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OPEN SKIES AIRCRAFT MEET IN FÜRSTY

By Patrick Hoeveler

"We are in the middle of a piece of history." This is the importance Wing Commander Günter Blecks attaches to the Open Skies Treaty, signed on 24 March 1992 in Helsinki. Unrestricted observation flights over the territories of the signatory states are intended to promote transparency of military forces and activities and the building of trust, from Vladivostok to Vancouver. However, the aircraft and sensors involved are subject to strict rules. To define these, 250 experts from 33 countries were invited by the Zentrum für Verifikationsaufgaben der Bundeswehr (Bundeswehr centre for verification tasks, ZVBw) to Fürstenfeldbruck near Munich.

The aim of test certification is to put an end to the "touch of espionage which still festers in many minds", said Blecks, who works at the Geilenkirchen-based ZVBw, on the occasion of a visit by a group of German MPs. For two weeks the international experts carried out certification checks on the six surveillance aircraft that had flown in, together with their camera equipment, so as to be prepared for entry into force of the treaty next year and subsequent final certification.

The event was attended by an Antonov An-26 from Keskemet in Hungary, an An-30 from Bulgaria, an An-30 from the national Nuclear Risk Reduction Centre (NRRC) in Russia, an An-30 from Kiev-Borispol in the Ukraine and a Royal Air Force BAE Andover. A Canadian Lockheed Martin C-130 was also present as representative of the "pod group". On the Hercules the sensors are contained in a special pod carried under the wing. However, at present there is only one pod, which has to be fetched for every mission in Brussels. The USA, with its two Boeing OC-135's from Offut, Nebraska, was not represented in Fürsty. The German participants did not have any aircraft of their own present either, as they have no capacity in this department since the crash of the refurbished Tu-154. For structural reasons the C-160 Transall cannot carry any external stores such as the sensor pod.

The main focus of the meeting was on determining the minimum altitudes to be maintained during the observation flights, since under the terms of the treaty no objects that are smaller than 30cm must be recognisable on the photographs. For this purpose the aircraft completed a photographic mission above a calibration target installed in Leipheim. The target consisted of two 14m beams, one perpendicular to the direction of flight and one running parallel to the direction of flight, plus two boards (black and white) for contrast measurement.

After each flight the films were developed and the prints evaluated in the laboratories of the aerial photography training squadron. Here the development process was monitored by specialists. Naturally, when it came to the grain size, which is so important for the resolution, one might almost have thought from the haggling that one was at a fair. "At the end of the day, intelligence is the last national domain," says Major Uwe Lingmann from the Bundeswehr Intelligence Office.

Five negatives per flight and combinations of camera, film and filter were provided for expert assessment. Ten experts from various countries assessed how many beams were identifiable, eliminating in each case the best and worst observations. The rest were used to derive the so-called mean value L2. Together with the contrast value K2, mathematicians then work out the relevant altitude. The qualitative, optical differences between cameras can amount to an altitude difference of up to 1,000 metres.

Before the relevant certification flights, a ground inspection is carried out. Here a check is made as to whether the aircraft corresponds to the technical specification previously submitted. The assessment goes into a lot of detail and even covers the serial numbers of the cameras.

Despite all the precision, an extremely friendly atmosphere prevailed throughout. But it is not just on account of this international exchange that the participants are looking forward to the treaty finally coming into effect. The role of Open Skies in crisis and conflict management is becoming ever more important. Thus, for example, the German Foreign Office is also looking into the procurement of an autonomous, multi-lateral surveillance platform for the European Union.

From page 66 of FLUG REVUE 12/2001