London May Use Surface-to-Air Missiles in Olympics

British security officials are planning to deploy surface-to-air missiles during the London Olympics in 2012, media reports have said.

Defense Secretary Philip Hammond told members of the U.K. Parliament on Monday “that all necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of the London Olympic Games will be taken including—if the advice of the military is that it is required—appropriate ground-to-air defenses,” reported The Guardian.

Defense officials told the newspaper it would mark the first time for Britain to deploy the missiles to protect civilians.

The announcement came after the United States called on the U.K. to raise its security standards during the games and said it would send around 1,000 agents to protect Americans attending them, according to the newspaper.

National Olympic security coordinator Chris Allison said there would be a relatively small number of foreign security officers present at the games to connect with U.K. police. He told the BBC that the United States was providing “great support,” and refuted the Guardian report’s claims.

“We will have support from other colleagues up and down the country but it is the British police service that will be doing it,” Allison said.