What's Up With This......Open Skies?

**russellsimpson** · 26th June 2012 02:27

This I don't really understand...but kind of interesting.

Russian plane to snap photos over Canada

A Russian military plane will fly over Canada this week, taking photographs of cities, military bases and just about anything else that looks interesting.

If a plane bearing the red star of the Russian air force entered our airspace 30 years ago, Canadian jetfighters would have scrambled to intercept it. NORAD would have watched closely and NATO's planes in Europe might have been put on alert.
This week, a Russian military plane will spend three days as a guest of this country. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces will escort the unarmed Russian Tupolev TU-154M, acting as friendly hosts.
The Russians may use video, regular cameras, infrared sensors and even a form of radar as they pass over our cities, military bases, transport hubs and industrial sites.
The visit and data collection are part of the Treaty on Open Skies, which allows signatories to take a close look at any of the 34 nations that are members of the agreement.

Russian plane to snap photos over Canada | Sympatico.ca News

here's a little information on this agreement........

Membership
The 34 States Parties to the Open Skies Treaty are: Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and United States. Kyrgyzstan has signed but not yet ratified. The Treaty depositaries are Canada and Hungary.
The Treaty is of unlimited duration and is open to accession by other States. States of the former Soviet Union which have not already become States Parties to the Treaty may accede to it at any time. Applications from other interested States are subject to a consensus decision by the Open Skies Consultative Commission (OSCC), the Vienna-based organization charged with facilitating implementation of the Treaty, to which all States Parties belong. Eight states have acceded to the Treaty since entry into force: Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Estonia, and Lithuania. One application for accession is pending before the OSCC.
Basic Elements of the Treaty
Territory: The Open Skies regime covers the territory over which the State Party exercises sovereignty, including - land, islands, and internal and territorial waters. The Treaty specifies that the entire territory of a State Party is open to observation. Observation flights may only be restricted for reasons of flight safety, not for reasons of national security.
Aircraft: Observation aircraft may be provided by either the observing Party or by the observed Party (the "taxi option"), at the latter's choice. All Open Skies aircraft and sensors must pass specific certification and preflight inspection procedures to ensure that they are compliant with Treaty standards. Certified Open Skies aircraft include:

Open Skies Treaty