Australia plays host to PSI ops

By Corporal Simone Liebelt

AUSTRALIA will host a major Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) exercise early next year, hosting a number of international partners.

Exercise Pacific Protector 06 will be conducted around Darwin next April and is expected to attract representatives from a number of countries in the region and around the world.

Under PSI, participating countries cooperate to disrupt and deter illicit shipments of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems and related materials to terrorists and countries of proliferation concern. Such cooperation is undertaken within existing international and domestic laws.

Exercise Pacific Protector 06 will reflect the evolution of PSI towards testing air interdiction scenarios. It will be the first PSI air interdiction exercise in the region.

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