MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The two E-3 AWACS NATO spy planes flying over Poland and the Baltic gather intelligence on Russian military sites, an experienced intelligence expert told Interfax-Military News Agency Thursday.
"The 'cross-scanning' method used by the spy planes near Russia's borders substantially increases the volume of data on the military and other Russia's sites in the region," he said.
"AWACS gains maximum information from side-looking instrumentation. The 'Baltic' AWACS plane was to the northeast, while the 'Polish' one to the southwest of the Kaliningrad region where the (Russian - Interfax-AVN) Baltic Fleet is stationed. Thus, 'cross-scanning' increased the intelligence by at least 50 percent," the expert said.
Thus, he emphasized, a double flight gathers much more information than a single one, which probably explains why Russian observers were not invited to AWACS demo flights in the Baltic, although the Foreign Ministry had officially requested an invitation.
The first E-3 AWACS plane took to the air earlier this week over Latvia and Lithuania, and the second one began its mission over Poland on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the press service of the Baltic Fleet expressed concern over the joint mission of two spy planes.