In the news

You replied as I was typing ^. All police ARV crews are given this training, I doubt very much that the military were involved on the ground.

Internment without trial for people who mistake Tower Bridge for London Bridge.

Free Fergie!

I agree it is unlikely that the military fired the shots but I think it is possible.

Firstly, it has been confirmed that the SAS were deployed on the ground to hunt for a suspected fourth terrorist. They were dropped off on London Bridge by an unmarked civilian registered helicopter. There are several mobile videos online showing non standard dressed military personnel with balaclavas rapidly moving through the area. I assume this was them.

There is footage of military personnel on the ground in standard uniforms although I assume they weren't part of a rapid reaction force.

Found this link

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-terror-attack-sas-blue-thunder-unit-helicopter-bridge-atrocity-borough-a7771831.html

They arrived 15 minutes after the attack started so couldn't have been them.

That helicopter's called "Blue Thunder", the Mail reported breathlessly.

These will probably be CTSFOs who are specially trained police firearms officers.

Are the Tories suppressing a report confirming Saudi financial terror ties?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/31/sensitive-uk-terror-funding-inquiry-findings-may-never-be-published-saudi-arabia

I know they were wearing mock bomb devices.

I was wondering if they had bullet proof vests on too as it took 50 rounds to drop them.

(Supposed attacker on deck outside Wheatsheaf)

They were dropped off on London Bridge by an unmarked civilian registered helicopter.

I saw that. It flew over my house on the way out. It was unusual in timing/altitude and not appearing on Flightradar so I thought something was up.

Not unmarked, and not civvy registered. This is one of the SAS Dauphin helicopters - they are military registered, albeit painted like civvy aircraft.

They wouldn't show up on FR24 if they don't have a Mode S transponder (like a lot of mil and civvy aircraft).

^

I think it actually looks more like airwolf than bluethunder.

Same here. Glad to know I'm not the only anorak on flightradar.

Heard the police helicopter followed shortly by the other one that sounded lower and faster.

Another reason for not showing up on FR24 is that they might be filtered out for 'security' reasons. ADS-B Exchange is a less commercial flight tracking site, and they don't filter anything. If it has Mode S, it'll be on there. No ads either.

If you, as an armed police officer, are confronted with someone wearing what you perceive to be an explosive device, who has attempted to or has killed people, then they have to be stopped. That means you keep shooting until they stop moving and cannot initiate their bomb.

Blame Hollywood. The one bullet myth. It takes far more than that to stop someone. Autopsies on criminals who die in shootouts with the FBI have shown that in some cases people continued to fight for 2-3 minutes after their hearts stopped. Continuing on sheer adrenaline.

Plenty of examples of this. This is the one I remember.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_FBI_Miami_shootout

50 rounds is pretty controlled really.

I recall reading earlier that they had stab-proof vests (can't remember where though)

I was thinking 50 was pretty restrained. 3 targets. Presuming at least 4 armed officers responded and the were using MP5s or similar then none of them emptied a magazine. Also, not all 50 shots were on target.

With this in mind. (Also not wanting to detonate any device) Would one not aim for the head?

Edit:

Replying to pre attack post. Seemed a bit too jovial,

From wiki -

'It was revealed that police policy toward suspected suicide bombers had been revised, and that officers had been ordered to fire directly toward suspects' heads, the theory according to British authorities being that shooting at the chest could conceivably detonate a concealed bomb.'

Wearing a (fake) bomb is probably to ensure you are going to be killed and achieve martyrdom. Death by cop.

I guess it would also put off potential resistance from the public.

didn't think of that one, but your probably right. Less likely to rugby tackle someone with a bomb strapped to them

I can't work out how to use it either...

Is there an app? I'm a very casual user and use it to identify strange aircraft/noises mostly. Such as the very loud an-12 that went over earlier, amazing how much noise they make from 28,000 feet.

They measure thrust in dB.