Eighty bomb disposal experts including divers were checking the Normandy beaches for explosives today as world leaders began to arrive for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
It was all part of a massive security operation that will see 43,000 soldiers, police and gendarmes flood the region, while mobile surface-to-air missiles are being deployed along the coast of northern France.
A ring of steel will be placed around dignitaries including King Charles, Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky, and American President Joe Biden, who arrived in Paris this morning.
‘We are ready to respond to any threat, and will use force if necessary,’ said Stéphane Chavaux, commander of the Channel and North Sea gendarmerie group.
He confirmed that beaches which turned into a battleground on June 6th 1944 were being swept for munitions by ‘eighty bomb disposal experts, and sixteen divers,’ and said that 43,000 security officers will be deployed across Normandy.
President Joe Biden disembarks Air Force One, Wednesday, June 5, 2024 at Orly airport, south of Paris
President Joe Biden is welcomed by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, left, upon arrival at Paris Orly airport, south of Paris, Wednesday June 5, 2024
The Standing with Giants installation at the Normandy British Memorial, Ver-Ser-Mer, France, ahead of the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday. Picture date: Wednesday June 5, 2024
This file photograph taken on June 6, 1944, shows soldiers unloading equipment on Omaha Beach, Normandy, north-western France after the initial D-Day invasion. In what remains the biggest amphibious assault in history, some 156,000 Allied personnel landed in France on June 6, 1944. An estimated 10,000 Allied troops were left dead, wounded or missing
(L-R) Veterans John Life and Donald Jones speak with two French personnel as they return to Sword Beach, where they landed on D-Day on June 4, 2024 in Normandy, France
Corporal Aaron Stone and Sergeant Ben Beale help veteran John Life after his return to Sword Beach, where he landed on D-Day on June 4, 2024 in Normandy, France
French President’s wife Brigitte Macron welcomes World War II Veteran Lt. Col. Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse as he arrives at Deauville airport from Atlanta to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings in Deauville, Normandy region
Veterans and Brigitte Macron (C) pose for a picture as they arrive at the Deauville-Normandie Airport, in Saint-Gatien-des-Bois, northwestern France
Mobile weapons systems being put in place include 12 Crotale New Generation short-range air defence missile units.
Developed in France, the Crotale NG system is specifically designed to protect sites from airborne threats, ranging from planes and helicopters to missiles.
Units were delivered to Ukraine by France last year as part of a military aid package aimed at protecting civilians from Russian attacks in the ongoing war between the two countries.
The systems can be driven to any site close to the D-Day beaches and other historic sites, such as churches and cemeteries.
Missiles have a range of around seven miles, and can travel at Mach 3.5, which is three-and-a-half times the speed of sound.
France also produces some of the most sophisticated jamming drones in the world, allowing the military to disrupt enemy equipment, from aircraft to Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
Commanders at Avord, France’s second biggest Airforce base, south of Paris, will coordinate the so-called ‘air protection bubble’ for D-Day.
It includes four Airborne Warning & Control System (AWACS) aircraft focused on air policing.
They will be flying for up to 15 hours a day from June 5, thanks to in-flight refuelling.
Groups such as Al-Qaeda In the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) – which brought death and destruction to the streets of France as recently as 2015 – has warned that it will target prestigious events in France this year, including the Paris Olympics.
Gérald Darmanin, France’s Interior Ministry, said ‘the terrorist threat remains high’ and that ‘a high level of vigilance’ remains essential.
The GIGN – National Gendarmerie Intervention Group – will also be on duty, providing everything from rooftop snipers to helicopter-borne rapid response teams.
A GIGN command centre has been placed in the city of Caen, which was an early British Army objective during the Battle of Normandy in 1944.
The Standing with Giants installation at the Normandy British Memorial, Ver-Ser-Mer, France, ahead of the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday. Picture date: Wednesday June 5, 2024
Police officers guard on the tarmac after the ‘Air Force One’ plane carrying US President Joe Biden landed at Paris Orly airport, near Paris, France, 05 June 2024
Members of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, visit a memorial on Omaha Beach as the sun rises on June 05, 2024 in Vierville-sur-Mer, France
France’s President wife Brigitte Macron (R) welcomes veterans as they arrive at the Deauville-Normandie Airport, in Saint-Gatien-des-Bois, northwestern France
French president’s wife Brigitte Macron welcomes World War II Veteran Lt. Col. Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse as he arrives at Deauville airport from Atlanta to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings in Deauville, Normandy region, France, June 3, 2024
Picture taken on June 6, 1944 in Normandy showing the Allied forces soldiers involved in the landing operation aimed at fighting the German Wehrmacht as part of the Second World War
Photograph of American troops approaching Omaha Beach, Normandy, on D-Day
A statue of U.S. soldiers from the 29th Infantry Division is shown above Omaha Beach on June 05, 2024 in Vierville-sur-Mer, France
Elite police units such as the RAID (which stands for Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence) will also be on duty in Normandy.
The RAID was one of the first to react when ISIS suicide bombers attacked Paris in November 2015, killing 130 people on a single night.
This was just after two gunmen linked to AQAP murdered 11 French citizens and wounded 11 others linked to the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
Other measures technically available to the forces of law and order in Normandy include facial recognition technology to spot known criminals, including potential terrorists.
Use was legalized by France’s parliament last year, but there is no official confirmation that it will be rolled out for D-Day.
While terrorism is a constant threat in France, the danger posed by organised crime came into sharp focus in Normandy last month, when two prisoner guards were shot dead, and three others were severely wounded.
The bloodbath unfolded close to Rouen, the capital of Normandy, when suspected drugs lord Mohamed Amra was sprung by four armed men – all of whom are still at large.
Rioting has intensified across France in recent months too, with regular clashes between political groups and the police.
The threat of civil unrest persuaded President Emmanuel Macron to initially cancel a British state visit last year, but it went ahead in September.
The King – then Prince Charles – last visited Normandy in 2019, to attend a service at Bayeux Cathedral to mark the 75thanniversary of the Normandy Landings.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk