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UK ponders Olympic missile shield
Updated November 15, 2011 11:58:50
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-15/missiles-could-defend-london-olympics/3666410
Britain is ready to use missiles to protect next year's London Olympics from an airborne attack, defence minister Philip Hammond said on Monday, amid reports the United States was unhappy with security plans for the games.
"All necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of the London Olympic Games will be taken, including, if the advice of the military is that it is required, appropriate ground-to-air defences," Mr Hammond told parliament.
It would be the first time surface-to-air missiles have been deployed in Britain since the end of World War II, a defence ministry spokesman said, adding that no decisions had been made yet.
Mr Hammond's announcement came as the Guardian newspaper reported the United States was concerned about security at the games and planned to send up to 1,000 of its agents, including 500 from the FBI, to protect American athletes and diplomats.
London's Olympic security coordinator Chris Allison dismissed the report, saying he was about to fly to Washington in a prearranged trip to give an update on planning for next summer's event.
"We're not hearing any concerns being expressed from them at all," he told BBC radio, adding that there would only be a small number of foreign security liaison officers at the games.
A decision to install air defence weaponry in London would follow a precedent set by previous Olympic hosts. China deployed a battery of surface-to-air missiles a kilometre south of its showpiece venues for the Beijing games in 2008.
Greece placed dozens of US-made Patriot missiles around Athens around six weeks before the 2004 Olympics, the first summer games after the September 2001 attacks on the United States.
One option for providing surface-to-air defence in London could include stationing one of Britain's new missile-equipped Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers in the River Thames estuary near the games, the defence ministry spokesman said.
Another choice would be to use the British Army's land-based Rapier surface-to-air missile launcher.
【ABC111115】帝国主义有时也挺难的 之 光脚的不怕穿鞋的 英国考虑奥运导弹网
英防长星期一说,英国已经做好准备用导弹保护明年的奥运天空。也有报告说美国不满意英的安保计划。
。。。
国防部发言人说尽管还没决定,但这可能将是自二次大战以来,英首次部署地对空导弹。 |
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