MOSCOW, April 7 (Itar-Tass) - A group of Russian inspectors will make a series of observation flights over the territories of Romania and Hungary on April 7-13 while a joint group of French and U.S. inspectors will fly over the territory of Russia over the same period, a source at the Russian Defense Ministry press service told Itar-Tass.
"A group of Russian inspectors will make observation flights over the territories of Romania and Hungary onboard an AN-30B aircraft under the international Treaty on Open Skies,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The flights will be carried out from the Bucharest-Otopeni airfield in Romania and the Kecskemйt airfield in Hugnary.
The maximum flight range on agreed routes is 900 kilometers over Romania and 860 kilometers over Hungary. The Russian inspectors and their colleagues will exercise control over the use of surveillance equipment and implementation of existing agreements. The Russian representatives will carry out their 8th and 9th observation flights over the territories of countries signatories to the Open Skies Treaty in 2013.
On April 7-13, a joint group of French and U.S. inspectors will make an observation flight over Russian territory onboard the C-130H aircraft. The plane belongs to a class of aircraft that are not meant for carrying weapons and the equipment installed on it has passed international certification in which Russian experts took part. The flight route has been agreed with Russian experts who will exercise control over implementation of the provisions and agreements on the use of surveillance facilities alongside with their French and American colleagues.