Kasmaal
Independent Somali news and analysis website .
Home
All News
more news
RECENT POSTS
Somali news
Merkel set for fourth term as chancellor as CDU leads parliamentary vote, exit polls say
Turkey says it will send back ISIS prisoners even if citizenships revoked
General Marchenko: ‘Mykolaiv was to be next city to fall, but Russia terribly failed’
Ukrainian Armed Forces repel enemy attacks in four regions
Somalia president hails lifting of arms embargo as government vows to wipe out al-Shabab militants
Captured Somali pirates arrive in India to face trial over ship hijacking
Stay Connected
RSS for posts
Upgraded Russian SPY PLANE makes maiden flight over US nuclear & military sites – report
27 April, 2019 |
Filed under:
All News
,
more news
,
Opinion
,
RECENT POSTS
,
Somali news
|
Posted by:
Abdillahi
A Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-214ON at Ramenskoye Airport in Moscow region. © Wikipedia / Oleg Belyakov
The Drive
reported
, citing FlightRadar 24 tracking service data, that the newest version of the Tu-214 observation aircraft graced US skies after taking off from Rosecrans Air National Guard Base in St. Joseph, Missouri on Thursday.
The flight reportedly lasted six hours and saw the surveillance aircraft fly over a series of US defense and storage facilities scattered over the territory of West Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. The plane is reported to have flown over the Kirtland Air Force Base, which hosts the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center and functions as a nuclear storage site. In Colorado, the plane passed over the Pueblo Chemical Depot, one of the last two sites in the US with chemical munitions and materials.
The flight itself had been authorized by the US under the Treaty on Open Skies, which allows its signatories to conduct short inspections of each other’s territory. The treaty was signed in 1992, but did not come into force until 2002. The US and Russia are among its 34 members.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Moscow’s eye in US sky: Here’s what we know about Russian spy plane cleared by Washington
The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on the details of the mission. Earlier, Sergey Ryzhkov, head of the Russian Center for Reduction of Nuclear Threat,
announced
that the Tu-214ON would be conducting surveillance from Missouri Airport between 22 April and April 27. Under the treaty, the flight has to be monitored by US specialists on board the plane.
Washington eventually greenlighted the Tu-214ON flyover after initially refusing to certify the Russian “spy eye,” claiming that its digital surveillance equipment was more advanced than Moscow had declared and might manipulate digital data. After some back-and-forth, the US approved the plane for the flights over its territory in September last year.
ALSO ON RT.COM
‘Sign of good will’: US spy plane carries out 1st observation flights over Russia in 2 years
Tu-214ON is an updated version of the regular Tu-214. Its cockpit can fit two more people, which allowed the manufacturer to install more modern electronics. Its range has increased to a reported 6,500km (4,040 miles). The aircraft boasts three sensor arrays that include a digital photo camera, an infrared camera, and a TV camera complete with a sideways-looking synthetic aperture radar.
Source:rt.com
All News
US Appoints New Ambassador to Somalia
US student protests against Israel’s brutal Gaza war go global
EU ready to make ‘full use’ of trade defence tools against China, Von der Leyen warns Xi
Erdoğan vows to defend Palestinian cause against all odds
Five killed in Russian missile attack as Ukraine’s ‘Harry Potter castle’ goes up in flames
EU tightens visa requirements for Ethiopians over a lack of government cooperation on deportations
UN warns of ‘tragedy beyond words’ if Israel attacks Rafah
ICJ throws out Nicaragua’s case asking Germany to halt aid to Israel
Blinken tells GCC foreign ministers Israel must do more to boost Gaza aid
EXPLOSION KILLS SIX HORMUUD TELECOM WORKERS IN MOGADISHU ATTACK