The Open Skies Treaty: Observation Overflights of Military Activities

On March 24, 1992, the United States, Canada, and 22 European nations signed the Treaty on Open Skies.The United States officially ratified the treaty on November 3, 1993.The treaty has not yet entered into force, however, because Russia and Belarus have not yet ratified it.President Bush revived the Open Skies concept in May 1989.At the time, the United States believed that the Open Skies concept would reduce the chances of military confrontation and build confidence in Europe by providing participants with the ability to collect information about the military forces and activities of others in the treaty.In addition, even though the United States and Russia can collect this type of information with sophisticated observation satellites, Open Skies observation flights will provide nations who do not have their own satellites with a way to participate in the data collection and confidence-building process.The parties to the Treaty on Open Skies have agreed to permit unarmed aircraft to conduct observation flights over their entire territories.The United States Air Force has modified three C-135 aircraft for this purpose.Open Skies aircraft can be equipped with four types of sensors: optical panoramic and framing cameras; video cameras; infrared line-scanning devices; and sideways-looking synthetic aperture radars.These sensors must be based on off-the-shelf technology that is available to all participants in the treaty.The treaty includes quotas that specify maximum numbers of observation flights that can occur within each nation each year and the maximum number of observation flights each nation can conduct each year.For the United States, these quotas are 42 flights per year; however, only 4 flights will occur over U.S. territory in the first year that the treaty is in force.In addition, the United States will conduct only 9 observation flights during the first year of treaty implementation; 8 over Russia and Belarus and one, in conjunction with Canada, over Ukraine.When the Senate reviewed the Open Skies Treaty in 1992 and 1993, Members raised several concerns about the implications of the treaty for the United States.For example, some were concerned that the costs of outfitting and operating the U.S. Open Skies aircraft would outweigh the benefits that the United States would receive by participating in the treaty.As a result, the Senate suggested that the United States restrict its participation, conducting fewer than the 42 permitted observation flights per year.Some were also concerned about potential risks to U.S. security from observation flights that would gather information on U.S. military forces and activities.If the Open Skies Treaty remains in force for many years, the United States could host dozens of visits by other participants, with foreign military aircraft equipped with sensors flying over U.S. territory.Virtually all observers agree, however, that these flights will pose no security threat to the United States.

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