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Open Skies Treaty  –  DND/CF Backgrounder  –  Arms Control  –  March 2006 Dep't of National Defence / Canadian Forces  Backgrounder The Treaty on Open Skies and the SAMSON Observation Pod The Department of National Defence and the CF has just released a new "Backgrounder" on the 2002 Open Skies Treaty. As that Backgrounder notes,   Canada  was an early  proponent  of  the Open Skies  concept.  Some  mention is made in the Backgrounder of the SAMSON sensor pod. SAMSON is an acronym for Special Avionics Mission Strap-on Now. Devised by Lockheed Martin, the SAMSON pod –  or the Observation Pod, as NATO calls it – has the form of a standard CC-130  Hercules external  fuel tank, and  is hung from the same underwing universal rack.  SAMSON replaces the left wing fuel tank and  control consoles are fitted in the cargo hold.  Installa- tion can be done in a day. The system is modular allowing sensors to be swapped. While the  SAMSON pod  is reconfigurable, the  Observation  Pod for Open Skies flights has five sensors as well as one navigation aid  (not regarded as a 'sensor' ). The navigation aid, a Sekai RSC-100 high resolution video camera, is mounted vertically in the nose of the pod   (left)  for use by both the sensor operator and observers. Behind that is a KS-116A pano- ramic camera. This KS-116A is mounted on the forward face of  the pod's centre section bulkhead.  Behind this bulkhead is one of  two KS-87B oblique (58°) film framing cameras.  The left oblique camera is mounted on that bulkhead's aft  face, the right oblique KS-58B is mounted behind that.  Still  further aft is the IRLS  – or infrared line- scanner – whose thermal imaging functions equally well at night or in  inclement  weather. A synthetic aperture radar  is also permitted. The content of the DND/CF Open SKies Backgrounder is reproduced below. DND/Canadian Forces Backgrounder The Treaty on Open Skies BG-07.006 - March 6, 2007 The Treaty on Open Skies entered into force on January 1, 2002. The Treaty estab- lishes a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the entire territory of its participants and is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by providing all participants with the opportunity and means of gathering information about military forces and activities of concern ... .  [ Open Skies] seeks to enhance openness and  transparency between States Parties through  the observation and verification of areas such as military installations and facilities, industrial complex- es, airports, seaports.  It responds to the desire of many countries to find a means of  building confidence, stability  and  predictability in the arms control and verifi- cation process. States Parties  have quotas of  annual  observation  flights  to  be conducted  and received.  Observation flights are unrestricted and occur no sooner than 24 hours after the Observing State presents its flight plan to the Receiving  State.  They are normally conducted in the Observing State's aircraft, with the national  escorts of the  Receiving  State  onboard.  Observers  from other  States  Parties  may also be present. History The concept of Open Skies was first proposed by American President Eisenhower to Soviet  Premier  Khrushchev  at  the  Geneva  Conference of  1955.  The Soviets promptly rejected  the concept and  it  lay dormant for several years.  In May 1989, the United States reintroduced the idea of Open Skies as an instrument of security and  confidence-building in the arms control  and  verification process.  25 nations signed the Treaty on Open Skies in  Helsinki, Finland, on March 24, 1992.  Canada, a  leading  proponent,  was designated  co-depositor of  the Treaty with  Hungary. The Treaty on Open Skies is of unlimited duration and is the first treaty of its kind to extend  well  beyond  European boundaries, "from Vancouver  to Vladivostok." The first Open Skies trial  flights were conducted  by Canada and  Hungary during the treaty negotiation process.  Canada overflew Hungary on January 6, 1990, and the  Hungarians conducted a reciprocal  overflight of  Canada on January 16, 1992. Russia also completed  a trial overflight [of] Canada on August 6, 1997. These trial flights demonstrated the viability of the Open Skies concept. The first  formal  observation flight over Canada in support of  the Treaty on Open Skies was conducted  by the Russian Federation and  took place on September 10, 2004.  The Russian aircraft, a mission-configured Tupolev 154M, flew from Ottawa to Winnipeg at  low altitude ( between 8,000 [2440 m] and  9,000 [2740 m] feet ) and overflew various cities, industrial complexes,  military installations and  infrastruct- ure, as well as other designated objects of  interest. [This Tu-154M then] refuelled in Winnipeg before returning to Ottawa the same day. Signatory States The Treaty on Open Skies was originally negotiated  between  members of  NATO and the former Warsaw Pact as a means of building confidence in the arms control process.  Although the Warsaw Pact ceased  to exist  before the treaty was signed in Helsinki, the former members of  that alliance nevertheless continued to support Open Skies. The following 34 states have ratified  the Treaty on Open Skies:  Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina,   Bulgaria,    Canada,   the   Republic  of   Croatia,   the  Czech Republic, Denmark,  Estonia,  Finland,  France, the Republic of  Georgia,  Germany, Greece,  Hungary,  Iceland,  Italy,  Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,  Portugal, Romania, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States. Canada  and   Hungary  are  the  depositories of  the treaty  in  recognition of  their special  contribution  to  the Open Skies process. "Depository" countries maintain treaty documents and provide administrative support. Open Skies Aircraft All  aircraft  used  for Open Skies are subjected  to  rigorous certification  standard and inspection to ensure that their sensors are approved and conform to the stan-dards of the Treaty.  Aircraft are unarmed  but  may  be equipped  with  panoramic, framing and video cameras, infrared line scanning systems and  synthetic aperture radar  that  can  operate  day and  night  in  any  weather.  These sensors must  be commercially available to all signatories.  Imagery resolution  is limited  to 30 [cm]. Canada uses the CC130 Hercules aircraft equipped with a "SAMSON" sensor pod [see above]  to conduct  flights over  other treaty nations.  The pod is a converted CC130 fuel tank modified to carry the permitted sensors, along with associated on- board  mission  systems.  A consortium of  nations consisting of  Belgium, Nether- lands, Luxemburg, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, and Spain own and  operate this system.  The costs of  maintaining the SAMSON Pod are shared, based on each nation's flight quota and actual use.