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Spain Hosts PSI Exercise “Blue Action”
The 16th WMD interdiction simulation held under the auspices of the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative is expected to conclude today in Mediterranean waters off the coast of Spain, the State Department announced (see GSN, Nov. 10, 2004). A two-day exercise, “Blue Action ’05” consisted of two phases. In the first phase, participants exchanged information from regional capitals about a cargo airliner suspected of transporting uranium centrifuge parts under the guise of water purification pipes. The aircraft was en route to South America via the Portuguese Azores from a fictitious country in Eurasia, according to fictional scenario. In the second phase, the aircraft was tracked by radar as it flew over Italy, France and Spain. New intelligence then came to light, suggesting that the aircraft was transporting radioactive material and that it would deviate from its flight plan to land in an unidentified African nation. According to the scenario, the country in question had links to terrorist organizations and the shipment therefore had to be prevented from reaching its destination. The Spanish Air Force was then expected to shadow and intercept the aircraft, which would be diverted to Spain’s Zaragoza Air Base for inspection. Last week, Poland and the Czech Republic hosted PSI exercise “Bohemian Guard 2005.” Participants included Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia and the United States. The scenario for that ground interdiction exercise involved an illicit rail shipment of WMD-related components and materials traveling from Poland via the Czech Republic to a third country. Singapore is scheduled to host the next PSI exercise, “Deep Sabre,” August 15-19, according to the State Department (State Department release, June 6).
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