Russia's New Surveillance Jet To Make First U.S. Visit To Photograph Military Bases - A view of the underside of Tu-214ON.jpg ...

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Russia is sending one of its two Tu-214ON observation aircraft the United States
under the Open Skies Treaty, which gives signatories the opportunity to fly
surveillance missions over each other’s territory, including the most sensitive
of locales. Less than a month ago, an older Tu-154-ON aircraft flew a route that
touched on, among other things, the secretive flight test facilities at Area 51
and the Nevada Test Site. The aircraft also made photo runs over many of
America's most important military installations in the Southwestern United
States. However, the Tu-214-based planes have been a particular point of
contention between the two countries and the U.S. government briefly refused to
certify them as being compliant with the treaty’s terms last year.

The Tu-214ON is set to arrive at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base, which is
attached to Rosecrans Memorial Airport in Saint Joseph, Missouri, on Apr. 22,
according to an official statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense. The
aircraft will conduct flights from that base through Apr. 27, 2019. The Kremlin
did not specify what locations the plane would fly over and the U.S. government
has not issued any statement of its own.

“The Russian aircraft will carry out the flight according to the route agreed
with the observed party,” the Russian statement read. “U.S. experts on board
will monitor the procedure for using the observation equipment and compliance
with the provisions stipulated by the agreement.”

Online flight tracking software showed one of the Tu-214ONs, with the
registration number RF-64525, and using an Open Skies call sign, OSY332T,
landing in Reykjavik, Iceland just after 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time on Apr.
22, 2019. The aircraft took off again around 11:10 to continue its flight to
Rosecrans.

Rosecrans is an ideal location to stage the Open Skies flights given its central
location in the United States. The Kremlin says that the treaty mission will
encompass a distance of no more than approximately 2,980 miles in total. From
the base in Missouri, this would give the Tu-214ON the ability to fly routes
that could touch on various significant U.S. military installations.

The plane wouldn't have to go very far to start surveilling very sensitive
sites, though. Whiteman Air Force Base, home to the U.S. Air Force's B-2A Spirit
stealth bombers, is also in Missouri, situated around 100 miles to the southeast
of Rosecrans. There are other strategic bomber bases well within range, too.

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This level of access—the ostensible goals of which are to promote transparency
in military activities and reduce the likelihood of a dangerous
misunderstanding—has often been an issue in the United States. A number of
members of Congress over the years have felt the agreement gives Russia outsized
benefits, especially given the country’s limited satellite surveillance
networks. Legislators, and senior U.S. military officials, have accused the
Kremlin of abusing the treaty’s parameters to gather more serious intelligence
data about highly sensitive locations. You can read more about this ongoing
controversy here.

In recent years, the disputes had looked like they might completely upend the
treaty. Since at least 2014, the Tu-214ONs, which are derived from the Tu-204
airliner, have been a particularly pointed issue. The U.S. government's official
complaints centered on concerns about Russia's plans to equip them with digital
cameras, including infrared-capable ones, and that it could be considering added
synthetic aperture radar to the plane's sensor suite.

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With U.S. relations with Russia at an all-time low, the final appearance of the
Tu-214ON over American skies could reignite criticism within Congress of the
Open Skies Treaty and prompt new efforts to pull the United States out of the
deal. The state of major arm control deals involving the two countries is
fragile, in general.

Earlier in 2019, Russia formally announced it was suspending its participation
in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF. The United States had
announced it was withdrawing from that landmark deal in 2018 over Russia’s
fielding of a ground-launched cruise missile banned under that agreement. There
are now serious questions about whether either party is interested in renewing
the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, which expires in 2021,
unless both sides agree to renew it through 2026.

A lot of the response from Capitol Hill will be dependent on exactly where the
Tu-214ON ends up flying over in the coming days. The War Zone will certainly be
keeping an eye on its moves to and from Rosecrans throughout the week.




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