Airship Management Services chosen to provide Olympic Security Airship at 2004 Athens Olympics
ATHENS, Greece -- An airship will take to the skies over Athens next summer providing a platform for a number of advanced surveillance systems to enhance security at the Olympic Games.
Airship Management Services (AMS), an affiliate of Nissho Iwai American Corporation, in partnership with SAIC (formerly known as Science Applications International Corporation which has been awarded the prime contract for security by the Greek government) and partner Skyship Cruise Ltd. will operate a Skyship 600 airship under contract to the Greek Ministry of Defence. The airship will be equipped with a sophisticated suite of sensors, cameras, observation tools and communications devices, staffed by an international security team.
Skyship-type airships have provided Olympic security on three previous occasions: in Los Angeles in 1984, in Seoul, Korea, in 1988, and in Atlanta, in 1996. In Atlanta the airship flew 12 hours a day for 16 straight days under auspices of the Atlanta Police.
"Our support of the Atlanta, Seoul and Los Angeles Games, as well as knowledge gained from work with the UK Ministry of Defence, the Tokyo Police, the French Ministry of Interior and recent trials with the New York City Police Department, the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Warfare Center and the U.S. Secret Service gives us a depth of operating experience unmatched in airship surveillance today," said George Spyrou, president of Airship Management Services.
In addition to beaming imagery and streaming data to ground-based command centers, the eye-in-the-sky enhances overall situational awareness, experts say.
"The Skyship 600 is equipped for long-endurance missions and has the largest payload of any airship available today. We are honored to work with the Athens Olympic Committee and our partners towards a successful sporting event in the very site where the Olympics began," said Spyrou.
More than 10,500 athletes will compete in 28 Olympic sports at 37 venues from August 13-29, 2004. With traffic congestion, ever-present terrorist threats, and intense security required at such a variety of venues, the Athens Olympic planners are employing a variety of methods to ensure a successful Olympiad.
Updated 5th April 04