MOSCOW. March 9 (Interfax) - The United States and France will perform an observation flight in Russia, acting head of the Russian National Nuclear Threat Reduction Center Col. Ruslan Shishin has told Interfax.
"In the period from March 9 to 13, 2013, in furtherance of the Open Skies Treaty, a joint mission of the United States and France will perform an observation flight over the territory of the Russian Federation onboard a U.S. OC-135B observation aircraft from the Khabarovsk (new) airfield," Shishin said.
Russian specialists will take part in the flight along the coordinated route to control the strict compliance with the flight plan and the use of observation instruments envisaged by the treaty.
The OC-135B aircraft is incapable of carrying weapons. The plane and its observation instruments (aerial surveying cameras) have passed international certification involving Russian specialists, which rules out the use of technical gadgets unpermitted by the treaty.