Russia to perform survey flights over Portugal, Spain
Iran Press TV
Sun Oct 6, 2013 3:31PM GMT
Russian Defense Ministry has announced that the country's military inspectors will begin aerial survey flights this week above Portugal and Spain under the international Treaty on Open Skies.
The experts will conduct the flights over territories of Portugal and Spain in a Tupolev Tu-154 M/LK-1 aircraft between October 7 and 11, RIA Novosti news agency reported on Sunday.
The surveillance flights will start from Lisbon Airport in Portugal and Getafe Air Base in Spain.
The Treaty on Open Skies entered into force on January 1, 2002, and currently has 34 member states.
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 a direct role in gathering information about military forces and activities of concern to them.
Reports say that the flights over the two European countries will be the 31st and 32nd ones over the territories of the treaty member-states this year.
Each airplane, which flies under the Open Skies program, is equipped with a number of instruments including optical panoramic and framing cameras, video cameras with real-time display, thermal infrared imaging sensors, and imaging radar.
The equipments are used for gathering imagery during the observation flights which can also be distributed among the member states in an attempt to back the monitoring of compliance with arms control treaties.
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