RAF Typhoons and Rapier being installed at key sites

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17926364
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17943864

'take care of that aircraft and we carry weapons to deal with that'

correct me if im wrong but wouldnt shooting down down a plane over london do far more damage than a single plane hitting something as instead of one big bang somewhere youll now have lots of large bits of plane or what have you reigning down across an entire city ... i for one, if i lived in london, wouldnt want a jet engine coming through my roof if some oik decided to blow up a plane above my house... plus with 'precautions' like these and especially with the rapier systems is it not possible scenarios like the USS Vincennes could happen..?
whatre your views on having rocket systems, air craft carriers, destroyers, fast attack jets, 13000 troops etc. etc. stationed around the place just to protect the games ... to be it seems more like we're readying ourselves for an out right bloody invasion.. i mean an aircraft carrier seriously?!

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Reply 1

Zoonage

80,000 people in a stadium

that is all.

Reply 2

Harpoon

I'd rather take all necessary measures to prevent a terrorist attack than risk it in the Olympics. And bear in mind that the Typhoons will be scrambled to intercept a potential high risk threat way before it gets to London.

Reply 3

Clip

Rapier is very good for cheating in exams.

Reply 4

cl_steele

Original post by Harpoon

what about city airport though which is slap bang in london?
my biggest queary was the use of the navy, what possible use could a destroyer and an aircraft carrier be unless the terrorists have gotten themselves a battle ship to float around in?

Reply 5

Cannotbelieveit

So...you'd rather have a huge jetliner slam into the Olympic Stadium full of people, than shoot it down?

Reply 6

Harpoon

Original post by cl_steele

As City airport is mainly used by private and small(er) planes, I imagine that the RAF/Army will have security and other elements there.

In regards to the Navy, HMS Ocean will be in the Thames to provide logistical support and a helicopter base for RN ASaC Sea King Helicopters. If there is a Destroyer in the Thames as well, it will be a Type 45 Destroyer that can track all aircraft, from London across to Paris.

Reply 7

Drewski

Original post by cl_steele

plus with 'precautions' like these and especially with the rapier systems is it not possible scenarios like the USS Vincennes could happen..?
whatre your views on having rocket systems, air craft carriers, destroyers, fast attack jets, 13000 troops etc. etc. stationed around the place just to protect the games ... to be it seems more like we're readying ourselves for an out right bloody invasion.. i mean an aircraft carrier seriously?!

Original post by cl_steele

See above.
The destroyer in question also has an extremely sophisticated radar system that can be used to track all movements [civilian radars are no use, they don't look for the same things]. And as for what threat is there, look up the USS Cole.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 8

concubine

The people that hate that steps are being taken to provide safety during the Olympics are the same ***** that would be hating if something happened and we weren't prepared.

Reply 9

cl_steele

Original post by concubine

The people that hate that steps are being taken to provide safety during the Olympics are the same ***** that would be hating if something happened and we weren't prepared.

or they just dont want a missile system stuck on there roof...? no ones said they 'hate' the precautions anyway many have just said they are severe over kill for the threat posed.

Reply 10

cl_steele

Original post by Drewski

Nope. Systems are better than they were then. And the amount of failsafes we have before the shoot authorisation is given would make your head spin.
Ship is in situ to act as landing site so as not to impinge on civilian movements and to be a source of accommodation for the service personnel needed. Had they turned up with tents to take over playing fields for accommodation people would be equally up in arms about an invasion of troops into their back garden. Basically, people love to have a whinge.

See above.
The destroyer in question also has an extremely sophisticated radar system that can be used to track all movements [civilian radars are no use, they don't look for the same things]. And as for what threat is there, look up the USS Cole.

ill take all the points on board bar the last one ... the USS Cole is incomparable imho to anything we'd face in GB, remember that did happen in Yemen a renowned failed state

Reply 11

Drewski

Original post by cl_steele

ill take all the points on board bar the last one ... the USS Cole is incomparable imho to anything we'd face in GB, remember that did happen in Yemen a renowned failed state

It's impossible for someone to get a small and fast boat, loaded with explosives and to pile it into any number of prominent landmarks right on the riverside? Any idea how much traffic is on the Thames?
It's not an inconceivable threat, and having an idea of how to counter it is only prudent.

Reply 12

concubine

Original post by cl_steele

or they just dont want a missile system stuck on there roof...? no ones said they 'hate' the precautions anyway many have just said they are severe over kill for the threat posed.

I have seen plenty of people calling the measures that are being taken 'excessive' and a 'waste of money'.

Reply 13

Schleigg

They should've just parked a Type 45 on the Thames. Would make the Navy feel useful and probably be better than Rapiers on roofs. Military aircraft are there to intercept and bat off lost people in puddle jumpers and helicopters.

They should also have not publicised it so much.

Reply 14

Clip

Original post by concubine

I have seen plenty of people calling the measures that are being taken 'excessive' and a 'waste of money'.

Excessive, perhaps. A waste of money? They didn't build them specially for the Olympics. Rapier has been around for donkeys' years. And the Army get paid the same whether they're sitting on top of someone's roof, or mincing in their barracks.

Reply 15

Clip

Original post by Schleigg

You can't use Sea Viper to check out foreign women. Rapier, on the other hand is very good at this.

Reply 16

Good bloke

Original post by concubine

I have seen plenty of people calling the measures that are being taken 'excessive' and a 'waste of money'.

How many of these people are privy to intelligence about likely threats, understand the likely threats and understand how to counter such threats?

Reply 17

Schleigg

Original post by Clip

You can't use Sea Viper to check out foreign women. Rapier, on the other hand is very good at this.

Reply 18

Good bloke

Original post by cl_steele

i for one, if i lived in london, wouldnt want a jet engine coming through my roof if some oik decided to blow up a plane above my house...

The idea is that any hostile plane would be blown up into huge numbers of tiny pieces, each of which would pose small risk of doing catastrophic damage to any building, rather than to allow a whole plane hit the Olympic stadium or to knock large lumps like engines off it, each of which could kill many people. There is plenty of precedent for this in London when just such a strategy was used throughout WW2 against German bombers, albeit with inferior defensive weapons.