WAR GAMES are coming to London this week as the military wheels out RAF Typhoon jets, helicopters and land and sea forces to test the capital’s £1 billion defences against terrorist attacks during the Olympics.
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Known as Exercise Olympic Guardian, the operation is likely to involve thousands of military personnel, as well as the Metropolitan Police and private security agents.
“This exercise is about pushing our people and our systems to the limit to ensure that we are ready for the challenge,” said Philip Hammond, Defence secretary.
“The majority of this exercise will be played out in full view of the public and I hope that it will have a secondary effect of reassuring the British people that everything possible is being done to ensure this will be a safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
As revealed over the weekend, some of the military personnel involved in Olympic Guardian are set to take to the roofs of flats in east London’s Bow Quarter, where surface-to-air rocket launchers are to be placed.
The Olympic war games – almost definitely the biggest peace-time military exercise ever undertaken in London – are scheduled to take place over the Bank Holiday weekend, between Wednesday 2 and Thursday 10 May.