Athens 2004 Olympics

Introduction

The 2004 Athens Olympics were the largest Olympics held to date and the first since the September 11^th attacks and the Second Gulf War. As a result it was considered to be at serious risk from terrorist attacks. The Greek Government awarded a contract to US defence giant Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for a Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) infrastructure as part of its estimated $7 billion security budget.

Although much of the contract was for permanently based equipment such as command centres and a network of closed circuit television cameras, a portion of the contract was for the provision of an airship to provide airbourne surveillance over Athens for a three month period which included the Olympics and Paralympics.

After an exhaustive selection process, Airship Management Services were awarded the contract and teamed with its Swiss based partner, Skycruise Switzerland, to provide a heavily modified Skyship 600 to Athens for the summer. The Skyship was flown from its base in Lucerne, Switzerland across the Alps to the former international airport at Hellenikon in Athens where it was equipped with a highly sophisticated sensor system.

The Skyship became an icon of the Athens Olympics attracting unprecedented levels of press interest from across the world. Flying over the primary Olympic venues and the centre of Athens it provided a highly effective platform from which to conduct security operations.

The Olympic Security Airship was joined by a second Skyship, the Olympic Broadcast Airship providing overhead broadcast images for the television networks. The airship was under contract to US network NBC which pooled images to other providers to give audiences around the world aerial footage of the Games. From the Opening and Closing Ceremonies to unbroken footage of the entire Marathon route the airship provided a rock solid base for NBC’s Cameras. The two airships, named Athena and Phevus after the Olympic Mascots became a familiar and welcomed site over Athens for during the Games.

Airship and Crew

The airship provided was a US Registered, Skyship 600B The Skyship 600 is a 13 seat airship filled with the inert gas helium and is powered by twin Porsche 930 engines. Although capable of speeds up to 65 mph, the airship normally cruises at about 35 mph, at an altitude of around 1,000 feet. It can fly for up to 15 hours a day without refueling and is certified for flight by day and night and for instrument flying. The Airship is flown by two pilots and is normally fitted with 8 Club Class or 12 Standard seats, a lavatory and mini-bar. In Athens the airship was refitted with an advanced surveillance system to provide live intelligence to the Olympic Security Command Centre.

The airship crew was made up of pilots, engineers, ground crew and security officers drawn from Skycruiser Group’s operations around the world. Working around the clock the airship was available for missions for up to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. During the month that included the Olympics the airship flew 38 missions for a total of 200 hours in support of security operations.

The airship attracted endless press articles from around the world and gained almost cult status in Athens. One reporter from Detroit wrote:

“Saturday afternoon, I joined thousands of other tourists, climbing to the top of the Acropolis to get a picture of one of the most photographed sights in the world: the blimp. It wasn't easy. That thing moves quicker than you think, and every time I thought I had it in my sights, it would slip behind some ancient ruins.”

Surveillance and Security Operations

The airship was fitted with the most sophisticated suite of sensor ever carried on an airship. The system was installed on site in Athens by Skycruiser engineers and certified by the FAA. The fit included the following equipment:

Two Wescam MX-15 Sensors The Wescam MX15 is a military standard surveillance system incorporating an electro-optical (EO) camera and an infra-red (IR) camera that can be used by day and night. The cameras are gyro-stabilised and have an enhanced zoom with auto tracking capabilities.

One Wescam 16SS Broadcast Camera The Wescam 16 is a high quality commercial broadcast camera with low light capabilities. Gyro-stabilised to provide crisp images from long stand off distances.

Three Digital Video Recorders All the outputs from the three cameras were recorded to digital video onboard the airship, providing an archive of operations conducted.

Continuous, Encrypted Downlink Using the latest encryption and downlink technology provided by UK based company Navtech, the airship provided live, continuous images to the Olympic Command Centre in central Athens. Using a network of microwave receiver sites the images were received from the airship from any part of the Attica region and relayed to the roof of the Police headquarters where it was displayed on video walls and integrated into the Olympic Video Network.

Mission Command Console A mission command console was provided for the Greek police commander. With two screens to monitor footage the commander has the ability to control video recording and downlinks streams. The console included a GPS moving map system with GIS street mapping system.

During security missions the airship flew with two pilots, a Greek Police liaison officer and three camera operators. The camera operators were all former military anti-terrorist specialists with experience of airbourne surveillance operations.