Armed and ready: Anti-Aircraft Guns - London Olympics

Soldiers in residential tower blocks and green open spaces were yesterday pictured installing surface-to-air missiles at six sites across the capital, a show of strength not seen in this country since the Second World War.

With two weeks to go before the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, it marks a dramatic development in the biggest peacetime security operation the country has ever seen.

Security: Soldiers in residential tower blocks and green open spaces were yesterday pictured installing surface-to-air missiles at a number of sites across the capital. 

Yesterday, the military began installing Rapier and high-velocity missile systems at the six sites in Leytonstone, Bow, Blackheath Common and Oxleas Wood, both in South East London, Enfield and Epping Forest.

The most controversial of these is at the residential block Fred Wigg Tower in Leytonstone, east London.

Swarming like ants across the rooftop, members of the Royal Artillery were pictured setting up the weapons.

Troops carried truckloads of equipment up the 17-storey block ready to assemble it to protect the Olympic Games from terrorist attack.

The Starstreak high-velocity missile systems, whose laser-guided weapons have a range of 3.4 miles, are so powerful they can bring down an aircraft.

Residents this week lost their bid to force a judicial review into the decision to deploy the air defences above their heads.