UK puts missiles on London rooftop to guard Olympics

Last edited Mon Apr 30, 2012, 04:50 PM - Edit history (4)

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Britain's military has told residents of an upscale apartment development near the Olympic Park in east London it is installing a missile battery on top of a tower within their housing complex to defend the 2012 Games this summer.

The site is one of a number around the capital the army is considering as bases for surface-to-air missiles to protect the London games from an aerial attack, the Ministry of Defence said.

It is the first time such missiles have been deployed in London since the end of World War Two, shocking some residents at the Bow Quarter housing development, sited in a converted red-brick Victorian match factory.

There was no consultation, no one knocked on the door, Brian Whelan, a 28-year-old journalist, told Reuters. You just wake up one morning, there's a leaflet telling you they are going to put missiles on the roof.

The measure was excessive and had upset his girlfriend, he said. I can't imagine the circumstances that would require you to fire missiles over a highly populated area.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond first announced the plans in November, saying Britain would follow the precedent set by previous Olympics such as the Beijing games in 2008 where surface to air missiles were stationed a kilometer south of its showpiece stadiums.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/29/us-olympics-britain-missiles-idUSBRE83S00120120429