Black deer Basic Aviation in the Falkland War

27
Black deer Basic Aviation in the Falkland War


The phrase “black deer” in Russian sounds funny and offensive. In English, Black Buck also does not mean anything good - so the Anglo-Saxons contemptuously called South American Indians when they were in the era of colonialism.

By the end of the twentieth century, Britain’s colonial past had shattered like smoke — only a few scraps of overseas territories survived, from the once mighty Empire, among them the Falklen Islands, lost on the edge of the Earth, cold and marshy. But even those were almost lost in the spring of 1982, when an Argentine landing force landed on the Falklands declared the archipelago to be the property of Argentina, returning to the territories their “original” name - the Malvinas Islands.

To return the lost territories and restore the shaky status of “mistress of the seas”, Britain urgently sent a squadron of more than 80 warships and support vessels to the South Atlantic, while the orbital group was expanded - new communications satellites were required to coordinate military operations in the other hemisphere. Due to the extreme remoteness of the theater of operations - more than 12 km from the shores of Europe - the “transshipment base” on Fr. Ascension. The rear fueling station of the British squadron was organized here, from which the basic sea aviation fleet Her Majesty. Despite the enormous distances and outdated aircraft, the British were able to organize the work of the base patrol aircraft to cover the situation in the South Atlantic, and on May 1, 1982 a series of exciting operations began, codenamed "Black Deer" - Royal Air Force long-range bombing raids.



6300 kilometers to each side. Dozens of air refueling. Night. Full radio silence mode. Technique to hell - 1950 airplanes ... 1960-s delivered a lot of problems: avionics were constantly knocking down, cockpits depressurized, refueling hoses and cones were cut off. Around thousands of miles - the endless expanse of water.

What awaits them ahead? The risk of a meeting with the Argentine "Mirage"? Or "friendly fire" from the ships of Her Majesty? Did any of the commanders care to warn the squadron about the appearance of British bomber in the air?

It is not excluded that fate will give the pilots other interesting surprises, because the Falkland War, in terms of organization, looked like a fire in a brothel — poor coordination and negligence, ingenious ingeniousness, frankly idiotic decisions and frequent cases of “friend’s fire” were regularly noted on both sides and sometimes led to completely comic situations.

This story does not set itself the task of covering all the amazing events that occurred in the South Atlantic. We will not mock the disabled radars of British ships and the non-explosive bombs of the Argentine Air Force. Not! It will be just a parabola about the exploits of basic aviation, and its role in the Falkland War - a topic that is rarely spoken out loud and that is usually forgotten to take into account in the works on the Anglo-Argentine conflict 1982 of the year.

Ascension Island

A tiny piece of land in the equatorial part of the ocean, which is not found on ordinary maps. Yes, and there is nothing special to watch - a few villages, the British garrison, the pier and the American airbase “Wideawayk”.
Ascension Island (Ascension island), known as part of the British overseas possession of Saint Helena, at various times served as a base for Her Majesty's ships sailing to the Southern Hemisphere; at the beginning of the twentieth century it was used as a relay center, during the Second World War it became an important transportation hub - a continuous stream of military cargo from the USA to the African continent passed through it. Currently, there is the US Air Force Base, a powerful communications complex and one of the five corrective stations of the GPS navigation system.


Ascension Island. In the south-western part of the runway is visible Wydawike Air Base

In 1982, the island played an important role in the Falkland War - the US Air Force provided the British with its airbase *, and the harbors of Ascension Island turned into a busy port - a mooring, refueling base and fresh water supply point for British expeditionary forces were organized here.

* American aid limited to the air base provided on Fr. Ascension and delivery of 60 000 tons of ship fuel for the needs of the fleet of Her Majesty. Also, information support and the provision of data from the Naval Ocean Surveillance System satellites (also known as the White Cloud Marine Space Intelligence System) is highly likely.

The British clearly hoped for more - an attack on the NATO bloc country obliges the rest of the bloc countries to act as a “united front” against the aggressor (Article of the North Atlantic Treaty 5). Alas, the general illogicality of that war and the extreme remoteness of the Falklands, led to the fact that the "mistress of the seas" had to take the rap themselves.


Sea hounds

Already on 6 on April 1982 of the year, three weeks before the start of active hostilities, two Nimrod MR1 airplanes of the base patrol aircraft landed at Widedwake Air Base. The British got acquainted with the future theater of war and organized regular patrols of the ocean - two sorties a week on a closed route with a radius of 750 miles to control the movement of ships in the Central and South Atlantic.

On April 12, three new British vehicles arrived on Ascension Island - the Nimrody version of the MR2, followed by the 20 air tankers Viktor and K.2 and the Phantom FGR.2 fighter jets for air defense of the fleet's rear base. Also, the Wydawake airbase served as a “jump airfield” for the Harrier VTOL aircraft, which did not have enough time to take places on the decks of the Invinsible and Hermes aircraft carriers, and who got to the South Atlantic “on their own”.


Nimrod R1, 2011 year. Last flights

The appearance of the tanker aircraft in the aviation group allowed Nimrod to launch long-range 19-hour raids to the Falklands and South Georgia. The aircraft carried out the coverage of the surface and ice situations in the combat zone, carefully “feeling” the vast expanses of water with the searchwater radar rays. Like ghosts, the Nimrods slid along the coast of Argentina, watching the movements of the Argentine fleet; conducted radio interception and search for enemy submarines.

Muting two of the four engines for fuel economy, the 5-6 watches “hung” over the British squadron, providing HMS long-range radar detection to the ships of Her Majesty (in vain the British “complain” about the lack of expeditionary forces of the US D-15LO aircraft 2 "Hawk" - this function was performed by the basic "Nimrody", although not always successfully, due to its main specialization and relative small number).

They took off on mission in full “battle obvese” - six tons of combat load allowed to take on board a universal complex of weapons, including 1000-fnl. "Land mines", cluster bombs and anti-submarine torpedoes "Stingray". Counteractions from the Argentine aviation were least feared - due to the huge size of the theater and the relative small number of forces involved, the chances of encountering over the ocean with military aircraft of the Argentine Air Force tended to zero.

And yet, once the patrol "Nimrod" spotted an unidentified flying object with a radar - having approached the target, the British saw the Argentine Boeing-707 in front of them - because of their depressing financial capabilities, the Argentines used conventional airliners for marine intelligence. The planes shook each other's wings and scattered in different directions.


Reset antisubmarine torpedo "Stingray"


The Argentines were really lucky that time - since 26 in May, Nimrody was equipped with air-to-air missiles. Of course, the four “Siders” on the external sling couldn’t turn the “fat” sluggish “Nimrod” into an interceptor fighter, but they added a lot of confidence to the pilots: due to the presence of a powerful radio-electronic complex on board, the British aircraft could detect the danger in advance and take a more advantageous position. And four missiles allowed to stand up for themselves in the melee.
However, apply weapon “Nimrodam” did not succeed - neither “Boeing”, nor the military aircraft of the Argentine Air Force no longer appeared on the radar of naval intelligence officers.

In total, during the Falklands campaign, Nimrody from Ascension Island carried out 150 combat missions, each of which was accompanied by several in-flight refueling. The whole epic did without a single loss.

Despite the common misconception about the key role of American intelligence, which supplied the British General Staff with satellite images of the theater of operations, the main role in the information support of the squadron was still played by British aircraft of basic naval aviation.

Black deer

While Nimrody of Her Majesty’s fleet was only being mastered in the new conditions, the British continued to increase the strength of their aviation grouping on Ascension Island - in late April five Vulkan B.2 strategic bombers were deployed to the Airborne Base, as well as six additional aircraft tankers on the basis of "Volcanoes".

The British plan was simple: “pinpoint” bombing of the most important objects in the Falkland Islands, among which were highlighted:

- Port Stanley Airport, actively used to deliver troops and reinforcements for the garrison of the Falkland Islands (concrete runway length 1200 meters were dangerously short for combat Daggers and Mirage, but its length was enough to land Hercules transport).

- Argentine radar stations.



The first combat flight as part of Operation Black Deer (Black Buck 1) took place on 30 on April 1982 of the year - at 22: 53 local time, a pair of chock-full Vukanov bombs broke away from Wydeyke airbase and gently rocked in the Atlantic wind flows , headed for the open ocean. Following the whirlwind rose 10 tankers, designed to provide long-range combat departure.

You should not be surprised at such an irrational number of air tankers - the British used 1950-s technology, in a depressing technical condition and in the complete absence of experience in conducting such operations. Any modern Tu-160 or B-1B will repeat this trick with just one or two refueling.

It should be understood that we are talking about the most distant combat flight in stories Aviation - a flight to the End of the World, then only the ice shell of the Antarctic. The record of the Royal Air Force was broken in 1991 year - then the Yankees, for fun, flew to bomb Iraq from the mainland USA, however, this is another story.


Scheme of refueling during the flight of the Black Buck 1

... Meanwhile, Her Majesty's bombers were gaining altitude. The engines buzzed tightly, twenty-one 454-kg high-explosive bombs glittered anxiously in the bomb bay - the British intended to dig the concrete runway of Port-Stanley up and down.

Alas, the fatigue destruction of the lead Vulkan’s structure intervened in the British’s plans - the oncoming air flow knocked out some of the cockpit glazing, the decrepit bomber turned around and immediately went to the forced one. A single “black deer” with a tail number XM607 (call sign “Red six”) with a crew consisting of: flight commander Lieutenant M. Weezers, co-pilot Fla. Officer P. Taylor, navigator of flight lt G. Graham , navigator-operator of flight-lt R. Wright, operator of radio-electronic systems of flight-lt G.Prior, flight engineer of flight-lt R. Russell.

The first refueling took place after 2 hours after take-off: the bomber took fuel from one of the Viktorovs, four more Viktorovas added refueling from four other tankers, who immediately turned back. The subsequent 2 hours, along the chain, transferred each other precious fuel to each other, until only two tankers remained with the Vulcan.



During the fourth refueling, the thunderstorm demolished its own adjustments - due to strong turbulence (or perhaps due to the old state), one of the tankers fell off the refueling hose. It was necessary to carry out an unscheduled refueling from the car, with a smaller fuel reserve (the tanker with tail number XL189 had to return to the base immediately after the fourth refueling, instead he had to accompany the bomber further to the South).

The last, fifth, refueling took place in 600 km from the coast of Falkland, after which the "Volcano" remained in proud solitude. The bomber dropped to a height of 90 meters and rushed to the captured islands above, avoiding the premature detection of the Argentine radar. When the coast remained less than 100 km, the Vulkan soared up sharply - gaining the ideal 3000 meters for bombing, it passed exactly above the target, covering the airfield of Stanley Airport with a hail of free-falling bombs.

The Argentine anti-aircraft guns were silent, the only radar turned on was crushed by a barrage of radio-electronic interference - the EW container Westinghouse AN / ALQ-101 (V) -10 suspended under the wing of the Vulcan showed good efficiency.

The eastern edge of the sky has already lit up the dawn of the morning when the weary "Volcano" of the Royal Air Force finally lay down on the opposite course. Gaining altitude 12 kilometers, the plane was carried away from the cursed islands; with horror the crew went through all the events of last night.

And ahead, on the approach to Ascension Island, a whole tragedy unfolded - the unfortunate tanker XL189, who had given all the fuel to the bomber on a mission, was now in distress over the ocean. The situation was complicated by the strictest radio silence - XL189 could not communicate with the base until the bombs dropped by Vulcan fell on the target. Fortunately for the British, a confirmation of the successfully completed mission was received in time from the Falklands, and a new tanker was immediately sent to the aid of XL189. The British managed to transfer fuel before XL189 nearly crashed into the ocean with empty tanks in 650 km from Ascension Island.


Strategic bomber Avro Vulcan. First flight - 1952 year. Decommissioned in 1984

As for the bomber itself, four more tankers and a base naval aircraft Nimrod were required for its safe return, which corrected the approach of Vulkan with a group of tankers.
In a similar scenario, six more sorties were being prepared (Black Buck 2 ... 7), two of which failed for various reasons (weather and technical problems). Despite several raids in the absence of complete resistance, the British failed to seriously damage the runways of Port Stanley Airport - a series of bombs tore the craters on the airfield, but only one or two bombs hit the lane itself. Also, certain damage was caused to buildings, hangars and control tower at the airport.


Aerial view of Port Stanley airport. Chains of craters from bomb explosions are clearly visible.

Nevertheless, a certain effect was achieved: in a fit of sticky fear, the Argentines transferred part of their aviation to the defense of Buenos Aires - the Argentine leadership seriously feared possible bombing of the capital.

During the fifth and sixth attacks, the British used the American Shrayk anti-radar missiles. The first “pancake” came out in a lump - “Shrike” stupidly missed the target and the attacked Argentinean radar AN / TPS-43 continued to work properly until the end of the war. The second use of the Shraykov was more successful - the Black Buck 6 was able to destroy the Oerlikon anti-aircraft installation radar.


PRR AGM-45 Shrike under the wing of the "Volcano"

However, an accident happened on the way back - the fuel rod fell off and the bomber had no choice but to go to neutral Brazil. The "volcano" with the hull number XM597 landed on the last drops of fuel and was interned until the end of the war.

Despite a number of high-profile accidents and outdated equipment, the epic with the British refueling machines ended extremely well - Volcanoes, Nimrody and Viktori held a total of more than 600 air refueling, of which technical problems were noted only in 6 cases, and There were no catastrophes and human casualties. The only "formal loss" was the interned board XM597.


Handley Page Viсtor - the tankers based on this aircraft operated on the Focklands.
First flight - 1952 year. The last "Victors" K.2 retired in 1993 year



Panorama of the air base on about. Ascension


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  1. Evgan
    +5
    11 July 2013 10: 03
    Interesting. Thank!
  2. +13
    11 July 2013 10: 09
    Interestingly, how would the WB get out now? There are no strategic bombers, the only aircraft carrier without aircraft ... On the other hand, Argentina with the Air Force and Navy has become even worse ... Let football play better on the islands ...
    1. Evgan
      +3
      11 July 2013 10: 47
      Right! And spectacular, and without casualties :)
      1. +1
        11 July 2013 18: 28
        let them make a reconstruction of the war, depict it, so to speak, but in general, the Argentines, if they capture it now, there’s nothing to repel ...
        1. 0
          11 July 2013 18: 49
          Quote: Civil
          let them make a reconstruction of the war, depict it, so to speak, but in general, the Argentines, if they capture it now, there’s nothing to repel ...

          Are you joking?
          The modern British fleet is much stronger and more perfect than that disgrace of the 1982 model

          Unlike the Argentine Air Force and Navy, which, at the moment, have degraded to an animal state

          ps / however, the args have good hope - after the war, the Britons built a new airfield on the island with a 3000 m runway - you can place attack aircraft and fighters (in 1982, the args had to fly from the continent) ... only the Tomahawks on British submarines are alarming
          1. +3
            11 July 2013 21: 39
            Run out of "Tomahawks" at the small-britters: they shot in Libya and everything was over. Now we have to wait for the amers to sell a batch of new ones ...
            1. Windbreak
              0
              12 July 2013 16: 11
              Where does the information come from that all the British "Tomahawks" went to Libya?
          2. 0
            11 July 2013 22: 37
            So yes, the Tomahawks are a serious thing, but again they are good against command posts, radar stations, shorter than large objects, it’s useless to iron trenches with them ... Yes, and you won’t get enough of every enemy gun of the Tomahawks. With landing gear, destroyers at VBR. ok, that's just there will be nothing to support airborne landing, only turntables. In general, in theory, now is the best time to capture the islands, but you are right about the degradation of the Argentinean armed forces ...
  3. +2
    11 July 2013 10: 58
    Yes, for Britain, the level of warfare is rather low. And if even one US plane flew over the Falklands, Argentina would capitulate at the same second with all its junk.
    1. +2
      11 July 2013 18: 33
      Hmm ... how similar all the warriors of the departing empires are.
      At Britons - glasses on 30-year-old planes fall out.
      After all, the fathers of these people 40 years before the 1000 bombing raids were arranged and not on Argentina, but on Germany.
  4. +3
    11 July 2013 11: 16
    Thank you for the article! An interesting perspective on famous events.
  5. 0
    11 July 2013 11: 16
    Thank you for the article! An interesting perspective on famous events.
  6. +4
    11 July 2013 12: 00
    Quote: Nayhas
    Interestingly, how would the WB get out now? There are no strategic bombers, the only aircraft carrier without aircraft ... On the other hand, Argentina with the Air Force and Navy has become even worse ... Let football play better on the islands ...

    No way, I would raise a screech to the UN and complain to the United States, the British Armed Forces are just ridicule, they literally have fewer tanks than generals, and they have 250 tanks. In addition to the fleet, only Marines and MTRs (SAS, SBS, etc.) are truly combat-ready. And aviation is only Typhoons and old Tornadoes, but they will be written off either until 15 or until 19. And there will be an RAF with a hundred Typhoon fighters, without bombers and attack aircraft.
    1. +7
      11 July 2013 12: 35
      Quote: Orty
      And there will be an RAF with a hundred Typhoon fighters, without bombers and attack aircraft.

      By the time the Tornado (2019) is decommissioned, it is expected that the RAF 48 F-35 will be replenished (up to 90 cars in the future)
      RAFs are well balanced - in addition to attack vehicles, there are 17 air tankers and 6 Sentry AWACS aircraft, 10 RT reconnaissance aircraft, RC-135W (four pieces) is expected to be delivered this year - special equipment to overcome serious air defense systems

      + army aviation - 8 squadrons of self-made Apaches (WAH-64 by Westland)
      Quote: Orty
      and they have 250 tanks

      You have outdated data - only 227)))
      + reserve of pieces 100-150

      800 BMP Warrior
      900 Heavy Tracked BTR Bulldog
      600 light tanks and armored vehicles (Samaritan, Sultan, Samson ...)

      ... in principle, it is quite enough for the island power of the UK)))
      1. +1
        11 July 2013 13: 48
        Even so, and the F-35 is not yet known what kind of beast will be, I think most of them they will take in the deck version.
    2. +1
      11 July 2013 14: 12
      In Argentina, the situation is even worse - the crisis ....
    3. Windbreak
      +1
      11 July 2013 16: 22
      "According to the May issue of Air International magazine in the article Argentina Reports Low Readiness Level, on March 10, 2013, a report on the combat readiness of the country's air force was circulated in Argentina. It was prepared by MP Julio Martinez. given in the document, only 16% of the Argentine Air Force's numerical strength can be considered combat-ready.For comparison, this figure is 50% for the Brazilian and Chilean Air Forces (Argentina itself reached it in 2001-2003), and 75% for the US and French Air Forces In 2005-2010, the level of combat readiness of the country's air force reached 30% It is noted that the existing indicators with the serviceability of the fleet are the worst since the Falklands War with Great Britain in 1982.

      The report also provides additional information about the accident rate of the park. So, the most recent disaster occurred in February, when the Douglas A-4AR Skyhawk attack plane (tail number C-902) crashed as a result of an engine malfunction. This reduced the number of combat-ready aircraft of this type to four of the 36 previously purchased in the United States from the presence of the Marine Corps.

      According to the report, only 14 of 53 Dassault Mirage III fighters, 34 of 100 IA-58 Pucara attack aircraft, 34 of 90 Beech B-45 Mentor trainer aircraft, and 27 (of 30 purchased) Embraer EMB trainer aircraft remain in service. -312A Tucano. In addition, the document says, the reduction in the number of serviceable aircraft negatively affects the retention of the number of pilots in the Air Force. "
      1. Drosselmeyer
        +3
        11 July 2013 23: 20
        Here is a typical example: it seems that the descendants of white Europeans live in the country, and the country is not poor, and further and further, over the course of 50 years, they fall into poverty through loans from the IMF.
        An example for Ukraine.
  7. 0
    11 July 2013 17: 01
    Quote: Orty
    Quote: Nayhas
    Interestingly, how would the WB get out now? There are no strategic bombers, the only aircraft carrier without aircraft ... On the other hand, Argentina with the Air Force and Navy has become even worse ... Let football play better on the islands ...

    No way, I would raise a screech to the UN and complain to the United States, the British Armed Forces are just ridicule, they literally have fewer tanks than generals, and they have 250 tanks. In addition to the fleet, only Marines and MTRs (SAS, SBS, etc.) are truly combat-ready. And aviation is only Typhoons and old Tornadoes, but they will be written off either until 15 or until 19. And there will be an RAF with a hundred Typhoon fighters, without bombers and attack aircraft.

    Quote: Orty
    And there will be an RAF with a hundred Typhoon fighters, without bombers and attack aircraft.

    By the time the Tornado (2019) is decommissioned, it is expected that the RAF 48 F-35 will be replenished (up to 90 cars in the future)
    RAFs are well balanced - in addition to attack vehicles, there are 17 air tankers and 6 Sentry AWACS aircraft, 10 RT reconnaissance aircraft, RC-135W (four pieces) is expected to be delivered this year - special equipment to overcome serious air defense systems

    + army aviation - 8 squadrons of self-made Apaches (WAH-64 by Westland)
    Quote: Orty
    and they have 250 tanks

    You have outdated data - only 227)))
    + reserve of pieces 100-150

    800 BMP Warrior
    900 Heavy Tracked BTR Bulldog
    600 light tanks and armored vehicles (Samaritan, Sultan, Samson ...)

    ... in principle, it is quite enough for the island power of the UK)))

    In order to bomb an Arab oil country with an undemocratic government armed with the old 1960s, together with the United States, such an army would be enough.
    And thanks to the author for the article, I did not know what the English had to go through to win the backward Argentine army. It seemed to me that the victory for the English was without tension.
    1. 0
      11 July 2013 18: 41
      It turns out that the British, too, were forced to heroize, for the sake of the victory of their homeland ...
      That's how it always ... some m ... ki make political decisions: cut aircraft carriers, cut bombers, and right after this another (as they said recently - "green men") already have to become heroes in order to save the country.
    2. Drosselmeyer
      +1
      11 July 2013 19: 23
      Show me an oil country with 60s weapons. Is that Iran, and even then with an interference fit. The Arabs-oilmen now have armies equipped with cutting-edge technology and can safely pull on small Britain.
      1. 0
        11 July 2013 23: 59
        Quote: Drosselmeyer
        The Arabs-oilmen now have armies equipped with cutting-edge technology and can safely pull on small Britain.

        Well, about the UK you got excited about it, of course, but on the whole money burns their thighs and they swell them in the sun! And about the weapon ... it doesn’t fight at all! hi
  8. +1
    11 July 2013 17: 29
    This story does not set itself the task of covering all the amazing events that took place in the South Atlantic. We will not mock the shutdown radars of British ships and the unexploded bombs of the Argentine Air Force.

    after this article I want to know more such details about this war
    * American aid limited to the air base provided on Fr. Ascension and delivery of 60 000 tons of ship fuel for the needs of the fleet of Her Majesty. Also, information support and the provision of data from the Naval Ocean Surveillance System satellites (also known as the White Cloud Marine Space Intelligence System) is highly likely.

    The British clearly hoped for more - an attack on the NATO bloc country obliges the rest of the bloc countries to act as a “united front” against the aggressor (Article of the North Atlantic Treaty 5). Alas, the general illogicality of that war and the extreme remoteness of the Falklands, led to the fact that the "mistress of the seas" had to take the rap themselves.

    if oil were in the Falklands, the United States would certainly help the British. And they would have kept all the oil for themselves.
    But the British have reason to be proud - at least they won some war without the help of the Americans
    1. Evgan
      +2
      11 July 2013 17: 58
      Well, not entirely without help, although she was passive.
    2. 0
      11 July 2013 18: 43
      So there seems to be oil on the shelf there.
      Only producing it is about the same as our gas from Shtokman ... far, cold, deep, difficult, and therefore risky and expensive

      Recently, there was a scandal - the Argentines were offended that the Britons wanted to scout. drilling start at sea.
  9. +3
    11 July 2013 18: 21
    Regarding why NATO did not intervene
    The validity of the treaty (NATO) from the moment of its signing is limited to the North Atlantic region, the northern boundary of which is determined by the Northern Tropic. That is why NATO did not intervene in the Argentine-British armed conflict in the Falkland Islands in 1982.
    And thanks for the article.
  10. PistonizaToR
    +3
    11 July 2013 20: 09
    Of the total number of bombs dropped and dropped into British ships, 80% were blown away ... you don’t explode, including only 4 of the XNUMX externally launched anti-ship missiles.
  11. +2
    11 July 2013 22: 18
    The article is interesting, easy to read and humorous, thank you! It was interesting to read some details, "+" for you!
    in general, for that war ... a strong feeling that the Argentines started it almost from a floundering bay for themselves, without preparing. Almost like Hitler in 1939, impudently (only Hitler had bigger tasks). The Argentines would have to wait a year or two, re-equip the army. even on credit (to collect credits), DPL pieces 3 at least from Germany, for example, to buy, and everything could and should have ended not the way it was! And so ... it looks like a hat. With 4 Exocets in service to resist the British fleet, even if it was ... I don't understand!
    Quote: author
    Despite several raids in the absence of resistance, the British failed to seriously damage the port Stanley airport runway - a series of bombs tore craters on the airfield, but only one or two bombs hit the strip itself.

    and it’s very doubtful that even these 2 bombs hit. After every raid, the Argentines poured sand onto the runway with bags, simulating a funnel from an avibomb. And the little shavers through Amer’s satellites were glad that they had hit, but in fact. request negative
    Just recently on VO there was an article by Bongo about the "Volcano", where he gave information that in the late 60s (after 1950), the Britons flew to America on the Volcanoes, where they competed with the owners in the accuracy of bombing. The article said that the Vulcanoes with the Brita seemed to have won the bet. Now I'm wondering, in the light of the information about the real bombing of Falkland, what is the real accuracy (integrity) of the American stripe pilots? bully
    Nevertheless, a certain effect was achieved: in a fit of sticky fear, the Argentines transferred part of their aviation to the defense of Buenos Aires - the Argentine leadership seriously feared possible bombing of the capital.

    Didn't hear about it, about Buenos Aires! In fact, the small-shavens themselves declared, even at the beginning of the conflict, that "the war zone will be a circle with a radius of 250 miles, with centorms on the Falklands!" angry Buenos Aires never got close to this zone! Why were you worried then? Although their cruiser was sunk far beyond the limits of this "zone". Strange war, in a word.
    1. 0
      12 July 2013 00: 27
      Quote: old man54
      a strong feeling that the Argentines began it almost with a floundering bay for themselves, not being prepared.

      That's why she is a "small victorious war")))
      Quote: old man54
      With 4 Exocets in service to resist the British fleet

      6 Airborne Exosets
      + a couple of Exosets were removed from the ships, reprogrammed and launched from the shore (they got into Glamorgan, having turned the stern part of it)

      Quote: old man54
      After every raid, the Argentines poured sand onto the runway with bags, simulating a funnel from an avibomb. And the small shaves through Amer’s satellites were glad that they had hit, but in fact

      Brilliant!
      Need to replenish the collection of jokes from that war
      Quote: old man54
      I have not heard about this, about Buenos Aires!

      Big eyes of fear - Mirages set off to guard the capital
      Quote: old man54
      "the war zone will be a 250-mile circle, centered on the Falklands!"

      This is at first. With the escalation of the conflict, the British announced that they would drown and shoot everyone further 12 miles off the coast of Argentina
      Quote: old man54
      A strange war, in a word.

      The only real naval war since WWII

  12. +2
    11 July 2013 22: 24
    The British had an interesting combat aircraft, because they were one of the pioneers in this area ... and there were only miserable remnants of past luxury ...
  13. 0
    12 July 2013 21: 23
    And in front, on approaching Ascension Island, a whole tragedy unfolded - the unfortunate tanker XL189, who gave all the fuel to the bomber on the mission, was now in distress over the ocean
    almost like in the movie "Case in the square 36-80" ... In general, the shaves, like soldiers command respect, they are true professionals.
  14. aircraft il-76
    0
    12 December 2013 17: 46
    Wow airplanes!
  15. Beiderlei
    0
    17 January 2015 16: 11
    Chic article!

"Right Sector" (banned in Russia), "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) (banned in Russia), ISIS (banned in Russia), "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra" (banned in Russia) , Taliban (banned in Russia), Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), Anti-Corruption Foundation (banned in Russia), Navalny Headquarters (banned in Russia), Facebook (banned in Russia), Instagram (banned in Russia), Meta (banned in Russia), Misanthropic Division (banned in Russia), Azov (banned in Russia), Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia), Aum Shinrikyo (banned in Russia), AUE (banned in Russia), UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia), Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (banned in Russia), Legion “Freedom of Russia” (armed formation, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation and banned)

“Non-profit organizations, unregistered public associations or individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent,” as well as media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent: “Medusa”; "Voice of America"; "Realities"; "Present time"; "Radio Freedom"; Ponomarev; Savitskaya; Markelov; Kamalyagin; Apakhonchich; Makarevich; Dud; Gordon; Zhdanov; Medvedev; Fedorov; "Owl"; "Alliance of Doctors"; "RKK" "Levada Center"; "Memorial"; "Voice"; "Person and law"; "Rain"; "Mediazone"; "Deutsche Welle"; QMS "Caucasian Knot"; "Insider"; "New Newspaper"