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SAS will fly 'killer egg' helicopters across London to hunt terrorists
Justin Davenport, Crime Editor9 Jan 2012
Small attack helicopters known as "killer eggs" because of their size and shape are to be deployed in London during the Olympics, the Standard can reveal today.
SAS and SBS commanders are negotiating to borrow the aircraft from US special forces to help them counter a Mumbai-style terror assault on the capital.
The threat of a co-ordinated commando-style attack on London similar to the Indian atrocity is the greatest fear of anti-terrorist planners.
Gunmen roamed Mumbai for three days in 2008, killing 164 people, wounding 300 and taking hostages as security forces struggled to contain them. The city's main railway station, a hospital, a restaurant and two hotels were targeted.
Little Bird helicopters were deployed to rescue survivors during the "Battle of Mogadishu" in Somalia in 1993 which became the subject of the film Black Hawk Down.
The MH-6 helicopters can fly into confined spaces that conventional helicopters cannot reach.
Concerns revolve around the time it would take to deploy heavily-armed units of special forces to combat the threat of multiple, mobile gunmen on the loose in London.
If such an atrocity took place police marksmen would be used to contain the terrorists, while the soldiers would seek to "resolve" the situation.
The Little Bird helicopters would be able to carry six soldiers, three on a platform on each side, into the battle within minutes of an attack.
Security sources say the helicopters would be kept on stand-by and, it is hoped, never used. A source said: "The advantages in a city situation are obvious as they can get to places conventional aircraft cannot reach. The SAS have trained with them in the past so they are ready to go. The problem is finding enough British helicopter pilots who are available to fly them."
The development came as it was revealed that undercover police officers smuggled a fake bomb onto the Olympic site in tests of security measures. In a dummy run the officers were able to carry the "device" around the Stratford Olympic park which is already in "lockdown" in readiness for the Games.
The bomb, which did not contain any explosives, was designed to check electronic and human surveillance systems at the site.
Police refused to reveal details of the security breach but a spokesman for the Olympic Delivery Authority said it was working with the Met on a series of tests to improve the security at the site. A number of Army explosive search dogs will be recalled from Afghanistan to help because of a shortage of trained police dogs.
There are increasing concerns about the security at the Games, the cost of which has now risen to more than £1billion. A special forces unit will be on permanent stand-by in central London during the Olympics. The SAS has already been training with firearms officers from the Met which has control of the security operation.
Special forces will also be equipped with high speed military inflatables to react to an alert on the Thames.
Several anti-terrorism exercises have been carried out at the Olympics Village in Stratford amid fears of sieges or sniper attacks.
The first real security test will come when the Olympic torch is carried through the streets of Britain from May until the start of the Games.
The military deployment will include Typhoon jets being moved to RAF Northolt in west London from bases in Scotland or Lincolnshire for the duration of the Games.
Rapier air-defence missiles will be located in London to protect the capital while the Navy's amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean - complete with helicopters and a Royal Marine assault squadron - will be moored at Greenwich.
Reader views (22)
i thought that we were supposed to be bankrupt.
is there still time to cancel this expensive waste of money.
- john black, brighton england, 26/01/2012 06:33
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i thought that we were supposed to be bankrupt.
is there still time to cancel this expensive waste of money.
- john black, brighton england, 26/01/2012 06:30
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Hopefully your Olympic Games will be a huge success with no "incidents".
Relax and enjoy the party...
Let the security professionals do their job to the best of their ability.
When it's all over and the world's athletes and spectators have gone home safely from the UK, you'll be glad that you participated in the celebration.
- KeithJ, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 15/01/2012 05:37
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When these helicopters were first built in the 1970s they were known as the Hughes 500.
- Michael Cawood, Wrexham, Wales, UK, 09/01/2012 17:53
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"killer-egg" helicopters? What a load of macho rubbish.
Hope they practise on the denizens of the Houses of Parliament. At least that might do us all some good!
- Whitgifter, Croydon, UK, 09/01/2012 17:22
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forgive me if my understanding of the English language is different from the ES (or maybe i dont get "sensationalist journalism", but the opening says
"Small attack helicopters known as "killer eggs" because of their size and shape ARE [so already decided] to be deployed in London during the Olympics, the Standard can reveal today. SAS and SBS commanders ARE NEGOTIATING to borrow the aircraft..."
The last part implying that they dont have them as yet, so canniot say they ARE flying until NEGOTIATED - or maybe i just like my news to be about facts, not assumptions.
- Leigh, London, 09/01/2012 17:19
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Another excuse to turn the UK in to a police state
- Louis Statham, Salisbury Wiltshire, 09/01/2012 17:15
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"all of our resources would be miles away"
Already happened. In 2005 police from London were about 450 miles away from London, in Gleneagles, while a gang of criminals were plotting to blow up trains in London (one blew up a bus having failed to blow up a train).
- John, London, 09/01/2012 15:50
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Tell you what folks! Let us tell the terrorists EVERYTHING that the security forces are planning and preparing for.
Why didn't Paris win the Olympics? I bet they didn't even try to win them just so they could spite GB and get us to be cattle-trucked with the stupid, expensive waste of time and money!
- David Davies, London, A Region within the European Soviet Union, 09/01/2012 15:44
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That should sort out any riots etc then!
- Mike,, London and once Gt.Britain, 09/01/2012 15:31
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It is illegal to deploy the army to conduct policing. They must be planning to attack us instead, then blame Iran so they can start a new war. If we fall for this, we deserve everything we get.
- Tin Foil Hat, London UK, 09/01/2012 15:07
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I object to my taxes being spent on the security state. How easily people are ticked into thinking we need a police state to keep us safe.
- Tin Foil Hat, London UK, 09/01/2012 14:53
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I'd hate to be in that chopper. The soldier are sitting ducks!!
- P.L., London, 09/01/2012 14:35
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Due to the safety risk they should only fly above the Thames, then in an emergency they can land on one of the inflatables. Seriously, if they want a flyover they can start doing something at Hammersmith !
- Jack Spratt, Richmond, Surrey, 09/01/2012 14:34
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They will be scrambled at short notice
- Terry The Tube Driver, London, 09/01/2012 14:28
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So what are we expecting? A Mumbai-style attack or perhaps another Munich? And if one these choppers gets shot down by terrorists where is going to crash?
Are we sure these are the Olympics, and they're actually "games"?
- John Bull, London-ish, 09/01/2012 14:25
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The SAS will be busy, London is a global hub for international terrorism. Start the flyovers immediately and don't stop until the terrorism both political parties allowed to flourish in London is rooted out.
- Hanna, London, 09/01/2012 13:47
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So we pull the sniffer dogs from Afganistan, where there is a real and current threat, to East London where the threat is probably more imagined than real, and put the lives of service personel on active service at risk. By the time training and aclimitisation take account, they will be unavailable for 4months or so. Is this a good example of best use of resources?
- graham, london, 09/01/2012 13:33
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Considering most of our 'home grown' terror talent seems to originate from Bradford / Leeds / Birmingham aren't the SAS / SBS a couple of hundred miles south of where they will actually be needed?
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that with the amount of security surrounding the olympic farce a 'Mumbai style terror attack' could be perpetrated in any (or many) English cities simulataneously and all of our resources would be miles away and incapable of doing anything to stop it.
Just a thought.
- Daddy, Kensington, 09/01/2012 13:26
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SAS will fly 'killer egg' helicopters across London to hunt terrorists
How to make you feel comfortable when the Games start, (will they finish though?)
Thanks
- Ed, London, 09/01/2012 12:57
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There is enough military hardware available to carry out a false flag terror attack, blame it on Iran, then justify another round of slaughter. These black helicopters are an Orwellian nightmare. The government is responsible for all the world's terrorism, through their network of 'security services'. The Games will be targeted in order to cause the maximum panic and the usual calls for 'more security'.
- Tin Foil Hat, London UK, 09/01/2012 12:46
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'because of their size and shape' - they're really that small?
- Paul Danon, Kennington, London, UK, 09/01/2012 12:45
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