane-spy-us-open-skies-583969Posting to
hopefully cut the conspiracy site BS off at the knees before that gets posted here. Probably won't work.
