Operation Olympics
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The security preparations for the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
—with the exception of the air counter-terrorist plan, which was a RAF responsibility—was led by the police, with 13,000 officers available, supported by 17,000 members of the armed forces.
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
,
Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
and RAF assets, including ships situated in the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
, Typhoon jets, radar, helicopter-borne snipers, and surface-to-air missiles, were deployed as part of the security operation which was named Operation Olympics by the Ministry of Defence. The final cost of the security operation was estimated £553m (pounds sterling). The budget for venue security was being partly funded by the
London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Go ...
(LOCOG) as well as using the contingency from the £9.3 billion infrastructure budget. Private security firm G4S, enduring scandals regarding training and manpower that emerged mere weeks before the games, provided only about 10,000 staff, instead of their intended 13,700. This was the biggest security operation Britain had faced for decades, with 40,000 security personnel. On 7 July 2005, the day after the city was selected to host the Olympics, the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
and a
London bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London ...
had been attacked by terrorist group
Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
.


Air defences

The air security plan was a multi-layered construct intended to defeat the full range of potential air threats to the Games, from
airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...
s, through
light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are use ...
and micro-lights to drones. It involved the classification of airspace over London, requiring specific advanced permission to enter. Command and Control of air counter-terrorism is the responsibility of the Chief of the Air Staff and was exercised for the Olympics on his behalf by Air Officer Commanding 1 Group RAF, Air Vice-Marshal
Stuart Atha Air Marshal Sir Stuart David Atha, (born 30 April 1962), is a former senior officer of the Royal Air Force. He led No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron from 2000 to 2004, which included deployment to Iraq on Operation Telic, commanded RAF Coningsby (2006 ...
, the Olympics Air Component Commander. The air security plan was a modification of the existing air counter-terrorism measures for the whole UK that were continuously applied by the RAF. At the core of the air security plan was the basing of RAF
Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Syste ...
fighters at
RAF Northolt Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in South Ruislip, from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately north of ...
in West London. These were held at extremely high readiness to allow a rapid reaction to any potential threat, and were in addition to the Typhoons that maintain
Quick Reaction Alert Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) is state of Combat readiness, readiness and ''modus operandi'' of Anti-aircraft warfare, air defence maintained at all hours of the day by NATO air forces. The United States usually refers to Quick Reaction Alert as 'Ai ...
at
RAF Coningsby Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and h ...
and RAF Leuchars (now RAF Lossiemouth). The next layer of defences comprised
RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries-out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated ...
snipers, who would operate against small, slow air targets. They would be carried by RAF Puma helicopters (temporarily based at
Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...
Territorial Army Centre) and
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
and
Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...
helicopters embarked on HMS Ocean, which was alongside at
Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...
on the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
). There were six sites, four using
Rapier A rapier () is a type of sword originally used in Spain (known as ' -) and Italy (known as '' spada da lato a striscia''). The name designates a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. It wa ...
and two using Starstreak Fire units. After initially announcing the possibility of installing missiles the British government confirmed they would be deployed from mid July. Airspace management and early warning of a threat was provided using existing air traffic control and air defence radar, supplemented by mobile radar, including Type 101 ground-based radar from the RAF's 1 Air Control Centre, deployed to
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
. In addition, RAF E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System ( AWACS) aircraft from RAF Waddington and Royal Navy Sea King Air Surveillance and Control System ( ASACS), temporarily based at RAF Northolt, provided further early warning cover. A further layer of visual warning was provided by Royal Artillery observers at 28 locations around London, equipped with alerting devices and binoculars. Rapier missiles are
surface-to-air missiles A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...
designed to shoot down aeroplanes. It is a short-range air defence system, consisting of eight missiles with a tracking radar and a surveillance radar. There were four Rapier sites, two in north London and two in south London. The Rapier sites were: *
Blackheath Common Blackheath Common is an area of of heathland in Surrey, England, near the village of Albury in the borough of Waverley. It is part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and much of the common is a designated Site of Specia ...
*Oxleas Wood,
Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...
*William Girling Reservoir, Enfield *Barn Hill, Netherstone Farm, near
Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the Lond ...
In addition two sites were selected for Starstreak missiles. They were at the top of tall buildings closer to the Olympic Stadium. One of the sites was the water tower of a factory converted into upmarket flats in Bow. The other was a 15-storey block of council flats in
Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...
. The residents of the latter took the government to court to protest against the siting of the missile battery, a case they lost on 10 July 2012. The Starstreak sites were: *Lexington Building, Bow Quarter in LB Tower Hamlets *Fred Wigg Tower in Leytonstone, LB Waltham Forest The defences were tested in a large training exercise during 2–10 May 2012, known as ''Exercise Olympic Guardian'', which preceded the operational phase of the campaign. The exercise involved
Boeing E-3 Sentry The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing. E-3s are commonly known as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-weathe ...
from RAF Waddington, VC-10 tanker aircraft from
RAF Brize Norton Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton is the largest List of Royal Air Force stations, station of the Royal Air Force. Situated in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, it is close to the village of Brize Norton and the tow ...
and
Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
fast jets from 3(F) Sqn operating from RAF Northolt, the first time fighter aircraft had been stationed at the West London base since the Second World War. From 14 July 2012, Royal Air Force, Army and Navy assets and personnel began enforcing a 30-mile exclusion zone over London and other areas.


Deployed assets

The following assets were deployed for air security: * 3 x
Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome eng ...
helicopters * Westland Puma helicopters, forward-based at the Territorial Army (now Army Reserve) centre in
Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...
,
East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...
*
Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to t ...
helicopters operating from helicopter carrier * Sentry AEW1
airborne early warning and control An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is an airborne radar early warning system designed to detect aircraft, ships, vehicles, missiles and other incoming projectiles at long ranges, as well as performing command and control of the ...
(AWACS) aircraft based at RAF Waddington in
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
* 4 x Typhoon FGR4 multirole fighters forward-based at
RAF Northolt Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in South Ruislip, from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately north of ...
,
West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...
* Starstreak surface-to-air missile systems *
Rapier A rapier () is a type of sword originally used in Spain (known as ' -) and Italy (known as '' spada da lato a striscia''). The name designates a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. It wa ...
surface-to-air missile systems


Maritime defences

The Royal Navy and
Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...
were equipped with the
Long Range Acoustic Device A long-range acoustic device (LRAD), acoustic hailing device (AHD) or sound cannon is a specialized loudspeaker that produces sound at high power for communicating at a distance. It has been used as a method of crowd control, which has caused ...
(LRAD), which uses directional sound as an
anti-personnel weapon An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles ga ...
. It was attached to a landing craft on the Thames at Westminster, and was to be used primarily in loud-hailer mode as a so-called
acoustic hailing device A long-range acoustic device (LRAD), acoustic hailing device (AHD) or sound cannon is a specialized loudspeaker that produces sound at high power for communicating at a distance. It has been used as a method of crowd control, which has caused ...
, rather than as a weapon. Royal Marines operated from HMS Ocean in small craft armed with conventional weapons.


Deployed assets

The following assets were deployed: *
Helicopter carrier A helicopter carrier is a type of aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters. It has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like of the Royal Navy (RN ...
based in the Thames * stationed off the
Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
coast * based in
Weymouth Bay Weymouth Bay is a sheltered bay on the south coast of England, in Dorset. It is protected from erosion by Chesil Beach and the Isle of Portland, and includes several beaches, notably Weymouth Beach, a gently curving arc of golden sand which st ...
* Patrol boats *
Rigid Raider The Rigid Raider (RRC) is a series of fast raiding and assault craft made by RTK Marine, a subsidiary of Halmatic, part of BAE Systems Surface Ships. They are primarily in service with two branches of the British Armed Forces: The Royal Navy (i ...
s


IT Security

BT was responsible for the IT infrastructure for the Olympics, and for securing the network perimeter against electronic attacks. The company had been warned to expect a high intensity of complex and determined attacks, but instead found that the attacks were "unsophisticated and perpetrated by children". When monitoring social media and chat sites for information on which targets might be attacked next, BT staff observed one would-be hacker breaking off a planning session because their mother was calling them to eat their
tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...
, and another defending their technical performance by saying "what do you expect, I’m only 12?". The other main IT security obstacle encountered was the requirement to allow over 25,000 journalists access to network services; many of their computers were infected with
viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almo ...
or other
malware Malware (a portmanteau of ''malicious software'')Tahir, R. (2018)A study on malware and malware detection techniques . ''International Journal of Education and Management Engineering'', ''8''(2), 20. is any software intentionally designed to caus ...
. BT contacted a number of
spam Spam most often refers to: * Spam (food), a consumer brand product of canned processed pork of the Hormel Foods Corporation * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ...
blacklisting companies to explain the resulting increase in spam from its network.


Preparation concerns

After it emerged in July 2012 that G4S, the company in charge of providing security, was unable to train enough security staff, an additional 3,500 sailors, soldiers and airmen were assigned to security duties at the Olympics. Lord Coe, chairman of LOCOG, said that the security of the Olympics had not been compromised as a result.


Incidents

A few months before the games opened, Michael Shrimpton, a former immigration judge, contacted authorities to warn of an impending attack against the Games. According to Shrimpton, a German intelligence agency had stolen a nuclear warhead from a sunken Russian submarine and planted it in London. The agency was supposedly planning to detonate the warhead during the Games' opening ceremony. Shrimpton's report was treated seriously by police and, when it was found to be a hoax, he was arrested, tried, and convicted on two counts of communicating false information with intent. He was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment.


References

{{reflist, colwidth=33em, refs= {{cite web , url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18042528 , title='Sonic weapon' deployed in London during Olympics , work=BBC News Online , date=11 May 2012 , access-date=12 May 2012 , last =Thomas , first = Gavin RAF News, 18 May 2012 {{cite news , title=Ring of Missile Sites in Capital , work=London Evening Standard , date=30 April 2012 , author=Davenport, Justin , pages=1, 4–5 {{cite news , url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/apr/29/london-rooftops-missiles-olympic-games , title=London rooftops to carry missiles during Olympic Games , last=Booth , first=Robert , work=The Guardian , date=29 April 2012 , access-date=29 April 2012 {{cite news , url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9234544/London-Olympics-2012-MoD-rooftop-missile-base-plan-alarms-local-residents.html , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429213246/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9234544/London-Olympics-2012-MoD-rooftop-missile-base-plan-alarms-local-residents.html , url-status=dead , archive-date=29 April 2012 , title=London Olympics 2012: MoD rooftop missile base plan alarms local residents , publisher=The Daily Telegraph , date=29 April 2012 , access-date=29 April 2012 {{cite news , url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/sports/olympics/major-trepidation-over-olympic-security.html?pagewanted=all , title = Amid Reports of Ineptitude, Concerns Over Security at London Olympics , first = John F. , last = Burns , work =
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, date = 14 July 2012
{{cite news , url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9399518/London-2012-Olympics-Games-could-need-more-troops-Lord-Coe-suggests.html , title = London 2012 Olympics: Games could need more troops, Lord Coe suggests , first1 = Jacquelin , last1 = Magnay , first2 = James , last2 = Kirkup , work =
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
, date = 13 July 2012
{{cite web, title=London 2012 security not compromised, says Coe, url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18845678, publisher=BBC News, date=15 July 2012, access-date=15 July 2012 {{cite web, title=London 2012: Olympic missiles sites confirmed, url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18690861, publisher=BBC News, date=3 July 2012, access-date=17 July 2012 {{cite web, title=WALTHAM ABBEY: Farm owner defends missile base, url=http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/efnews/9681409.WALTHAM_ABBEY__Farm_owner_defends_missile_base/, publisher=Waltham Forest Guardian, date=2 May 2012, access-date=17 July 2012 {{cite web, title=Press Information:JERNAS, url=http://www.mbda-systems.com/mediagallery/files/JERNAS_background.pdf, publisher=MDBA Missile Systems, date=September 2009, access-date=17 July 2012 {{cite web, title=UK puts missiles on London rooftop to guard Olympics, url=https://www.reuters.com/article/olympics-britain-missiles-idUSL6E8FT00520120429, publisher=Reuters, date=29 April 2012, access-date=17 July 2012 {{cite web, title=London 2012: Missile tower block tenants drop legal bid, url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18797085, publisher=BBC News, date=11 July 2012, access-date=17 July 2012 {{cite news , author-last=O'Keeffe , author-first=Hayley , title=Jail for pervert barrister who said nuclear bomb would blow up the Queen at the London Olympics , url=http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/more-news/jail-for-pervert-barrister-who-said-nuclear-bomb-would-blow-up-the-queen-at-the-london-olympics-1-6566127 , newspaper=
Bucks Herald ''The Bucks Herald'' is a weekly newspaper, published every Wednesday and covering Aylesbury and its surrounding villages in the Aylesbury Vale area of Buckinghamshire, England. It was first published on 7 January 1832. History At its launch t ...
, date=2015-02-06 , access-date=2016-06-22
{{cite news , author= , newspaper=
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
, title=Barrister jailed for Nazi Olympics bomb hoax call , url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/barrister-jailed-for-nazi-olympics-bomb-hoax-call-1-3682715 , date=2015-02-06 , access-date=2016-09-19
{{cite news , author= , title=Barrister sparked security scare by 'claiming Nazis wanted to blow up the Queen at the 2012 Olympics' , url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11221239/Barrister-sparked-security-scare-by-claiming-Nazis-wanted-to-blow-up-the-Queen-at-the-2012-Olympics.html , newspaper=
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...
, date=2014-11-10 , access-date=2016-09-19
{{cite news , date=2015-02-06 , author-last=Colley , author-first=Andrew , newspaper=
Bucks Free Press The ''Bucks Free Press'' is a weekly local newspaper, published every Friday and covering the area surrounding High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It was first published on 19 December 1856. It covers news for south Buckinghamshire—focusi ...
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2012 Summer Olympics Military operations involving the United Kingdom Royal Navy 21st-century Royal Air Force deployments British Army deployments Defence of London Security