Navy to test anti-terror ability against Olympic attack

Some 8,000 staff and 30 warships will take part in the Joint Warrior exercise

The Royal Navy will test its ability to deal with major events, such as a terrorist attack on the Olympics, in a major exercise next week.

The Joint Warrior exercise involving forces from Europe and North America is aimed at creating a task group that can be deployed to major global incidents.

About 8,000 personnel and 30 warships will take part in the training drill off the west coast of Scotland.

The event takes place twice a year but this time includes 3,000 extra staff.

A Royal Navy spokeswoman said: "The flexibility of the fleet to deal with unexpected events such as Libya last year or provide security at the Olympics in London is to be put to the test."

'Testing environment'

The two-week exercise will start on Monday and is one of the biggest to be held in the area.

Captain Phil Titterton, commanding officer of Joint Tactical Exercise Planning Staff (JTEPS), said: "It gives a full spectrum of multinational training in a testing environment and provides all the players with a view on how they would work together under coalition and Nato operations.

"These are the assets that will be used in the event of global operations so they must be able to work alongside each other effectively."

In addition to the UK, Joint Warrior prepares the US, Denmark, Norway, France, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands for a number of maritime threats.