German...with a Russian Heritage

[Sean_TK]

Just some simple shots showing one of the Tu-154's other guises while in service in Germany. This Tu-154, and a second one, 11+01, served with the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), as a military surveillance aircraft. This was part of the Open Skies program which gave signatory countries the permission to launch 42 surveillance missions over each other annually. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_Open_Skies

This Tu-154 was known in Germany as a Tu-154M-OS (for Open Skies), and in Russia as a Tu-154M-ON.
11+02 was lost in a mid-air collision in 1997 with a C-141 Starlifter over the Atlantic Ocean, and 11+01 was sold to the Vnukovo aircraft repair plant in 2000.

Notice the surveillance equipment on the belly in the third shot, and the Open Skies logo on the top engine nacelle. (You may need to move the scroll bar sideways to view the shots fully.)
11+01 may appear in a future Interflug Tu-154 thread.







Thanks for looking!  :)
-SeanTK

[MCAntonio aka AN21]

The second shot is great! I didnt actually know that Germany owned these planes..And I didnt know that there was a recon version of this Tupolev..Keep 'em coming, you dont see this aircraft often here.

[pepper_airborne]

Interesting read about Openskies! And a great plane to, you caught it nicely!

[JSpahn]

Nice shots and some more interesting aviation history, thanks

[Ivan]

The second shot is great! I didnt actually know that Germany owned these planes..And I didnt know that there was a recon version of this Tupolev..Keep 'em coming, you dont see this aircraft often here.

Luftwaffe Recce Tu-154M isnt a factory mod... so no official designator for that one, The russian 'Open Skies' one is a Tu-154M-ON

[haroldkip]

Love the aircraft and the research ... excellent work there Sean!