MOSCOW, 6 Mar-RIA Novosti. One of the Russian Tu-214ON aircraft, which was built for observation missions under the Open Sea Treaty, flew in a new capacity and checked the camouflage of Russian military facilities on the coasts of Crimea and Krasnodar, as well as tested the capabilities of the air defense system of these regions, a military and diplomatic source told RIA Novosti.
In January, sources told RIA Novosti that after Russia's withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty, Tu-214ON aircraft will be used for reconnaissance, monitoring the security of its own military facilities, evaluating the results of weapons tests and the effectiveness of exercises. The interlocutors noted that the decision on this was previously made.
He added that " the aircraft also tested the ability of the regional air defense system to detect air targets in the passive location mode, and performed a number of other tasks."
The source noted that the flight, which lasted more than three hours, " also assumed an assessment of the effectiveness of the onboard observation equipment installed on the Tu-214ON aircraft in the framework of the DON when performing tasks in the interests of the Russian Armed Forces." "The analysis of the results of the complex will allow us to make a decision on the need to upgrade the equipment," he added.
The source also said that the flight was performed by the first Tu-214ON, built in 2011. At the moment, the plane has returned to Moscow.
The onboard equipment complex of the Tu-214ON aircraft was created in the Vega Concern (part of the Rostec Corporation's" Roselektronika"). As the general designer of Vega Vladimir Verba told RIA Novosti in February, the Russian army will be able to use the Tu-214ON even in the existing version to solve a wide range of military tasks, including to control the visibility of troops and objects.
The designer then clarified that the Tu-214ON avionics complex is built on the principles of open architecture, allowing to increase its capabilities during modernization. In particular, the resolution of the radar of the onboard review of the aircraft can be increased by 4-6 times.
The first Tu-214ON was transferred to the Ministry of Defense in 2011, the second-in 2014. The main purpose of the aircraft under this treaty is to monitor military bases, airfields, and defense enterprises, in order to prevent an imperceptible increase in the potential of one or another party to unleash a war.
The United States officially withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, and Russia began a similar procedure on January 15.
