Air War South Atlantic

A Royal Air Force veteran of the Falklands Conflict presents a comprehensive, myth-busting study of the air campaign. In the spring of 1982, Argentina and the UK engaged in tense combat over control of the Falkland Islands. The ten weeks of fighting are often portrayed with a decidedly one-sided narrative: either heroic Argentine pilots relentlessly pressing home their attacks, or the Sea Harrier force utterly dominating its Argentine enemies. In Air Power in the Falklands Conflict, RAF veteran John Shields presents a detailed and even-handed analysis of the Falkland Islands air war. As an RAF officer, John Shields spent two and a half years in the Falklands as an air defense navigator. Using recently released primary source material, Shields looks at the air campaign at the operational level. He develops a considered view of what should have occurred, and contrasts it with what actually happened. In so doing, John Shields has produced a comprehensive account of the air campaign that has demolished many of the enduring myths of this Cold War conflict.

The war fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982, for the possession of the Falkland Islands was probably the last 'colonial' war that will ever be undertaken by the British. This book shows how the key to British success was the speed with which the British gained and then maintained air superiority over the islands and the waters around then with their small force of Sea Harrier STOVL warplanes, which operated from two aircraft carriers. Though subsonic, the Sea Harrier and its Sidewinder AAM were a combination altogether superior to Argentina's mix of supersonic and subsonic warplanes with older weapons, and this advantage was emphasised by the significantly greater tactical acuity of the British pilots. The Argentine pilots fought with considerable piloting skill and enormous courage, and scored a number of stunning successes against British warships, but ultimately they could not prevent the British landing and the following land campaign that resulted in complete Argentine defeat.

The Falklands Conflict was remarkable for many reasons: it was a hard fought, bloody and short conflict between a leading NATO power and one of the most capable armed forces in South America; it demonstrated the capabilities of a range of cutting-edge technologies including nuclear-powered attack submarines, Exocet missiles and Sea Harrier VSTOL aircraft; and it was fought many thousands of miles away from the Royal Navy's home bases. In this illustrated study, renowned naval historian Dr Edward Hampshire draws upon the latest available sources to offer a comprehensive examination of the Falklands naval campaign. Blow-by-blow accounts of key engagements, such as the sinking of the General Belgrano, the loss of HMS Sheffield, and the landings at San Carlos Bay, are presented alongside lesser known but equally important naval operations that helped shape the outcome of the conflict.

By 1982, the backbone of the Argentine combat aviation, both on the Air Force and the Navy, was formed by three batches of Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, with the A-4B and C of the Air Force and the A-4Qs of the Navy. Despite their age, being a model almost 30 years old at the time of the war, and lacking protection, they took on the overwhelming struggle to fight the British Task Force that opposed the Argentine forces on the Malvinas/Falkland Islands. The Skyhawks were responsible for inflicting the greatest damage upon the Royal Navy, sinking HMS Coventry, Ardent, Antelope, the RFA Sir Gallahad, and LCU F-4, while damaging many other ships and striking ground targets. They also suffered heavy losses, with 10 A-4Bs, 9 A-4Cs and three A-4Qs lost in combat, with eighteen pilots being killed. The experience of the Skyhawk during the war was another addition to the legend the model had become over the skies of Vietnam and Israel. Despite many reports to the contrary, at the time of writing the Argentine Air Force still operates modernised A-4ARs and OA-4Ars, and is one of the last two military operators of the Skyhawk in the world.

Sharkey Ward commanded 801 Naval Air Squadron, "HMS Invincible", during the Falkland War of April to June 1982, and was senior Sea Harrier adviser to the command on the tactics, direction and progress of the air war. He flew over 60 war missions, achieved three air-to air kills, and took part in or witnessed a total of ten kills; he was also the leading night pilot, and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry. But what, after all, could 20 Sea Harriers, operating from a flight-deck bucketing about in the South Atlantic, do against more than 200 Argentine military aircraft flown by pilots who, as the raids against the British shipping proved, displayed enormous skill and almost suicidal gallantry? The world knows the answer - now. What is puzzling, therefore, is this book's truthful depiction of the attitudes of some senior non-flying naval officers, and of the RAF, towards the men (and indeed the machine) that made possible the victory in the Falklands. This first-hand account charts, in detail, the naval pilots' journey to the South Atlantic, and how they took on and triumphantly conquered the challenges they faced. It is a dramatic story, leavened with accounts of the air-to-air fighting and of life in a squadron at sea and on a war footing. But it is also a tale of inter-Service rivalry, bureaucratic interference, and the less-than-generous attitudes of a number of senior commanders who should certainly have known better; indeed, some of them might even have lost the war through a lack of understanding of air warfare. The author attempts to put the record straight.

A detailed account of the war-winning role that a handful of Harrier squadrons played in the Falklands War. On 5 April 1982, the British aircraft carriers Hermes and Invincible sailed for the South Atlantic at the heart of the task force that would retake the Falkland Islands, known to Argentina as the Islas Malvinas. Air power was essential to the operation, and some analysts considered the contest unwinnable. The British had just 42 fighter jets available (28 Sea Harriers and 14 RAF Harrier GR.3s), and were outnumbered three-to-one by the Argentinian Air Force. Naval expert Angus Konstam offers a focused history of naval aviation in the Falklands War. The superbly manoeuvrable Harriers provided air cover during the ferociously contested landings, and later a Harrier Forward Operating Base on the islands was also made available. He explains how the British forces achieved their impressive Falklands air-to-air record, shooting down 21 Argentinian jets for no losses, while suffering more to anti-aircraft fire. He also looks into the Harriers' ground-attack campaign, and explains the roles played by weapons technology, radar, electronic warfare, aerial reconnaissance, and support helicopters. Illustrated throughout with spectacular new artwork, 3D diagrams and maps, this book explains how the brutal test of the Falklands War showed the way forward for naval aviation and fleet air defence for decades to come.