13,500 British troops may protect London 2012 Olympics from terrorists

[richard]

Up to 13,500 British troops will protect the London 2012 Olympics from a terrorist atrocity, it was revealed.

The figure is 4,000 more than the number who currently serve in Afghanistan and will see bomb disposal experts, specialist sniffer dog handlers, building search teams and regular soldiers will support the police to keep the 2012 Games safe.

The Ministry of Defence added that snipers in Lynx and Puma helicopters will patrol the skies of London.

Typhoon jets will move to RAF Northolt in west London from bases in Scotland and Lincolnshire so they can be scrambled to the Olympic site within minutes.

And Royal Navy warships and RAF fighter jets bristling with fearsome weaponry will also be on standby to ensure the sporting showcase does not come under attack.

Crack special forces units are also understood to have been practising manoeuvres to prevent fanatics targeting the Olympics.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said security would remain police-led but the Armed Forces would make a ‘significant contribution’.

He said the Games, which will feature 10,500 athletes from 105 countries with an estimated 10.8million spectators, was ‘the biggest security challenge this country has faced for decades’.

Military personnel would contribute to ‘ensuring a safe, secure and enjoyable Olympics’, he said.

Security chiefs are acutely aware that the Olympic and Paralympic Games would be a prized target for terrorists. The Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, will itself contain the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, Aquatic Centre for swimming events and the athlete’s village.

Mr Hammond said that despite agreeing that 13,500 servicemen and women would help guard 150 venues and training sites, there would be no impact on the UK’s military commitments around the globe, including the war in Afghanistan. MoD sources said the figure was not dependent on troops being brought home.

But it is much higher than the 7,000 troops that had been expected to be assigned to Olympics duties. The increase came after the Government announced 23,700 security staff would be needed at venues next summer - more than double the original 10,000 estimate.

Last week ministers revealed the security budget for the Games had soared £282million to £553million.

In a written ministerial statement, Mr Hammond said some 5,000 troops would support the police by providing specialist capabilities including bomb disposal and dog teams.

Around 1,000 personnel will provide logistics support including transport and engineering.

And about 3,500 troops will provide venue security, rising to 7,500 on peak days during the Olympics.

Royal Navy flagship HMS Bulwark, 21,500-tonne floating fortress with state-of-the-art weapons, command-and-control and communications equipment, will be based off the coast of Weymouth, Dorset, to protect the sailing events.

HMS Ocean, the largest ship in the Royal Navy, will be berthed in the River Thames at Greenwich to provide an operating site for Lynx and Puma helicopters.

And sophisticated Typhoon fast jets armed with deadly air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, recently to pound Colonel Gaddafi’s troops, will fly from RAF Northolt in London.

Surface-to-air missiles with a range of more than seven miles will be used to support the protection of the skies above Olympic venues.


Source
By IAN DRURY
Home | Mail Online

[richard]

Is Defence Secretary Philip Hammond talking out of his backside?

Why would any half-decent terrorist organisation waste its time attacking the London in 2012 when they know the Olympics are taking place when they know that the rest of the UK cities and airports are open to abuse and there for the taking.

Whilst every little child, mother, and grandmother is being interrogated by neurotic security personnel under anti-terrorism laws for daring to take a photograph in central London in 2012, the rest of the UK is opening itself to attack due to a lack of any security be it police, army, navy or CI5.

I feel really sorry for anyone being the subject of a burglary next year in England Ireland, Scotland or Wales when your house is trashed by some lowlife because there are no police to either stop the offence or investigate it because they are all out and about in grounds of the almighty London 2012 Olympic Games.

I can foresee that the likes of Anthony and Cherie Blair may find themselves targeted by terrorists who are taking advantage of the lapse in security. What goes round comes round. At least if they are found shot dead or hung out to dry it won't take over the news coverage on the BBC. RIP Blair. All comments made are of course entirely fictitious, it's not like they are delusional, self-centred, money-grabbing, selfish, warmongers