Apparently, so says Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary.

So what is the point of that, then? What aerial threats may they face? It is hard to imagine anything other than hijacked planes. Is this really where we have come to? If a hijacked plane is thought to be headed for a stadium, what are we saying - that if we can blast it out of the sky somewhere else - Finchley, perhaps, or Shepherds Bush, somewhere, anywhere other than perish theb thought an Olympic venue - then that will somehow be a good result, and worth doing? Would we all then breathe a sigh of relief?

Is the knowledge that this may happen going to put off your average planejacker with a deathwish? Really?

Or have the lunatics taken over the asylum completely now?

In a worse case scenario then around 60,000 casualties or a couple thousand casualties is an easy decision to make for me.

Tragic, sickening and disturbing still, however if a hijacked plane is travelling straight for a packed Olympic stadium then damage limitation may come into play.

Right. It's not like we have an airforce to intercept any hijacked plane, or security measures at airports …

This is just a classic example of populist kneejerking in reaction to the Americans' "we don't feel safe, we want to send FBI agents over"

I suppose if we're talking decision-making on a national security level and as a last-ditch defence option, a hijacked airliner is better disintegrating at altitude and causing perhaps a few dozen casualties on the ground, rather than piling into a stadium packed with 80,000 people. I imagine the RAF will also be on alert and probably patrolling more intensively throughout the Games.

And it would make awesome TV.


Could a threat be identified, information passed to the top and orders given, aircraft possibly scrambled and the threat taken out in the few minutes it would take to reach Stratford from Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted or City?

How exactly does a country shooting down an international airliner full of innocents achieve a single thing? Or would we helpfully be told in advance by the bogeyman that they were en route for some specific venue? Some people are thick. All the venues are within minutes of normal air corridors so given no prior announcement by the bogeyman, can you tell me at what point you shoot, and who decides to shoot?

So a plane gets shot down and the debris and body parts land all over Finchley. Plainly obviously the most wonderful propaganda coup for terrorists everywhere, who would all say they never hijacked anything, or all they intended to do was fly past to prove a point, or whatever, and it is just a Western plot to justify militarism etc.

[urlhttp://newsthump.com/2011/11/14/nuclear-warheads-to-protect-olympic-village-claims-hammond/[/url

Probably not, if the terrorists were well organised then it would probably only become apparent once the aircraft deviated from it's flight path. Then it would be a race against time to scramble typhoon's which would probably have to come from Coningsby.

You don't know much about military and intelligence do you? The venue is surrounded by a no fly zone, as soon as that is breached then radio communications would attempt to be established, if there's no reply it would be considered a threat. It would then be too late for ANY fighter jets to intercept and 80,000 people would be dead.

This article also has nothing to do with the situation you're suggesting at all. Nuclear warheads would be used to prevent a WMD being used, not a hijacked plane.

It's the only language they understand.

Vested interests at work here. You just want it to hit its target rather than land on you.

On the other hand: Finchley … they did keep electing Margaret Thatcher to the House of Commons …

I don't get that though, we're going to destroy London in order to stop the terrorists from destroying London?

Is it just me who immediately thinks of this?

I love the idea that a plane crashing on London would lead to maybe a couple of dozen casualties on the ground. The debris would be spread over a very large area, causing hundreds or thousands of casualties.
There isn't much countryside in London.

I'd just let it hit the target and cause optimum damage and casualties, there would be cameras on hand to capture exactly what happened and create great footage to play repeatedly as part of a propaganda campaign to support a retaliatory strike against the Muslamics in Iran. I just hope that our friends and allies from across the Atlantic would stand shoulder to shoulder with us as we did with them over 9/11.

As for the leftists that will no doubt protest against the war all I can say is you are sick traitors.

this is none news, we had surface/ground to air assets deployed for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and also have had for other major public events.

So that's Heathrow, Stanstead and Gatwick locked down for the duration of the Olympics then?

I'd also suggest you look up the meaning of satire, if you're going to reference a link to newsthump

Aren't we holding any terror suspects?

Surely we could empty Guantanemo Bay and give them front row seats at all the arenas.

The human shield defence against jihadists.....we can't be held responsible if Great Leader Al-Talibani perishes in a suicide attack he didn't even order LOL.

If the Amercians are so sh[ii[/it scared, why don't they do what they did in 1980 and boycott the Olympics? Only this time they can cite their own invasion of Afghanistan, instead of the Russkies

[url=http://olympics.airspacesafety.com/airspace-restrictions/restrictions-14-july-2012-to-15-august-2012Sort of.[/url


[url=http://olympics.airspacesafety.com/media/1675/london-2012-airspace_quickstart-guide-080811.pdfKnock yourself out.[/url (links to pdf)

If anyone's looking for cheap accommodation through the Olympics, just pick a host city. Weymouth hoteliers are reporting a downturn of 95% in bookings for 2012, compared to the same period 2011. Want a hotel in London? Take your pick, they're hardly bursting at the seams either.

I am aware of some of the contigencies in place for the sailing events at Portland & Weymouth: All private boats currently berthed (by contract) in Portland have to move, at their own expense, to another location. Boats that have been chartered for duty during the Olympics will have at least one armed member of the security forces on-board throughout. Those charter skippers that have jumped through the hoops to be retained, although they will be paid up to £2k per day, will be subject to a £10k perday penalty for non-availability. The Olympic Organisers have also commissioned a fleet of brand new RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats), so that they can zip around Weymouth bay at taxpayer's expense. No doubt the RIBs will be available on eBay afterwards.

There are also contingencies in place for a complete lock-down of the whole county of Dorset, if a threat is detected. This is not a proposed, targeted lock-down, it will be county-wide

Nothing to worry about because nothing is going to happen. How many times have we heard about " credible" intelligence saying something involving terrorism is going to happen? FA cup finals, royal weddings, just about every occassion in the last few years, where large crowds will be gathered. No doubt a few "al-qaeda" suspects will be arrested in the next few months, only to be later released without charge.

For some sailing dinghy's ?

Won't they notice at the start if one of the dinghy's has got an extra swarthy looking type on board trying to hide under the sails ?

Exploding horses in the dressage - thats the future.

Exploding horses in the dressage will take out 90% of the world royal families, all you need to do is feed a horse heaped spoonfuls of TNT for a few days before the event then slip a detonator into its haybag just before it goes into the arena, bingo, or maybe bang-go.

...or build yourself a real wooden horse, its been done before, and it worked.

It could be worse. The good lady newsreader on 6 music just reported that we are going to use Air to Ground missiles



It will be a bl00dy bloodbath

Watching the news this evening, my first reaction to the news that the FBI want to put their men on the ground was "Tell the yanks they can't come".

Fair or not?