Russian An -30B reconnaissance plane (data)
Just as the United States insisted on deploying an anti-missile system in the Czech Republic, Russian reconnaissance planes entered Czech airspace frequently for reconnaissance and closely monitored the latest developments in accordance with the previously signed Open Skies Agreement. According to the Russian "Viewpoint" reported on October 20, the Information and Public Relations Bureau of the Russian Ministry of National Defense disclosed that according to the "Open Skies Agreement" signed by Russia and NATO countries, in the last five days, Russian reconnaissance planes frequently flew into Czech airspace and took pictures of their ground military targets.
In and out of Czech airspace several times
According to the Open Skies Agreement, from October 15 to October 19, Russian Air Force pilots flew the An-30B reconnaissance plane over a distance of more than 800 kilometers and made several reconnaissance missions to Czech airspace. In Czech airspace, An-30B locked various military facilities in the Czech Republic and made detailed photo reconnaissance. RIA Novosti quoted a source from the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that the Russian reconnaissance plane flew along a pre-agreed route and was supervised by Czech and Russian experts.
The mission of "Open Skies" this time is the 226th Independent Mixed Flying Regiment of Russian Air Force, whose main model is the An-30B reconnaissance and camera plane. An-30B is refitted from An-24 light military transport aircraft and equipped with two AI-24VT turboprop engines. The aircraft has a maximum takeoff weight of 23 tons, a maximum speed of 540 kilometers per hour and a range of 2,600 kilometers.
The airborne equipment on An-30B is very perfect, which can not only navigate for other fighters, but also observe targets with the help of optical instruments. It can not only shoot the target in the air, verify the impact effect of missiles or bombs with photos, but also shoot large areas of hidden camouflage targets; You can also search for fighters or helicopters that have been shot down.
This model is usually limited to the mainland, but not necessarily. In 1997, an An-30 reconnaissance plane flew across the Atlantic Ocean and conducted reconnaissance of the airspace of the United States and Canada. But for the time being, the 226th Flying Group only carries out reconnaissance flights in the skies of Western Europe and Asia.
It was ten years before the Agreement was implemented.
The idea of "open skies" appeared more than 50 years ago. In 1955, the US government suggested to Soviet leaders that as an auxiliary means, the air forces of the two countries should conduct reconnaissance flights in each other’s airspace to ensure that no one was preparing for war. However, it was not realized at that time, and the Soviet leaders flatly rejected the "unreasonable demands" of the United States.
In this regard, the first agreement of practical significance is the Open Skies Agreement, which was signed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1992 by 24 countries including NATO and the former Warsaw Pact countries. However, the implementation of this agreement was not smooth. It took 10 years for it to come into effect after Russia and Belarus ratified it. With the increase of countries joining, 35 European and North American countries have joined the Open Skies Agreement. The goal of the Open Skies Agreement is to collect intelligence and activity information of each other’s armed forces through "observation flights" without weapons, so as to achieve openness and transparency in military activities.
In December 2002, the United States officially launched this flight for the first time over Siberia, Russia. On November 14th, 2006, a Tu-154 ml K1 reconnaissance plane took off from Chekalovsky Airport and paid a "return visit" to the United States on behalf of Russia. In 2003, 2006 and 2007, Russian air force reconnaissance planes have carried out similar reconnaissance in the airspace of Estonia, Finland and Norway respectively. In August this year, as a reciprocal action, Estonia, together with Finnish Air Force officials, conducted a patrol flight over Russian airspace. (Peng Hua)
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Editor: Cao Jin
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