Russia To Perform Observation Flight Over UK, US To Fly Over Russia This Week - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2019) The Russian military will conduct an observation flight in the UK airspace, while the United States will conduct one in Russia's airspace some time this week, the official newspaper of the Russian Armed Forces, Krasnaya Zvezda,�said on Monday.

Russia plans to perform an observation flight on an An-30B aircraft over the UK territory under the international Treaty on Open Skies, the newspaper said citing the head of Russia's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, Sergei Ryzhkov.

The flight is scheduled to take place within the time period from August 19-23 with UK specialists present on board in order to ensure is compliance with the agreed parameters and use of the agreed equipment.

Within the time period from August 19-24, the United States will perform an observation flight over the Russian territory on board an OC-135B aircraft, the newspaper added.

The OC-135B observation aircraft is unarmed, and its equipment has passed an international certification in which Russian specialists took part, which rules out the use of technical means not covered by the agreement, the newspaper added.

The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in Helsinki on March 24, 1992, to promote openness and transparency of military forces and activities in the post-Cold War period.

The treaty allows the member states to openly gather information on respective armed forces� and their military activities during scheduled observation flights. The signatories count 34, including most of the NATO states, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and several others.