Britain Weighs Missile Plan for Games
Cassell Bryan-Low
Updated April 30, 2012 11:49 p.m. ET
LONDON - Britain's defense ministry said it is considering putting surface-to-air missiles on the rooftops of apartment buildings and at other locations in East London during this summer's Olympics, a stark reminder of the scale and intensity of the security operation surrounding the Games. Britain's defense ministry said it is considering putting surface-to-air missiles on the rooftops of apartment buildings and at other locations in East London during this summer's Olympics. Bruce Orwall has details on The News Hub. Photo: Reuters.
The Ministry of Defense said it is considering deploying missile systems with a range of up to five mileseight kilometers, and an altitude of up to 10,000 feetf more than three kilometers, at six locations across London during the Olympics. Those locations include the housing complexes in the London districts of Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. It also identified four other potential locations, including a park and a reservoir. That underscores the challenge British authorities face: They want to ensure the Games go off without incident but don't want the event to be overshadowed by the security efforts, which are expected to be the U.K.'s largest-ever peacetime measures. Missiles have been on standby in previous Olympics. Antiaircraft missiles were stationed near Olympic venues at the Beijing Games in 2008 and in Athens, four years earlier, but the idea is raising objections in East London. A spokesman for the ministry said there are discussions among the police, local authorities and the relevant landowners about the implications of basing the missile systems in certain locations. But no decision had been made about whether the missiles would be deployed, the spokesman added. "This announcement raises real concerns for the people living in the block as well as the wider community," said Rushanara Ali, a Labour member of Parliament who represents the area of London where the missiles would be deployed. She added that residents hadn't been consulted properly and had been given little warning. The plans come as authorities conduct exercises to test the response of police and other emergency response services to security and other incidents, including a series of events this week by the military. In another reminder of the threat the U.K. faces, prosecutors on Monday said they had charged four men from Luton, a town northwest of London, with intending to commit, or assisting others to commit, acts of terrorism through activities including downloading electronic files containing practical instruction for a terrorist attack; discussing methods, materials and targets for a terrorist attack; and collecting and supplying funds for terrorist purposes. The men, who range from 21 to 30 years old, also were charged with possessing documents likely to be useful for a terrorist purpose. Prosecutors said they possessed literature linked to radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed last year in Yemen by a U.S. drone strike. Among the literature was a guide by Mr. Awlaki called "44 Ways to Support Jihad" and an English-language jihadist magazine, called "Inspire." One of the men also allegedly possessed an al Qaeda manual. The U.K. is preparing for a massive security effort, which authorities say begins in earnest operationally with the start of the torch relay on May 18 and runs through Sept. 9, the close of the Paralympic Games. London's Metropolitan Police, which are leading the security effort, have said they expect to deploy as many as 9,500 officers on peak days of the Olympics in addition to regular policing numbers. Some 13,500 personnel from the air force, army and navy will be involved in the safety and security operation and Royal Air Force jets and helicopters will be on standby to counter airborne terrorist attacks. Authorities have been conducting a series of exercises over recent months to test their responses to major incidents, including responses to a terror threat. That included a terrorist-attack drill in February at an unused subway station to test the responses of police and other emergency-response services. This week, the military will conduct a series of events in London and other Olympic-event locations involving more than 1,000 military personnel, as well as aircraft and naval boats. And, on Thursday, the military will roll out a Rapier air-defense missile system to Blackheath, near Greenwich in East London, ahead of a training exercise designed to test military procedures before the Olympics. The terror-threat level in the U.K. is at "substantial," the third-highest level, having been downgraded from "severe" last year.  - Paul Sonne contributed to this article. Write to Cassell Bryan-Low at  Save Article