The Russian Defense Ministry publishes the photo of an An-30B aircraft on its website on Aug. 12, 2019.
Observational flights are carried out in order to promote greater openness and transparency in the military activities.
MOSCOW, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that Russia will carry out an observation flight over the territory of Britain while the United States will carry out a similar mission over Russia this week.
A group of Russian inspectors accompanied by British experts will perform 1,150-km observation flight agreed on with the British authorities on a Russian An-30B aircraft from the Bryce Norton open airfield between Monday and Friday, it said in a statement.
Between Monday and Saturday, a U.S. mission will carry out an observation flight over the territory of Russia on a U.S. OS-135B observation plane, the ministry said in a separate statement.
Observational flights are carried out under the Treaty on Open Skies in order to promote greater openness and transparency in the military activities of the participating states, as well as to strengthen security with confidence-building measures, the ministry said.
Last Monday, the ministry said that the United States jointly with Denmark planned to carry out observation flights over Russia, while a group of Russian inspectors planned to carry out an observation flight over U.S. territory.
The Treaty on Open Skies took effect in 2002 and currently has 34 party states, including Russia, the United States and some other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, including Britain and Denmark.
