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Russian surveillance plane soars over the Pentagon, Capitol and other Washington sights

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A Russian surveillance plane soared through secure airspace over Washington on Wednesday, presumably collecting intelligence as it traveled near the Pentagon, the Capitol and other government buildings, two U.S. officials said. The Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft made the flight through the Treaty on Open Skies, which Russia, the United States and 32 other nations have signed. The treaty established criteria under which countries can make unarmed observation flights over the soil of… (www.msn.com) More...

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MrTommy
MrTommy 1
I wonder how that works out by Area 51.
irwinjim99
James Irwin 1
Not much of a secret if everyone knows you're there???
TomController
Tom Wright 1
Really Capital Police monitor air traffic? That's a crock. They get info from FAA & DND.
aghume
Alan Hume 1
A Tu-154! Really? They've been grounded since the Dec 2016 crash that wiped out most of the Red Army Choir. And what would that achieve anyway? More likely to have been a Tu-95 Bear or its Tu-142 equivalent if it was "collecting intelligence". In any event, this was just a "sabre rattling" stunt by the Russians because they could under the terms of the Open Skies Treaty. It goes on all the time with commercial aircraft. Of course they use their satellites for serious spying. The US does the same. It's just political jousting. (BTW, I'm in Australia and we tend not to engage in these sort of shenanigans).
kerimparrot
Mike Williams 1
What about the satellites?
Those Russians seem to be looking to start WW3 or WW4 before whatever happens with North Korea.
23allkimm
Randall Kimm 1
Yes that's right. Putin is running around the world like some high school punk who enjoys intimidating people. What's wrong with this guy, he is acting like world war three would be inevitable and a way to reach the top of the global s%×t pile. We must be extremely
careful with one who would launch if Donald hurt Vladimir's feelings. He doesn't like to be treated the way he does with others. Putin appears to have no moral boundaries. He is a liar and treaty violator Incidentally, he is arming Russia to the teeth. Here's the bad part, every weapons system ever invented by mankind is eventually used 100% of the time.
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. However, your post has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of this thread.
nk4091
Neil Klapthor 1
I spent 20 years in the Air Force, the majority of that time was in the B52 as bombardier & navigator and the rest of the time working on the highly classified B-1 and Advanced Cruise Missile development programs. My point being that I've had intelligence and information security hammered into me until it's part of my DNA, even 22 years after retirement!

For that reason, this quote (from the article) by Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt Jeff Davis is simply stunning to me..."We have to remember that while we have pretty good intelligence on a lot of the world, a lot of other countries don't necessarily have that great of intelligence on us. So, in the interest of transparency and miscalculation on their part, sometimes it's worthwhile to allow them to have a look at what you're doing or what you're not doing."

So, now it appears that in the realm of our national security, we must now practice "intelligence equality" so as not to make our adversaries feel somehow inferior... that they don't measure up to our level and quality of intelligence gathering. Unbelievable!!
yakc130
Doug Zalud 1
Well, you know, we can't allow intelphobia.
MikeMohle
Mike Mohle 1
More PC crap no doubt! Probably originating with UN....
JoeAlesi
Joe Alesi -3
Has Trump thanked Putin for his iinterest in our nation's capital just as he did for expelling our embassy personnel in Moscow?
x2desmit
Derek Smith 0
Please read the article before commenting. Jeez.
ysfsim
Ant Miraa -3
This sounds like a non issue ment to scare the public more about russia. Would the us military just let a spy plane waltz right in and do nothing? No way. Fake news
x2desmit
Derek Smith 5
It was done under a treaty. You didn't even read the article.
yakc130
Doug Zalud 1
But agree t hat this is kind of a non-news issue.
gerardogodoy
gerardo godoy -1
hahahahahahahahahahahahahah....this world is NUTS!!!!!
toolguy105
toolguy105 2
I think they were looking for aa good Russian Restaurant for Putin when he visits.
teslataildragger
Willie Wonka 3
"Comrade, since we already here let's go to Oshkosh! Sorry Boris it was in July!"
bbabis
bbabis -1
What on earth were they thinking with this?
ColinSeftel
Colin Seftel 4
The Tu-154 was grounded in Russia following a crash last year. This aircraft was probably a Tu-155. On the other hand, according to Wikipedia, the Tu-154 is still in service in North Korea!
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-154
whubbs
Wayne Hubbs -3
Why would any country have ICBM to deliver a weapon when you could just deliver it with a surveillance plane.
gwolvert
They sure weren't gathering intelligence over Washington.
fortunadeborah
Good one!!!
TomController
Tom Wright 1
That is an understatement Gary!
mpenney
You are sooo right
aghume
Alan Hume 1
"Hear, hear" to that!
billybyrd
Billy Byrd 3
Just looking for vodka folks nothing to see here
MikeMohle
Mike Mohle 2
There is probably lots of vodka flowing at the D.C. "3 martini" lunches....
x2desmit
Derek Smith 1
brallo506
Ben Rallo 0
I don't understand the concept. What are all those billion dollar satellites for. It's not like a building is going to get up and move. And to simply fly over and not into is a waste of fuel. I guess they were tourists on military planes.
f4fntm
john doe 0
Since we're guessing: You're not up to speed on modern electronic intelligence gathering, are you?
paultrubits
paul trubits -2
Did they forget their Google password and couldn't use Google maps?
duane270
Duane Osman -2
Maybe they're just dropping off a bottle of "Wodka" for 'the Donald'...
bizprop
Roy Troughton 5
Open Skies Treaty was finally ratified in 2002. Not exactly new news.
MikeMohle
Mike Mohle 4
What? Russians can fly over DC but I cannot fly into National without a babysitter on board?
joelwiley
joel wiley 6
Did you sign the Open Skies Treaty?
MikeMohle
Mike Mohle 0
I did not. Sounds ridiculous in concept. Last I heard on the MSM the "Russians" are the worst thing in the world!!!!
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Interesting. Can you cite specific articles?
JedFR
JedFR 1
Did you really just ask for a source? Have you been conscious the past six months?
paviation07
sam kuminecz 8
The Open Skies regulations covers the territory over which the parties exercise sovereignty, including mainland, islands, and internal and territorial waters. The treaty specifies that the entire territory of a member state is open to observation. Observation flights may only be restricted for reasons of flight safety and not for reasons of national security.
OccamsRazor
Ben Bosley 9
From what I understand US crews inspect the surveillance equipment on these planes beforehand and are on-board when they conduct their activities. The same goes when we do these flights over Russia.
TomController
Tom Wright 2
Eactly like this article states.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Was this one of those FA restricted flights?
ColinSeftel
Colin Seftel 3
"Sites" not sights!
f4fntm
john doe 1
The Pentagon and the White House are both "sights" and "sites". So either is correct usage. That being said... the Russians in question were information-gathering professionals who were on the job - not tourists. Based on this, I believe "sites" would've been the better choice.
Braniff77
Braniff77 -7
Either "Sights" or 'sites" is correct.
brallo506
Ben Rallo 1
They are not interchangeable. Sights are what you look through. Sites are landmarks or things you see. If you are going to correct someone be sure you are sure of your information.
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 6
I have to agree, the way it's used here it is interchangeable. The meaning could be as in "sight seeing" or as in a specific "site". It isn't the meaning of the word in question, but rather the meaning of the sentence.
glang3
glang3 2
I assume we are allowed the same access to Russian airspace?
rhkenning
Yes, but we don't sell the intelligence to Iran...
dragonflyt10
Nothing to see here folks - just acquiring some targeting data for our friends in North Korea.
GJacklin
And you exercise it extensively in Russia.
SmokedChops
SmokedChops 2
indeed, we are.
glang3
glang3 1
Good show.

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