Russian ‘spy’ plane is spotted over the Midwest on a surveillance mission of strategic defense assets in Hawaii
- On August 14 it landed in Hawaii ahead of a flyover of US defense assets
- The Russian Tupolev Tu-154M had departed Moscow, for the United States, via Iceland on August 11
- Its flight over Chicago this week caused a bit of a stir among locals unaware it was on an official mission permitted under the Treaty on Open Skies
A Russian Air Force jet has been spotted flying in the skies above the US Midwest on what appears to be a surveillance mission of key strategic defense assets in the nation.
The Tupolev Tu-154M was captured on flight radar flying across parts of the country including Chicago – the home of the US navy’s largest training sites and Hawaii – home of the Hickam Air Force Base and the local Marine Corps.
FlightRadar24 data shows the air force jet left the Russian Federation on August 11, before a stopover in Reykjavik, Iceland, that same day before passing through Vacaville, Northern California before it is believed to have then undertaken its surveillance missions over Hawaii on Wednesday.
FlightRadar24 data shows the Russian air force jet en route to Hawaii after it flew through the US Midwest
While the full flight path was not recorded on the aviation tracking site, The Drive, reported the plane’s route likely took it over Chicago.
The air jet’s presence caused somewhat of a stir among locals and media in Chicago after FlightRadar24 provided satellite imagery from part of the flight to local TV station.
WGN reported the imagery showed how the Russian jet took off from Dayton Ohio before it reached an altitude of about 36,000 feet in the air.
On its approach to the Indiana-Illinois border it made a sharp turn north sending it directly over Chicago and just west of Milwaukee.
Naval Station Great Lakes is located along that route in Chicago’s northern suburbs. It’s the Navy’s largest training installation and home to the Navy’s only Boot Camp.
From here, it is likely the jet continued onto Hawaii.
The plane, under the Treaty on Open Skies, is permitted to fly inside the airspace of parties, such as the United States, that are member to the treaty
Despite the flurry of news reports the Russian jet’s presence and its mission were permitted under the Treaty on Open Skies.
Signed on March 24, 1992, the treaty, signed by 34 party states, which came into effect on January 2, 2002, permits member countries to conduct surveillance missions.
The idea is to give the member nations the ability to gather information about each other’s respective military forces and establish whether or not established military treaties are being followed.
Under the treaty, planes must not be armed, but they are permitted to carry high-tech surveillance and monitoring equipment.
Ryan Browne gave his followers on twitter an explanation of the mission being carried out by the Russian air force jet
As Ryan Browne, a Washington, D.C based reporter who specializes in defense issues said on Twitter, the plane was ‘treaty-certified’.
The observation flight, due to end today, also had US and Russian observers on board.
It is not the first time this year Russia has conducted such a mission. In April another plane from the federation reportedly flew over two of the US’ nuclear laboratories.
And the US has done its own surveillance missions over Russia. In February a specially-equipped air force jet flew over Russian territory, with both US and Russian crew on board.
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