Russian air force jet flies over Washigton DC area locations
10 Aug 2017
An unarmed Russian air force jet flew over multiple sensitive Washington, DC area locations yesterday day, CNN reported.
The reported flight happened in accordance with the Treaty on Open Skies, under which participating members are allowed to conduct observational flights over other countries' military facilities CNN said citing a source that told CNN that US military personnel were on board.
The flight flew over the US Capitol, the Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency and the presidential retreat at Camp David. Additionally it flew over, the Trump National Golf Club in Arlington Virginia.
The US Capitol, the Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency and the presidential retreat at Camp David were among the sites that the aircraft reportedly flew over.
According to sources who spoke to CNN, the aircraft was also scheduled to visit the New Jersey town of Bedminster, where Donald Trump is currently on vacation.
Between the Treaty on Open Skies coming into effect in 2002 and 2016, the US flew more than twice as many flights over Russia than vice versa, a US State Department fact sheet showed.
''The Treaty's primary value is its role in building transparency and confidence, not intelligence gathering,'' the fact sheet says,'' allowing members to ''avoid surprises in a cooperative way.''
"They come here just like we go there," a US official said of the Open Skies flights. "It's a mutually agreed process," abcnews.go.com reported.
According to the Open Skies Treaty, visiting aircraft are allowed to use specific wet film equipment or digital sensors to take aerial surveillance photos that are later shared with the host nation.
The US uses the OC-1535 B aircraft when it conducts the same missions over Russia and other countries.
