South Atlantic 1982

 This is a new title from the Osprey Air Campaign series by Angus Konstam, which examines the carrier campaign in the Falklands War. While there are lots of books on this conflict, many were written shortly after the war, so a new examination is always worthwhile. My interest in the Falklands resulted from my book on HMS Ambuscade, which took part in the campaign.

After a brief introduction, we get a breakdown of the Argentinian and British air capabilities. The Argentine Air Force had numbers and bases. However, it was equipped to fight a war against Chile rather than a carrier strike force. It only had two refuelling tankers, which seriously limited the capabilities of its short-range aircraft, like the A4 Skyhawk. The main strike aircraft included Mirage IIIs, Daggers and the Skyhawks. More modern aircraft were on order, including the Super-Etendard with the Exocet anti-ship missile, but only four were operational and had one missile each. The effectiveness of this system was demonstrated by a 50% hit ratio. Most attacks were with bombs, and only a few naval pilots were trained to attack ships.

The British strike force was built around two small carriers, Hermes and Invincible. They had 20 sea Harriers, and RAF pilots supplemented the Fleet Air Arm crews. 14 RAF GR3 Harriers would join the task force, primarily for ground attack roles. The Sea Harriers were vital as the Royal Navy warship's air defence missile systems (Sea Cat and Sea Slug) were obsolete. The replacement Sea Wolf and Sea Dart were installed on some ships, but the Sea Dart was less effective against low-flying targets.

The main chapters cover the campaign objectives and the air battles. The Argentinian armed forces did not expect the British response, and their defence plan can best be described as improvised. The main air battles are explained with diagrams, maps and colour plates. 

Forty-plus years on allows an objective analysis of an air campaign neither side planned to fight. The air campaign was officially dubbed a ‘conflict’, but for those who took part, it was a war in every sense. While the Argentinians could operate from established airfields, the Royal Navy had to operate from two relatively small carriers. The fighting was characterized by several other unusual factors. These included the geographical constraints of the distance between Argentina and the Falklands and the radius of action of the British Harriers. Both imposed limits on flying time in the operational area. The real star was the Sea Harrier. Its high success rate in air-to-air combat made it the stand-out aircraft of the campaign. In all, 22 Argentinian planes were shot down by Sea Harriers, 18 of these using Sidewinders. No Sea Harriers were lost in air-to-air combat. Despite this, the Argentinian pilots displayed great courage and still managed to sink British warships.

If you are interested in modern air warfare, you will learn a lot about the mechanics, even if it was a long way from the conflict the pilots were trained for.