MOSCOW. April 30 (Interfax-AVN) - A group of Russian military inspectors will conduct aerial monitoring of French military facilities under the Open Skies Treaty from May 12 to 17.
"Inspectors of the Russian Defense Ministry's National Center for Lessening Nuclear Threats will monitor French military installations. The group will be led by Colonel Sergei Sukharev," a Defense Ministry source told Interfax-Military News Agency.
He said inspectors will monitor military facilities from an AN-30B Clank surveillance plane fitted with special cameras and optical equipment.
"Our AN-30B surveillance plane went through annual international certification in Germany in April this year, and it is now ready to make surveillance flights under the Open Skies program," the source stressed.
The Open Skies Treaty was signed in Helsinki on March 24, 1992 by 27 countries, including Russia and the United States. It is the main instrument of control over movement of troops and the state of military installations of the countries signatories to the treaty.