French military to contribute 15,000 soldiers to massive security operation for Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — A French army general involved in the preparations says France’s military is planning to contribute 15,000 soldiers to the massive security operation for next year’s Paris Olympics. Gen. Christophe Abad is the military governor of Paris who serves as military adviser to the French capital’s police chief. Abad said Thursday that the bulk of the military force, nearly 10,000 troops, will be deployed in the Paris region. In the skies, the military is also planning to deploy Reaper surveillance drones and AWACS airspace-monitoring planes, fighter jets, airborne refueling planes and helicopters that can carry sharpshooters and equipment to disable drones. The security operation for the July 26 to Aug. 11 Olympics is unprecedented in scale for France.