Thursday’s announcement came after the UK Government last week stated it would boost spending on venue security by £271 million, raising the Games’ security budget to £553 million. The MoD has said that the military will make a “significant contribution” to a security effort that will be police-led.
The breakdown of the military’s contribution will see some 5,000 troops support the police, up to 7,500 provide venue security and 1,000 add logistical support. There will also be a 1,000-strong unarmed contingency force readied in the event of an "Olympics-related civil emergency". The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has estimated 23,700 security staff will be required at Olympic and Paralympic venues next summer, more than double the original estimate of 10,000.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC that the Games were "the biggest security challenge this country has faced for decades," but added the deployment of military personnel follows a similar path taken by every Games host since Atlanta in 1996. “This defence contribution is on a similar scale to that deployed at other recent Olympic Games and will contribute to ensuring a safe, secure and enjoyable 2012 Olympics,” he said.
Hammond has said the military will split its role into two areas. “First of all we will be providing the routine military aid to the civil power - helping and supporting the police, with things like special forces, bomb disposal capability, military search capability,” he explained. “And then we'll be supplying up to 7,500 men and women to support the guarding of the venues themselves. They'll be working with civilians in mixed teams, searching and checking people going into the stadiums, making sure - airline style - that nothing that shouldn't get in there gets in.”
As part of the military's Olympic security role, the Royal Navy's HMS Ocean and HMS Bulwark will be based at Greenwich, in London, and Weymouth Bay, in Dorset, respectively. Hammond added: “Military hardware will be used, we'll be deploying helicopters, we'll be deploying Typhoon fighters to defend London's airspace, and we’ll be deploying ground-to-air missile systems.”
