ABSTRACT
The Treaty on Open Skies, signed in Helsinki on 24 March 1992, represents the most wide-ranging multinational effort so far to enhance military transparency and confidence building through mutual aerial observation flights. The territories to be covered by overflights would have to include all of North America and Siberia, which are excluded from inspections under the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe. Trial flights were arranged by Canada and Hungary as early as January and February of 1990 and the conclusion of the Hungarian-Romanian bilateral Open Skies Treaty in May 1991 had a stimulating effect on the negotiations. The treaty was meant to enable participants to identify rapidly massing military formations by the generic types of vehicles within them. The treatment of sensor resolutions is indicative of the treaty's dual character between Cold War military thinking and a new openness. The option, and right, of data sharing is one of the most innovative features of treaty, emphasizing its cooperative character.
