The biggest British military grouping built up in peacetime will secure the Summer Olympics 2012 to be held in London. Security will be provided by 13,500 military servicemen, one of the main Royal Navy’s attack ships – amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean with helicopters Puma and Lynx on board, and landing platform dock HMS Bulwark .
In addition, fighter bombers Typhoon currently based in Scotland and Lincolnshire County will be redeployed to the Northolt air station for the time of the Olympics. Skies over the host city will be protected by surface-to-air missiles with the range over 11 km.
Servicemen including those returning from Afghanistan will constitute the 23,700-men sinew of security force at the Olympic 2012.
However, it is still unclear how the military will cooperate with more than 10,000 staff of the world’s biggest private security company G4, and what dress they will wear – civil or military.
According to a spokesman for British defense ministry, military servicemen will be subordinate only to their commanders and by no means to G4.
The UK defense minister Philip Hammond expressed confidence that the military would demonstrate high professionalism and make significant contribution to security of the Olympics, reports ITAR-TASS .
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, December 21, 2011; Image: mod