§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all tri-service exercises in the United Kingdom mainland in each of the last five years; and which of these were located in part in south-west Scotland. [27835]
§ Mr. SoamesThe MOD plans to conduct one major tri-service exercise each year under a series title of "Purple". The exercise may or may not be conducted wholly in the United Kingdom. Exercises follow a four-year cycle of three command post exercises or CPXs followed by a full live exercise in the fourth year. The live exercise in the period, exercise Purple Monarch,438W 1992, was reduced to a command post exercise following the Gulf war and was conducted in southern England and Gibraltar.
On a small scale, but also planned and conducted on a tri-service basis for specialist units, is a series of exercises termed Minibus. This series again follows a four-year cycle. The live exercise in the period was held in 1994 and the geographic area used included parts of south-west Scotland. Also planned and executed in 1994 was a bi-service amphibious exercise Royal Dawn—which included a landing phase by Royal Marines on the Isle of Lewis.
The annual tri-service Purple exercises for the five-year period were:
Year Exercise Description 1991 Purple Victory CPX 1992 Purple Monarch Live exercise planned but CPX conducted 1993 Purpose Horizon CPX 1994 Purple Nova CPX 1995 Purple Zodiac CPX