Open Skies Treaty 2018

The state department has declared that the united states is no longer a party to the treaty on open skies a decades old treaty that permits member countries to conduct short notice unarmed reconnaissance flights over other countries to collect data on.

Open skies treaty 2018. In a major setback to global arms control the trump administration has announced it will no longer be a part of the open skies treaty ost a 34 year old convention that allows its members to make unarmed reconnaissance flights over the territory of other signatories to the deal. It establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants. The treaty on open skies entered into force on january 1 2002 and currently has 34 party states. The trump administration formally shut the door on the open skies treaty sunday.

The united states formally withdrew from the open skies treaty on sunday six months after president donald trump announced the decision. The trump administration formally shut the door on the open skies treaty sunday exiting the agreement while moving to get rid of the u s. An oc 135b open skies aircraft was parked in september 2018 at offutt air force base in nebraska. Days after refusing to certify a russian aircraft for flights under the open skies treaty the trump administration reversed course and agreed to approve the plane.