(NewsNation) — With less than 100 days until Paris holds the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics, France has raised its security risk to the highest level as it works to secure the city ahead of the global event.

The wildly ambitious July 26 ceremony is proving to be a massive security challenge. Athletes will be paraded through the heart of the French capital on 94 boats along a 6-kilometer (nearly 4-mile) stretch of the river Seine from east to west. They’ll be accompanied by 87 other ships for security, media and other people.

The parade route will be enclosed within a high-security zone that Paris police chief Laurent Nunez describes as an “anti-terrorism” perimeter.

In preparation for the ceremonies, France has teamed with the U.S. to provide specialized anti-terrorism measures. The use of facial recognition tools, high-tech surveillance and thousands of troops will make it the most technologically advanced Olympics to date.

In January, the number of spectators allowed to attend the ceremony was slashed from around 600,000 to around 320,000.

Tourists were told they won’t be allowed to watch it for free from riverbanks because the French government scaled back ambitions amid ongoing security threats. Then, on March 24, France raised its security readiness to the highest level after a deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State group’s claim of responsibility.

French President Emmanuel Macron says the ceremony could be shifted instead to the national stadium at Stade de France if the security threat is deemed too high.

National security contributor Tracy Walder joined “NewsNation Now” to break down the security measures being put in place ahead of the games, saying the threat to the event is “very real.”

“Another thing that they’re doing, which is unusual, I haven’t actually seen this before in prior Olympics, is they are working with the National Geospatial Data agency that we have here in the U.S. That is used by the CIA to conduct overhead surveillance, overhead espionage, and I think that’s going to be really critical in a large swath of land like this,” Walder said.

With its resources stretched thin, France has asked 46 countries to help provide about 2,200 extra officers, many of whom will be armed. The French Defense Ministry also has asked foreign nations for a small number of military personnel, including sniffer dogs.

“We have another thing working to our advantage here, although the French are not part of something called the Five Eyes, which are five countries that share intelligence all the time, every day. The French are always sort of a plus-one at the table of this. And so they are getting access to all of that information,” Walder said.