According to Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star), translated and reported by Sputnik, Russian surveillance planes will conduct observation flights over the US and Swedish territory this week.
“One of [the flights] will be conducted over the territory of the United States by Russia’s Tu-154MLK-1 aircraft in the period from June 24-29, from the Open Skies Treaty airfield in Great Falls, with a maximum range of 5,130km [3,188 miles].
The other one will be conducted over Swedish territory by Russia’s An-30B observation aircraft in the period from June 24-28, from the Open Skies Treaty airfield in Uppsala, with a maximum range of 1,700km.”
Both observation flights are being conducted per the Open Skies Treaty, which allows participants to fly reconnaissance missions over other countries to gather data on military forces.
Red Star said the flight route was agreed upon by the US government, will have US aviation officials onboard the plane to oversee the surveillance equipment and compliance with the provisions of the treaty.
Thanks to internet sleuths, the specifications of the Russian surveillance equipment for the planes were made public several months ago in April. The imagery can be 1.6 miles to 7.4 miles wide, depending on the altitude. Once the flightpath is released, it’ll be much easier to see what military assets the Russians were interested in.
The US Air Force conducted a variant of Open Skies three times this year over Russian sites.
In April, Russian surveillance jets flew over the US for an observation flight, per the treaty.
In March, a Russian reconnaissance plane snapped pictures of Nellis Test and Training Range — also known as Area 51, per the treaty.
A French-German reconnaissance mission is already underway over Russian territory aboard a French observation aircraft this week.
Moscow has criticized Washington in recent weeks amid heightened tension over Iran.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister suggested the world is on “the brink of war” following President Trump’s stunt of initiating a massive air strike against Iran, only to call it off in the last minutes.
To sum up, the world is preparing for military conflict. The powder kegs have already been ignited in the Strait of Hormuz, the South China Sea and NATO/Russia border.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2X3RBC9 Tyler Durden