G20 summit: Lengths they go to secure Obama

A rocket-grenade launching limo, 200 secret service staff and a medical team carrying pints of blood are just a glimpse of President Obama’s security detail as he attends the G-20 summit in London.

The President’s security teams have swept venues he and his wife Michelle will visit for electronic bugs, food has been tested for poison and even the air quality has been measured for bacteria.

Manholes in city roads have been bolted down, bins removed and British security snipers placed in tall buildings across the city.

President’s entourage

Among those in the president’s entourage is his 6ft 5in personal aide Reggie Love. Mr Love works out with the president and watches sport with him. He will be trusted to keep the president supplied with gum — which he chews to beat his old cigarette smoking habit.

President Obama’s security detail makes that of any other president look like a joke, but security experts say the threat of an attack against him is high. His entourage includes decoy vehicles and aircraft, making it nearly impossible to establish the vehicle he is travelling in.

While in London, the president’s 200 secret servicemen watch over him — conspicuous with their shirt-cuff radios, dark suits and Ray-Ban sunglasses.

According to the BBC, all police leave has been cancelled as thousands of anti-capitalist and climate change protesters are taking part in demonstrations in London to coincide with the G20 summit.

The £250,000 limo dubbed The Beast that President Obama is cruising in, is equipped with rocket-propelled grenades, a night-vision camera and pump-action shotguns to destroy would-be attackers.

The Beast’s titanium superstructure is capable of shielding the president from a chemical weapons attack. Its sealed interior forms an impenetrable “panic room” if the vehicle is attacked.

The car contains a teargas cannon, oxygen tanks and bottles of the president’s AB blood type. The limo can drive at speeds of more than 60mph (96kph) with punctured tyres. The five-inch rocket proof glass is so thick that President Obama needs fluorescent light to read in the darkness.

The journey from Washington was aboard the presidential aircraft Air Force One — a Boeing 747-200B — which has its own gym and a presidential suite, complete with a small dining room. Among the officials on the flight was a military officer carrying America’s nuclear missile launch codes.

This gives the American president the capability to launch a nuclear strike from the craft. The plane which can travel at speeds of 630mph (1,013kph) cutting the flight duration by three hours from the normal eight hours. It is fitted with armour-plated wings able to withstand a nuclear blast from the ground and flares to confuse enemy missiles. It has 85 telephones and 19 televisions.

When President Obama touched down at Stansted Airport, a VH-3D helicopter — Marine One — flew him across London alongside a group of identical decoy aircraft. His stop was the US ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park, London.

While in transit, a selection of iced teas will keep the president refreshed in his various modes of transport. His wife Michelle will have eight of her own staff, including a secretary, a press officer and bodyguards.

According to Skynews, Terror expert Prof Paul Wilkinson says his security team will be well aware of the president’s vulnerability in the UK.

“President Obama’s image in Europe and the UK is very favourable. People look to him as a great beacon of hope — that will be understood by his minders. But among these people, could be those whose plans are extremely nasty and malevolent,” says Sky News Online.

Fellow expert Dr Mark Yates said the biggest threat was from a suicide bomber or a lone hitman who did not form part of an organised group.

“The suicide bomb attack is the real threat — that would be a major coup for Islamic fundamentalists. The security will be massive, but one thing you learn is that there is no such thing as 100 per cent security,” Dr Yates said.