EVIAN, France (AP) – Surface-to-air missile batteries point to the sky over Evian and radars are poised along Lake Geneva. Soldiers patrol the Alps for terrorists on paragliders.

Security for the upcoming Group of Eight summit is turning this quiet French resort town – known for mineral water and peaceful landscapes – into a sprawling militarized zone.

The French will have 15,000 police and soldiers in and around Evian – two for every one of the town’s 7,500 residents. In neighboring Switzerland will be another 8,600, including 1,000 from Germany.

If some in the town are grumbling about the hassle and the noise from fighter jets and helicopters, most people say the heavily armed attention makes them feel safe.

“In Evian we have no worries about security, since we’ll have all those police around,” said Marie-Claire Labbe, 55, owner of the Pause Cafe tea and pastry shop.

The summit gathers together the heads of the world’s top seven industrial powers – the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Canada and Italy – and Russia. Another dozen or so leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe will also be attending.

The security needs are daunting. Aside from being a potential target for terrorists, the summit is expected to attract thousands of anti-globalization protesters.

Nature will play a role in protecting the summit. Evian is defended on the south by tall Alpine peaks and on the north by the long shore of Lake Geneva, which will be closed to all but official traffic during the summit.

The military, police and technology are taking care of the rest.

The center of the town will be sealed off to everyone but residents, security personnel and delegations. People living there will have to show special passes to get to their homes.

Some schools will be closed, and airline flights over the area will be forbidden starting Friday.

Signs posted around Evian list all the don’ts: No swimming in the lake near the town, no parachuting, no camping, no open-air food market.

“We have to expect that the summit will disrupt the lives of residents,” reads one of the advisories taped to buildings around town.

Getting dignitaries in place will be another challenge. Evian has built a special $360,000 landing field about 400 yards from the summit site, the luxurious Hotel Royal, for President Bush and others to arrive and depart from.

The G-8 leaders will sleep at the summit site, but delegations will be spread around Evian. And the dozen or so non-G-8 leaders attending will stay on the Swiss side of the lake and cross to get to the summit site.

Securing Evian will also involve some heavy weaponry.

Two new-generation Crotale missile batteries, with a range of seven miles and capable of hitting targets as high as 3.7 miles, were installed this week.

Radar systems have been set up near the lake to enforce the fly-over ban, and French and Swiss fighter jets will be on round-the-clock alert throughout the summit to intercept unauthorized aircraft.

Pilotless drone surveillance aircraft will be buzzing overhead, equipped with cameras and electronic sensors and transmitting information back to their base in nearby Annecy.

Authorities – who have instructions to open fire once a threat has been clearly identified – say they are ready for anything.

“We’re preparing for a Sept. 11th-type scenario – that’s the worst that could happen,” said Capt. Christophe Kern, commander of the Crotale missile operation.

Soldiers also will be lurking in the mountains overlooking Evian to prevent anyone – terrorists on paragliders or mountaineering protesters – from getting near the summit.

French and American officials have warned of some 300,000 anti-globalization protesters, though news reports in recent weeks have been forecasting only a third of that.

Authorities are intent on keeping them far from the summit site and well under control. A major fear is a repeat of the summit in Genoa, Italy, in 2001, when protests turned violent and a demonstrator was killed by police.

Thanks to topography and the tight security cordon around Evian, protesters on the French side will be confined to the nearby town of Annemasse. Most protests will be staged in Switzerland.

That fact is not relished by Swiss authorities, who have to secure the Geneva airport, where delegations will be arriving, and Geneva’s international quarter, home to the European offices of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

In quiet, picturesque Evian, all the heavy weaponry and supercharged talk of security has some locals wondering if their home has become a war zone.

With a chopper clattering across the blue sky, Evian native Suzy Grudinat just threw up her hands during a stroll through town last week.

“With all the planes and helicopters, it’s worse than Iraq,” she said.

AP-ES-05-30-03 1435EDT