By Darlene Superville
Associated Press Writer
Monday, August 4, 1997; 5:15 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Cold War must be well and
truly over: With the blessing of the U.S. government, a Russian
air force plane flew from Washington to Ohio to Florida taking
photos of American military facilities.
The five-day mission, which ended Saturday, was a training
exercise in preparation for implementation of the 1992 Open
Skies Treaty. The treaty, signed by 27 nations, promotes
openness by allowing participating countries to gather
information about each other's military forces through unarmed
observation flights.
The flight was the first over the United States by a Russian
aircraft under the treaty. A U.S. team departs for Russia later
this month.
For his part, the chief of the Russian team declared the mission
a big success.
``I think that for our countries this was a very great event,''
Russian Air Force Col. Mikhail Botvinko told reporters
Monday. ``We have shown that we can work well together in
a spirit of mutual understanding.''
The Open Skies Treaty was signed in Finland in March 1992,
but enactment has been delayed because Belarus, Ukraine and
Russia have yet to ratify it. The United States approved it in
December 1993.
Until the agreement takes effect, only training flights will be
permitted.
``Everybody is practicing on everybody while we're waiting for
the treaty to be in place,'' said David Rigby, spokesman for the
On-Site Inspection Agency, the Defense Department agency
overseeing U.S. participation.
The 20-member Russian crew, traveling in a modified 1970s
twin-engine turboprop cargo plane, arrived in the United States
on July 28.
The mission, begun last Tuesday, took the crew from Dulles
International Airport outside Washington to Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base in Ohio and Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.
The plane also flew over the Kennedy Space Center at Cape
Canaveral, Fla., before returning to Dulles.
U.S. observers accompanied the Russian crew.
Photographs were taken from two cameras mounted in the
underside of the Antonov An-30 aircraft and operated
manually. A few photos from the mission were on display,
including a bird's-eye view of Cape Canaveral.
By contrast, the aircraft the United States uses is about twice
as large as the Russian's and equipped with plush seating, bunk
beds, computer screens and control panels with dozens of
colored lights and toggle switches.
The U.S. plane has a video camera in its nose, three regular
cameras mounted in the rear and another that takes panoramic
snapshots. Its cameras also are operated manually, but in a less
physically demanding way.
Botvinko, who met reporters at Dulles, where the crew
prepared to depart for a similar exercise in Canada, said never
in his lifetime did he expect to see such cooperation between
Russia and the United States.
``I and my team have been greatly impressed by the United
States,'' added Botvinko, who was aided by an interpreter.
It was unclear when Russia might approve the treaty, said
Valeriy Verotnikov of the Russian parliament's security affairs
committee.
He said several other issues must be dealt with first, including
the START II nuclear arms treaty, the Chemical Weapons
Convention and NATO's planned eastward expansion.
http://www.dave.smith.net/poa/opensky.html