Why Argentine Pilots Couldn't Explain How British Sea Harriers Beat Their Mirages

How did twenty eight Royal Navy Sea Harriers defeat an Argentine air arm of over two hundred combat aircraft in the Falklands of 1982, scoring twenty victories for zero air to air losses? The answer is a story of engineering, intelligence and doctrine, not a story of one famous trick. This is the full forensic account from British Bastion of the air war over the South Atlantic, from the first interception on 1 May 1982 to the final victories at Bluff Cove on 8 June. We follow Lieutenant Commander Nigel "Sharkey" Ward of 801 Naval Air Squadron, the AIM-9L all aspect Sidewinder that rewrote the rules of dogfighting, the geographic trap that crippled the Argentine Mirage III force, and the quiet industrial decisions of the 1960s and 1970s that put the right aircraft on the right ship at the right time. We bust the popular VIFFing myth, explain why the Mirage IIIs were withdrawn from offensive operations after Brigadier Ernesto Crespo's decision, and honour the Argentine pilots who flew at the limit of fuel and courage from mainland bases nearly five hundred miles away. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ TOPICS COVERED ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ➤ The opening engagement of 1 May 1982 over West Falkland ➤ How the Royal Navy preserved fixed wing aviation after the 1966 CVA-01 cancellation ➤ The Hawker P.1127 to Sea Harrier FRS.1 development story ➤ Dissimilar air combat training at Decimomannu against F-5 Aggressors and F-15 Eagles ➤ The AIM-9L Sidewinder, the first all aspect heat seeking missile in combat ➤ Caspar Weinberger and the emergency US missile resupply through Ascension Island ➤ The fifteen minute time on station problem for Argentine fighters ➤ Sea Harrier serviceability and sortie generation rates at sea ➤ Why VIFFing was not the war winner everyone thinks it was ➤ The unfused bomb problem and Lord Craig's famous remark ➤ Bluff Cove on 8 June and the final air to air victories of the war ➤ The full Sea Harrier verdict and what it tells us about carrier aviation today ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ NAMED INDIVIDUALS HONOURED ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ➤ Lieutenant Commander Nigel "Sharkey" Ward DSC AFC, 801 NAS ➤ Lieutenant Commander Andy Auld DSC, 800 NAS ➤ Flight Lieutenant David Morgan DSC, RAF on exchange ➤ Flight Lieutenant Paul Barton, first Sea Harrier air to air victory ➤ Lieutenant Steve Thomas DSC ➤ Lieutenant Commander Tim Gedge, 809 NAS ➤ Capitán Gustavo García Cuerva, Fuerza Aérea Argentina ➤ Primer Teniente Carlos Perona, Grupo 8 ➤ Brigadier Ernesto Crespo, commander Fuerza Aérea Sur ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ MAJOR RESEARCH SOURCES ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ➤ Nigel "Sharkey" Ward, Sea Harrier Over The Falklands: A Maverick at War (1992) ➤ Admiral Sandy Woodward, One Hundred Days ➤ Jeffrey Ethell and Alfred Price, Air War South Atlantic (1983) ➤ Rowland White, Harrier 809 and Vulcan 607 ➤ Imperial War Museums Falklands collections ➤ The National Archives at Kew ➤ Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arm official squadron histories ➤ Smithsonian Air and Space magazine archives ➤ Royal Military College of Canada study on Argentine air superiority operations ➤ The Aviation Geek Club and The War Zone analysis pieces ➤ Santiago Rivas, Skyhawks over the South Atlantic (Helion, 2019) ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ FURTHER READING ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ➤ David Morgan, Hostile Skies (his personal memoir of 800 NAS in the Falklands) ➤ Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins, The Battle for the Falklands ➤ Lawrence Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign ➤ Hugh Bicheno, Razor's Edge: The Unofficial History of the Falklands War ➤ Martin Middlebrook, The Falklands War 1982 ➤ Chris Hobson, Falklands Air War (Midland Publishing) ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ If your father, grandfather or uncle served in the Royal Navy, the Fleet Air Arm or the RAF in the South Atlantic campaign, please share their name and unit in the comments. These stories are how the memory survives. Subscribe to British Bastion for more long form military history of the men, machines and decisions that shaped British arms from the Battle of Britain to Bletchley Park, from Burma to the Falklands. Historical documentary for educational purposes. Archival material is presented in its historical context. #Falklands #SeaHarrier #RoyalNavy #MilitaryHistory #BritishHistory