The State Department announced on Tuesday that 1,000 observation flights have now taken place under the Treaty on Open Skies since its entry into force on Jan. 1, 2002. “We recognize the dedication and professionalism of our colleagues in the military services of all the states parties who have brought this treaty to life through year-round flight operations,” reads the State Department’s Sept. 3 release. “In conducting 1,000 missions, Open Skies teams have built confidence with each other and contributed to the overall peace and stability of the Euro-Atlantic community.” Under Open Skies, 34 states parties, including the United States and Russia, have conducted unarmed aerial observation flights with optical cameras over each other’s territory in order to build confidence and help to verify arms control treaties. (See also Russian Eyes on Open Skies.)
Advancements in commercial space technology could make President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense network far more likely to succeed than the failed “Star Wars” strategic umbrella initiative of the 1980s, U.S. Space Command’s top general said May 22....