SYDNEYSIDERS have begun to pay the price for hosting the 2000 Olympics – for the next two weeks, 10 Black Hawk helicopters and Special Air Service Regiment anti-terrorist troops will undertake training for Games security.

In a city well versed in the culture of noise complaint, it would appear at first a price that many are not prepared to pay.

Residents are flooding Air Services Australia's environmental hotline with complaints about noise from the military training exercises being conducted over Sydney Harbour and neighbouring suburbs.

Commander of Special Forces, Brigadier Phillip McNamara, apologised yesterday for the additional noise in the Sydney region, saying it would be kept to a minimum.

However, he urged residents who had complained about the noise to bear with the Australian Defence Force as the exercises were part of their essential preparations for security at the Olympics.

"While we will try to keep noise nuisance to an absolute minimum, the training is essential to familiarise our aircrew and Special Forces personnel with operating in Sydney," he said.

The exercises, which will take place after dark, hone the ADF's counter-terrorist capability and aim to expose the troops to operating in Sydney in the lead-up to the Olympics.

To prove the importance of the military exercises, the ADF demonstrated how it would resolve a terrorist attack.

Three Black Hawk helicopters from the Townsville-based 5th Aviation Regiment skirted Sydney Harbour and hovered over a high-rise building as an assault group scrambled down long ropes to end a simulated hostage situation.

The Black Hawks, with the capacity to carry laser-guided missiles and 14 troops, are one of the principal counter-terrorism weapons in the ADF's arsenal.

In 1996, 15 SAS troops and three 5th Aviation Regiment personnel died when two Black Hawks collided during a routine hostage-rescue training exercise at Townsville.

"I think that recent events in Africa show that everywhere in the world has terrorist threats," Brigadier McNamara said.

"I think we have been very lucky that in the past this has been particularly low but the important thing for us is to be prepared and to counter any terrorist threat that might come up in the future."

Brigadier McNamara conceded the Olympics would be a challenge for the ADF, but said security plans were well advanced.