August 1977 – East and West Work together to stop South Africa’s Nuclear testing

In the mid-afternoon on Saturday, Aug. 6, the acting chief of the Soviet embassy, Vladillen M. Vasev, called at the White House with an urgent personal message from Leonid I. Brezhnev to Jimmy Carter. South Africa, according to Soviet intelligence, was secretly preparing to detonate an atomic explosion in its Kalahari Desert. Brezhnev asked for Carter’s help to stop it.

U.S. reconnaissance satellite with high-resolution cameras also was urgently programmed for low-orbit passes over the area in question. US intelligence confirmed the existence of the nuclear test site with an overflight of a Lockheed SR-71 spy plane.

The Flight operated from Diego Garcia Air base and is about 5000km from South Africa, supported by an Air to Air Refuelling tanker, this flight would have been done with no difficulty.

About Vastrap Testing / Bombing Range

Vastrap on Google Maps 27°50’05.0″S 21°37’50.0″E ( https://goo.gl/maps/WhW5xQioCP7vtLBo8 )
Vastrap (Stand firm) is a small military airfield situated in the Kalahari Desert north east of Upington inside a 700 square kilometre weapons test range of the same name[1] belonging to the South African National Defence Force. It was constructed to allow the SAAF to practice tactical bombing operations, and for aircraft to service the SADF’s defunct underground nuclear weapon test site

Atomic testing

The area was selected for nuclear weapons testing due to its remoteness, low population density, stable geological formations and lack of underground rivers.

Two underground shafts 385 metres and 216 metres in depth and 1 metre in diameter were drilled from 1975-1977.Neither was ever used to perform a detonation, although instrumented tests were performed. The shafts were sealed with sand and concrete under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency in July 1993.

Detection

The site was first detected by the Soviet spy satellite, Cosmos 922 when it photographed the area from 21–25 July 1977, and reported to the Americans on 6 August, who in turn confirmed its existence with an overflight of the Lockheed SR-71 spy plane. The US then applied pressure on the South Africans for it to be closed, France also insisted on closure, threatening cancellation of the Koeberg nuclear power station contract.

David Albright reported that South African officials believed that an attempt to re-use the site in the late 1980s was detected by Western or Soviet intelligence agencies, and that this discovery influenced the Tripartite Accord. In an effort to mask activities, a shed was built over one of the shafts, and the water that was pumped out in preparation for a test was hauled away.

About Diego Garcia Air base

Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of 60 small islands comprising the Chagos Archipelago. It was first discovered by Europeans and named by the Portuguese, settled by the French in the 1790s and transferred to British rule after the Napoleonic Wars. It was one of the “Dependencies” of the British Colony of Mauritius until the Chagos Islands were detached for inclusion in the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) in 1965.

In 1966, the population of the island was 924. These people were employed as contract farm workers on coconut plantations owned by the Chagos-Agalega company. Although it was common for local plantation managers to allow pensioners and the disabled to remain in the islands and continue to receive housing and rations in exchange for light work, children after the age of 12 were required to work. In 1964, only 3 of a population of 963 were unemployed. In April 1967, the BIOT Administration bought out Chagos-Agalega for £600,000, thus becoming the sole property owner in the BIOT. The Crown immediately leased back the properties to Chagos-Agalega but the company terminated the lease at the end of 1967.

Between 1968 and 1973, the now unemployed farm workers were forcibly removed from Diego Garcia by the UK Government so a joint US/UK military base could be established on the island. Many were deported to Mauritius and the Seychelles, following which the United States built a large naval and military base, which has been in continuous operation since then. As of August 2018, Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island of the BIOT; the population is composed of military personnel and supporting contractors. It is one of two critical US bomber bases in the Asia Pacific region, along with Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Pacific Ocean.

The atoll is located 3,535 km (2,197 mi) east of Tanzania’s coast, 1,796 km (1,116 mi) south-southwest of the southern tip of India (at Kanyakumari), and 4,723 km (2,935 mi) west-northwest of the west coast of Australia (at Cape Range National Park, Western Australia). Diego Garcia lies at the southernmost tip of the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge, a vast underwater mountain range with peaks consisting of coral reefs, atolls, and islands comprising Lakshadweep, the Maldives, and the Chagos Archipelago. Local time is UTC+6 year-round (DST is not observed).

On 23 June 2017, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted in favour of referring the territorial dispute between Mauritius and the UK to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in order to clarify the legal status of the Chagos Islands archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The motion was approved by a majority vote with 94 voting for and 15 against.

In February 2019, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the United Kingdom must transfer the islands to Mauritius as they were not legally separated from the latter in 1965. The ruling is not legally binding.

In May 2019, the United Nations General Assembly affirmed the decision of the International Court of Justice and demanded that the United Kingdom withdraw its colonial administration from the Islands and cooperate with Mauritius to facilitate the resettlement of Mauritian nationals in the archipelago.

In a written statement the U.S. government said that neither the Americans or the British have any plans to discontinue use of the military base on Diego Garcia. The statement said in a footnote: “In 2016, there were discussions between the United Kingdom and the United States concerning the continuing importance of the joint base. Neither party gave notice to terminate and the agreement remains in force until 2036”.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vastrap

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/08/28/how-west-soviets-acted-to-defuse-s-african-a-test/eada5bcc-7727-4c32-b8e2-f21d55a9d4c3/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Garcia