Jets begin patrols over Athens

Capt Thanassis Gioules squeezed into the cockpit of his fighter jet at an air base near Athens yesterday and prepped its weapons systems before taking off on a combat air patrol.

For the first time in their careers, Gioules and his fellow pilots in the Greek air force have begun flying armed jet fighters over Athens – part of a broad security umbrella that will protect the capital and other cities hosting Olympic events from terrorist attack during the August 13-29 games.

"We have the task of protecting and securing all Olympic sites," Gioules said as he sat in his French-made Mirage 2000 supersonic interceptor. "What we do is mainly patrol over all Olympic venues, track any potential renegade aircraft, investigate, and take appropriate measures ordered by the higher command."

Gioules, 28, said that if ordered by Premier Costas Caramanlis, he was ready to shoot down any renegade aircraft – a reference that includes hijacked passenger jets.

"I've been ready all my life," he said.

Gioules' base at Tanagra, 80km north of Athens, is one of a dozen such facilities that have been put on alert for the Olympics.

Greek fighter jets are expected to fly more than 1,200 hours during the Olympics and Paralympics, at an estimated cost of $3,614 per hour for each plane.

Olympic security has stretched resources to the limit in Greece, which is spending a record $1.5 billion to protect the summer games.

Three Nato Awacs airborne surveillance planes are expected to arrive in Greece today to bolster the Greek air force's own radar planes and coordinate the patrols carried out by the fighters. The entire air defence system will be monitored by a special command and control system that will also run other security operations in Athens, including a blimp and helicopters.

Key Olympic facilities are also being guarded by anti-aircraft missiles – the Olympic Village has its own Patriot missile battery.

About 120 Patriots missiles have been deployed at five sites around Greece, including three in the Athens area, one near the northern city of Thessaloniki and another on the Aegean Sea island of Skyros.

On the ground, 70,000 police and military personnel are helping provide security, a number so large that the defence ministry said Tuesday it had assigned 35,000 personnel to "secondary" duties to free up the resources. The military was also providing 500 vehicles and 50 naval ships.

Staring next week, only authorised aircraft will be allowed to enter a zone that extends for 45km around Athens. A complete no-fly zone will cover all Olympic venues.

At Tanagra air base, home of the 114 combat wing, all 40 Mirages will take turns in pairs patrolling the skies over Athens.

"We have been given the honour of protecting the Olympic Games by patrolling the airspace over Olympic venues against any threat 24 hours a day," base commander Col Ioannis Patsantaras said.