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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USOSCE 000226 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM 
NSC FOR NILSSON, HAYDEN 
JCS FOR J5 NORWOOD, COL SMITH 
OSD FOR ISA (KEHL, SCHWARTZ, ALBERQUE) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCFE OSCE PARM PREL
SUBJECT: OPEN SKIES:  OCTOBER 19 PLENARY - 2ND REVIEW 
CONFERENCE PLANNING UNDERWAY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On October 6 and 19, the Open Skies 
Consultative Commission (OSCC) held an extended plenary 
meeting.  The October 19 session included two Review 
Conference preparation briefings on OSCE second dimension 
environmental issues.  The OSCC also adopted the Annual Quota 
Distribution Decision for 2010.  The October 6 meeting 
adopted an update to the 2009 quota Decision to allow the 
U.S. to share an observation flight with Romania over Russia 
the week of October 12.  After the plenary, the first meeting 
of the newly formed Informal Working Group on Planning the 
Review Conference (IWGPRC) was held to begin discussion of 
the agenda and Final Document for the June 2010 meeting. 
¶2.  (SBU) The Informal Working Group on Sensors (IWGS) also 
held a workshop the first week of October on visual analysis 
methods for digital camera certification.  The IWGS will meet 
again during the week of December 7-11.  On October 8, OSCC 
States met to discuss the distribution of active quotas for 
¶2010.  As requested, the U.S. received 14 active quotas over 
Russia, seven of which will be shared with partners.  U.S. 
reps also chaired the quarterly calendar de-confliction 
session for States with quotas over Russia and Ukraine.  The 
next two plenaries will be held on November 23 and December 
¶14.   All meetings went smoothly with a spirit of 
cooperation.  End Summary. 
REVCON planning 
¶3.  (SBU) At the 19 October OSCC Plenary, States agreed to 
add a new plenary agenda item on Preparations for the Second 
Review Conference.  As Chair of the REVCON, we are conducting 
outreach activities with relevant parts of the OSCE 
Secretariat to ensure that other elements dealing with 
crossover security issues are aware of the benefits of Open 
Skies.  This approach is intended to support the OSCE concept 
of comprehensive security. Under this agenda item, the U.S. 
introduced two guest speakers to discuss current OSCE issues 
related to climate change and environmental projects. 
¶4.  (SBU) USDel (Neighbour) highlighted three goals in 
bringing the briefings to the OSCC: 
--to promote potential synergy between a variety of OSCE 
crossover security issues and the Open Skies Treaty; 
--to foster discussion to determine if Open Skies can make a 
contribution toward addressing environmental issues, 
including security issues related to climate change; and 
--to enhance the functionality of the Treaty itself to better 
serve the security concerns of its members. 
¶5.  (SBU) Romanian Ambassador Feruta provided comments on the 
October 5-6 seminar on "Security Implications of Climate 
Change."  Documents from this seminar are available on the 
OSCE web site at: 
www.osce.org/conferences/eea 2009 climate.html.  The 
Ambassador said the outcome of the seminar exceeded their 
expectations, and he believes the OSCE has a role to play in 
the future.  He said the seminar was a good opportunity to 
show the potential of the Treaty and was a concrete way to 
share information about Open Skies with environmental experts 
outside the Treaty.  He noted that Open Skies has served us 
well to date, and welcomed this first step toward further 
discussions on this approach. 
¶6.  (SBU) Mr. Slivanovic, Co-ordinator for the OSCE Office of 
Economic and Environmental Activities provided a summary of 
current environmental projects undertaken by the OSCE that 
could benefit from Open Skies imagery products.  OCEEA is 
also interested in security aspects of critical 
infrastructure protection and energy security.   He noted 
that security implications of climate change could be a 
"threat multiplier" in some cases.  He made three points 
about the relationship between environmental issues and 
security:  1) sometimes environmental issues can be the cause 
for conflict; 2) when a conflict occurs, so will damage to 
the environment; and 3) after a conflict takes place, 
environmental projects are one of the ways the two sides can 
cooperate together to move forward.  The OCEEA remains 
interested in a Ministerial Decision that provides a mandate 
for further work in this area, previously blocked by one 
delegation (Russia). 
REVCON Planning Group Convenes 
 
USOSCE 00000226  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) After the Plenary, the U.S. chaired the first 
meeting of the newly formed Informal Working Group on 
Planning the Review Conference (IWGPRC).  The U.S. requested 
that all delegations review the prior REVCON agenda and 
Chairman's Statement, with a view to determining preferences 
for the 2010 conference.  Delegations agreed that it would be 
important to have a Final Document or Declaration recording 
the results of the REVCON.  USDel recommended States consider 
a transition plan to address sensors and aircraft. 
¶8. (SBU) Financing future Treaty operations seems to be the 
most common shared challenge facing States Parties.  Some 
wondered if an increased environmental focus would help or 
hinder future financing.  Several delegations noted that the 
environmental subject is not new to Open Skies, and that it 
was discussed at the last REVCON.  Some also questioned 
whether increased emphasis on environmental use of Open Skies 
assets would detract from the primary mission of the Treaty 
) arms control and CSBMs.  Others urged continued focus on 
the transition to digital sensors and new platforms. 
Luxembourg summed up the preliminary discussion by posing the 
question: "does climate change need Open Skies ) or does 
Open Skies need climate change?"  USDel asked States to do 
some homework on these subjects in preparation for the next 
IWGPRC to be held on 14 December. 
IWGS Workshop Studies Target Data 
¶9. (SBU) From 1-7 October, the Informal Working Group on 
Sensors (IWGS) held a Visual Analysis Workshop to study the 
procedures for certification of digital sensors 
(OSCC.SEN/4/09).  During the workshop, the group tested all 
four proposed visual analysis "reading rules" use to 
determine the resolution of digital sensors from test 
imagery. 
¶10. (SBU) The objective of the workshop was to exercise 
provisions of Revision One to Decision Fourteen - the Video 
Digital Sensor Decision with the four proposed "reading 
rules" and gather enough statistical information to help 
answer outstanding issues within this decision.  In addition 
to choosing an agreed "reading rule" for the draft decision, 
two other significant issues remain open: 1) the number of 
data points required in the pre-certification data package 
and 2) the design of the resolution target used for baseline 
sensor performance.  Currently, these items are all 
interlinked. 
¶11. (SBU) The workshop was successful.  The results 
(including statistical data on all four visual analysis 
reading rules) have been posted to the IWGS Folder on the 
OSCE website.  In order to move forward on several of the 
digital imagery questions, delegates discussed the merits of 
establishing a standardized Open Skies visual resolution 
target (i.e., a detailed target requirement).  Both the 
United States and Russia currently use targets with 3-bar bar 
groups.  Several nations use targets with 2-bar bar groups. 
IWGS members generally agree that the target type (2-bar vs. 
3-bar) influences the Hmin value calculated at certification. 
 In addition, the U.S. and Russia agreed that the use of a 
common target for use by all States Parties for 
pre-certification data collection and certification events 
would provide the most reliable, consistent, and 
cost-effective results for all Parties. 
¶12. (SBU) Comment:  USDel understands that moving forward on 
the digital sensor decision remains a key policy priority. 
The IWGS Chair has stated that a "common target" would 
simplify Revision One to Decision 14.  In order to prepare 
for the December IWGS meeting, recommend consideration be 
given toward advancing proposals for establishing a Standard 
Target (a three-bar design) at a European location (to be 
determined) for use by all States parties.  End Comment. 
Annual Quota Distribution for 2010 Agreed Quickly 
¶13. (SBU) On October 8, States Parties met to negotiate the 
annual distribution of active quotas.  The U.S. received the 
15 quotas requested (14 over Russia/Belarus and 1 over 
Ukraine).  The U.S. will share 7 of its flights over Russia 
with the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, the 
UK, and Turkey, and the flight over Ukraine with Canada. 
Russia may conduct 42 active quota flights, and is subject to 
 
USOSCE 00000226  003 OF 003 
 
 
receive 39 flights.  The OSCC adopted the results of the 
quota meeting on October 19 (OSCC.DEC/8/09).  U.S. reps 
(DTRA) also held a successful de-confliction meeting among 
States with quotas over Russia and Ukraine to determine the 
quarterly and weekly calendar for 2010. 
¶14. (SBU) Several States Parties reduced their quota bids or 
did not bid at all this year.  All cited economic 
difficulties with funding flights in 2010.  Bulgaria was the 
most striking case - although it originally bid on 4 quotas 
in September, it amended its bid just days before the meeting 
to one quota.  Portugal, Estonia, and Lithuania did not 
request any quotas this year.  Italy and Canada have 
difficulty scheduling the use of their C-130 aircraft due to 
higher priority activity supporting forces in Afghanistan. 
¶15. (SBU) Comment:  The overall number of missions requested 
remains high, and similar to previous years.  However, 
several States are clearly having ongoing difficulties with 
maintaining their budget for Open Skies flights.  USDel 
believes this is a trend worth watching, and encourages 
creative thinking on how the U.S. can propose cost-sharing 
arrangements that keep all partners actively engaged in the 
Treaty.  This is clearly a topic that is likely to appear on 
the REVCON agenda.  End comment. 
Observation Flight Success Stories 
¶16. (SBU) During the plenary, the UK highlighted the recent 
success of the mission conducted by the UK and Russia over 
Georgia from 28 September ) 2 October.  This was the second 
flight in a pair of flights arranged by the UK to foster 
improved relations between Russia and Georgia.  The UK 
reported on the first mission conducted by the UK and Georgia 
over Russia in September.  The UK included a reference to a 
comment on the UK Foreign Secretary's blog on 8 October, 
applauding the package of joint missions.  Such flights show 
that progress is possible during difficult times.  The UK 
looks forward to continuing this package of flights in 2010 
in accordance with the quota distribution Decision adopted 
today. 
¶17. (SBU) Denmark also reported positively on its first ever 
Open Skies flight over Russia.  Hungary reported on a 
training flight conducted with Germany over the territory of 
Montenegro.  The training and VIP flights were conducted on 
the Hungarian aircraft over two days, and were done according 
to Treaty procedures.  The imagery was processed in Hungary. 
Hungary believes Montenegro is favorably disposed to apply 
for OSCC membership. 
Fuller