Tag: "london olympics"
London Olympics 2012 - a show of Anti-Aircraft Missiles
London Olympics displays Anti-Aircraft Missiles
London, United Kingdom - Missile batteries were placed in six sites around London including two apartment buildings where residents had previously expressed reservations about hosting the anti-aircraft weapons in prepration of the upcoming Olympics.
Aside from Rapier and High-Velocity missile batteries, a Royal Navy helicopter carrier in the River Thames, Royal Air Force jets and army helicopters will be stationed nearby.
Defense Secretary Phillip Hammond said that there is no reported threat to the London Olympics but the public should expect that a range of measures will be in place which aims general safety and security of this once-in-a-generation event. He added that "ground-based air defense systems will form just one part of a comprehensive, multi-layered air security plan which, I believe, will provide both reassurance and a powerful deterrent."
Additional anti-aircraft missile batteries are in place in farmland and hills east and south of London. The Olympic complex is north of the Thames and east of central London near the Stratford and West Ham mass transit stations.
