How the Harrier Beat the Argentine Air Forces

Forgive me for using the DCS Harrier II as a stand in for the Sea Harrier.
===========================
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===========================
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===========================
References:
1"No. 30576". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 March 1918. p. 3287.
2falklands-museum.com/wwii
3 Posey, Carl A. "Air War in the Falklands". Air & Space Magazine.
4. • Sea Harrier Kills in t...
5: www.upi.com/Archives/1982/05/...

[@fightertales]

Because so many people are complaining about how I pronounce "Junta", this is from the American Heritage Dictionary Website: Usage Note: For a long time this 18th-century borrowing from Spanish was pronounced (jŭntə) by English speakers on both sides of the Atlantic. By the middle of the 20th century, however, the pronunciation (hŭntə), an approximation of the Spanish pronunciation, had gained currency in the US. This word is now usually pronounced (hŭntə) in American English and (jŭntə) in British English." Ie: my pronunciation is valid. Also the British Empire lasted until 1997. SUPPORT ME ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/fightertales Hellion's Website and Patreon: www.ratsnest.me/ patreon.com/lavendersoldier Discord: discord.gg/falconsfightertales Merch: hellionmanor.etsy.com

[@apollomars1678]

weeellll, it could be argued, that Thatcher horrible actions to the UK coal miners and their unions had to be somehow hidden for the next election. insert here war reason* you know, like Bush jr.

[@SpielkindFR]

Thats not how you spell Junta.

[@tisFrancesfault]

@@SpielkindFR Thats the IPA pronunciation "spelling".

[@williamt.sherman2573]

yeah lets overhype the harrier like its some super saiyan god like jet, yknow if a russian or a chinese be be doing this yall would cry out loud "PROPAGANDAAAAAA" buhuhuhuhu bout since its the good ol british, gotta love it, any criticism goes out the bloody window

[@fightertales]

​@@williamt.sherman2573 I mean the Sea Harrier is still undefeated in air to air combat much like the F-15. It's no super fighter but it's stupid to ignore the RN and RAF pilots accomplishments in that little jet.

[@hedgehog3528]

To be fair I’d argue Britain is still an empire as we control the vast wastelands of Birmingham something no other nation is capable of

[@johnallen7807]

Not to mention we have most of the Empire living here! or at least the 3rd World part of it.

[@zacherynuk842]

@@leerubybritvic1990 AHH the heaviest of all our islands

[@teddypicker8799]

@@johnallen7807 and thank god for that. Our food is terrible and I love a good curry.

[@johnallen7807]

I'm an ex-Para, we "invented" curry!@@teddypicker8799

[@mikearmstrong8483]

Controlling Birmingham hardly gives you street cred. We have to tolerate New Jersey!

[@yourtrappedinmygenjutsu]

Why are the comments acting like Argentina won, they got stomped on by the British

[@rickyphillips7630]

In Argentina, concepts such as "machismo" and "triunfalismo" are deep-rooted. They are taught that they were essentially fighting the evil galactic empire, all alone, and nearly won... so they repeat ridiculous stories about winning, instead of actually trying to know the truth. In their minds, they cannot lose, even when they have lost. Many simply repeat slogans, usually "we sank ships" without realising they sank the wrong ships... so to cover that, they pretend they sank HMS Invincible as well, to make themselves feel better.

[@tbrowniscool]

Nobody cares about Argentina, "In their minds, they cannot lose, even when they have lost" in 2019 you could convert 55 Argentine Peso for £1. Now it takes over 1043 to get a single £1.@@rickyphillips7630

[@yaqui4994]

1806: First British invasion of Buenos Aires Criolla Victory !!! 1807: Second British invasion of Buenos Aires Criolla Victory !!! 1845 - 1850: War of Parana Criolla Victory !!! ........ .... ................

[@rickyphillips7630]

@@yaqui4994 1833: Argentina runs crying for home - British Victory!! 1982: Argentina launches imperialistic invasion of the Falklands and is destroyed and forced to surrender in six week, and is still on the canvas 42 years later, crying about it - British Victory!!

[@OutspokenSeeker]

@@yaqui4994oh go peddle your stuff elsewhere. What a failure of a country

[@alanjm1234]

Britain granted independence to countries whose populations wanted it. Polling held in the Falklands showed over 90% of the population wanted to remain British.

[@joebloggs8422]

99.80%. Pretty unanimous vote in my opinion

[@jimdavis8391]

@joebloggs8422 Yes, apparently one bloke took it upon himself to vote otherwise, just to show that the election was a fair one!

[@richardvernon317]

@@joebloggs8422 Only 3 people voted against staying as a British Overseas Territory. They live on West Falkland and are French!!

[@britishpatriot7386]

​@@richardvernon317they are free to sod off then.

[@GeraltofRivia22]

And Argentina never had control of the Falklands in the first place.

[@Arbitertaco]

seeing all the incredibly salty argies in the comments provides me the salt i need for my rations, it's good to be British. *Sips tea with smug intent*.

[@krakenpots5693]

RULE BRITANNIA!!! GOD SAVE THE KING!!!

[@georget5874]

reading some of the comments in spanish, you could easily get the impression they won... not lost twice as many men and had most of their airforce shot out of the sky by a tiny number of harriers, from a country 1000s of miles away. deluded or what...

[@krakenpots5693]

@@georget5874 Do they want another bleating go or what?

[@mike300mvazquez3]

​@@georget5874Sometimes My country have a Lot of....Arrogant? egocéntric people? I don't know how to call them to be honest hehe

[@europa8292]

To all the argentines in the comment remarking to the number of ship losses the Royal Navy had, if we’re doing numbers on that how many British sailors went down with those? And then let’s look at a single Argentine sinking, the belgrano, the British sank a single ship, it took down over 300 argentine sailors, and the rest of the navy ran away and hid in port, the facts speak for themselves

[@rickyphillips7630]

Yes, but Argentines don't do "facts"... they do silly myths picked up on the internet, mixed with banal, pointless slogans. Then they can't understand why they don't actually know anything about the war they won't stop wailing about.

[@Sc0tt_e]

@@rickyphillips7630they still claim to have sank the HMS Invincible

[@rickyphillips7630]

@@Sc0tt_e Yes, I am actually mentioned in two Argentine books on the war as being put in charge, by the government, of denying the truth about the sinking of HMS Invincible... my work on debunking their silly myth is well known.

[@javiercoria7529]

I think lot of people fails when treat a war like a sport match and count cassualties or dead people. I heard from mouth or Argentinian pilots , when relating some atack , saying that happily none die in the british ship. Belgrano sunk in middle of the sea , none british did it far from shore so they were more lucky as well as their families., The target was not to anihilate people but take their materials out of service. Prove of that is that after war many former enemies start a friendship and did visits between familys. There are a lot of UK descendant living in Argentina , argentinian railways became one of the biggest of the world in XIX century thanks to british engineers, practice polo and rugby with sucess more than other Amercan country, british culture let a big mark. Of course there was exceptions but crazy people exist allways and.everywhere and fine people too. To the lovers of statistics of dead people can say that should include all post war suicides on both sides

[@yaqui4994]

1806: First British invasion of Buenos Aires Criolla Victory !!! 1807: Second British invasion of Buenos Aires Criolla Victory !!! 1845 - 1850: War of Parana Criolla Victory !!! ........ .... ................

[@ToaArcan]

The Sea Harrier FRS1 is one of only two aircraft with a perfect combat record, the other being the F-15. Wonderful plane, even if it was difficult to fly. Minor bit of British political history to note: The Maggon actually wasn't all that interested in fighting for the Falklands at first, until someone pointed out that a war could boost her poll numbers. Classic Maggon.

[@mikearmstrong8483]

The F-15 does not have a perfect combat record. Aside from several losses to ground fire, one (possibly two) has been lost in aerial engagement.

[@Jusuff]

​@@mikearmstrong8483An F-15 has never lost an aerial engagement. It doesn't have a perfect combat record necessarily but it has a perfect air to air record

[@FishandHunt]

@@mikearmstrong8483 Nope, no F-15 has ever been lost against another aircraft.

[@mikearmstrong8483]

You guys need to learn how to do more research than just looking at the first paragraph of a wikipedia article (which is not up to date). Look at multiple sources. One F-15 was shot down by a MiG-25 during the Gulf War. May have been extremely lucky but it still counts. A Saudi F-15 may have been shot down more recently in an air-to-air engagement also.

[@Jusuff]

@@mikearmstrong8483 No F-15 is confirmed to have been shot down by a MiG-25 during the Gulf war. The closest a MiG-25 came to shooting down an F-15 was in the Samurra air battle where a MiG-25 damaged an F-15. The pilot was awarded with a probable kill. Later, a Bedouin smuggler confirmed the kill because he apparently saw an F-15 fall on a radar, disappearing close to where he found a wreck of an F-15. The US never confirmed that a MiG-25 shot down an F-15. Only a single person ever reported the event and the his account doesn't even make sense since no F-15 was shot down in the Samurra air battle. I don't know where you got the information that a Saudi F-15 was lost in an air-to air battle because the only things i found when i searched it were reports of crashes and SAM shootdowns.

[@whylikethis117]

I think a lot of the people down here forgot that argentina lost the falklands war…

[@grantbarday5760]

How is the war remembered in Argentina? Out of curiosity.

[@thundabolt7867]

​@@grantbarday5760basically as that time they kicked british ass until the british were saved by their allies Not accurate just how I keep seeing it displayed by Argentines

[@jensonkiin3678]

​@@grantbarday5760 Incorrectly for the most past. Argentine "facts" about many events are often just pure fiction.

[@grantbarday5760]

@@thundabolt7867 so like the Serbians still running off the high of downing an F117

[@thundabolt7867]

@@grantbarday5760 indeed same concept May I ask, you a lazerpig viewer

[@mattwho81]

The British Seadart missile denied Argentine pilots any high altitude approach. They were forced to fly low and fast, a situation their arming fuses were spectacularly bad at handling. Many ships were hit by bombs that did not explode. Admiral Woodward later said, six more working fuses and the war would have been lost.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Sporting of us to let them know about the fuzes

[@jgw9990]

The Argentinian air force probably performed the best out of Argentina's 3 military branches.

[@anzaca1]

1:36 The islands were complete uninhabited until the British. Ownership by settlement, really.

[@feliscorax]

Exactly this, combined with the fact Argentine itself wasn’t even a sovereign state when we did settle those islands - they claim ownership by contiguity, or else, through inheritance via the former Spanish Empire, but neither claim holds any water insofar as the legal arguments are concerned.

[@TFSMF2]

I'm British I feel that the opening statement "The British empire unleashed it's military might against the Argentine Junta pining for control over the small Falkland Islands" incorrectly and unnecessarily makes us sound like the villains in the war A more correct statement (in my own opinion of course) would be "The United Kingdom unleashed Navy, Naval air force, Army and marine corps to liberate the Falkland Islands, a British Territory which had recently been invaded and occupied by the Argentine Junta."

[@HereticDuo]

F*** yeah! if american territory was attacked they'd instantly paint themselves as the good guys just ask ANY citizen in the Falklands, NONE of them want anything to do with the Argentinians.

[@sureshot8399]

er.....and the Army.

[@TFSMF2]

@@sureshot8399 oh, right Obvious in hindsight Sorry

[@shaundouglas2057]

I have always wondered why did the british government want those tiny islands so much that they were willing to sacrifice and take lives to keep them. I bet if the british leaders had to go off and fight that conflict front row centre postition they would have had a major change of heart.

[@sureshot8399]

@@shaundouglas2057 The Prime Minister at the time Argentina invaded was Margaret Thatcher. She was deeply unpopular with many Brits due to her policies of de-industrialization and oppression of the Miner's Strike among other things. The invasion was a golden opportunity for her to boost her popularity if a counter-invasion was successful. She went from being way behind in the polls before the war to winning a landslide victory and being re-elected after it. I'm not saying that was the only reason, because as Prime Minister, her primary responsibility is the defence of the realm and its protectorates and citizens. But regardless, it is unlikely she would have stayed in power without the Falklands being retaken. Many view her premiership as devastating the working class of the UK and hastening its decline into the has-been it now unfortunately is.

[@ivansniper5837]

I'm from Argentina and don't hate the British for what they do i hate more the fact that all this happen because of a drunk dictator we loose a eonomic ally and we suffer the consequences to this day stop the hate We don't have to hate by choices we dont make 🇬🇧🇦🇷

[@LtNurse]

It was a really interesting war, usually it's Britain fighting over a country they colonized, but the Brits were the first people to be on the Falklands, and are still happily British from what I know. Not sure why Argentina wanted the island to begin with

[@ivansniper5837]

@@LtNurse everything is OIL in this world and the goverment brainwashed all the people to make think that island is ours without any reason

[@wiremucurtis3891]

Nice to see a comment like this, there still seem to be a lot of random guys in the comments butthurt over this war, whilst no one in the UK cares about it

[@ivansniper5837]

@@wiremucurtis3891 they are brainwashed by stupid school nationalist propaganda or their grandpa

[@OutspokenSeeker]

@@wiremucurtis3891 right? At this point I’m more insulted by Argentinians who keep stating that they won when they lost and didn’t deserve the territory to begin with. It was never theirs.

[@lostalone9320]

Your take on the politics behind the conflict is actually spot on - The Falkland's Conflict has been so politicised, and particularly opposition to it here in the UK was very trendy for the political left of the day. But you put it exactly correctly. Argentina tried to just roll up and take over the islands for PR reasons. But, for better or worse, the islands are British territory, and a literal military invasion was not going to go down well with Britain. You don't need to really take a position on either countries leadership; the Argentinians did launch an unprovoked attack, and the British response was to counter that.

[@snuscaboose1942]

At the time New Zealand was ready to deploy to the Falklands in support of the UK, but the UK said thanks but we got this.

[@daag1851]

​@@snuscaboose1942 NZ navy relieved some of the UK ships, so they could participate in the Falkland war

[@ivansniper5837]

Im from Argentina you have a good take on this the war was the worst choice that a drunk dictator could make

[@joki1937]

I feel deeply ashamed by my Argentine countrymen, who to this day continue to embarass every single Argentino by spouting propagandistic lies about the Falklands War. My apologies to anyone who actually cares about history. The Falkland Islanders want to be a British overseas territory, therefore, they are British overseas citizens.

[@AlexEvans-od4ir]

No worries mate!

[@rickyphillips7630]

Well said... we can but educate the uneducated.

[@AlexEvans-od4ir]

True, but we must be wary!@@rickyphillips7630

[@swoop1352]

Point of order: The British did _NOT_ arrive at the Falklands in 1834. In 1765, both a British settlement and a French one were built that probably didn't know about each other. The French then surrendered (as usual) theirs to the Spanish. Argentina seems to think that makes the Falklands theirs.

[@Korschtal]

You can certainly construct a logical argument that on the basis of location, the Falklands would normally be part of Argentina. Of course, if the population wants to be British this is moot...

[@mike300mvazquez3]

​@@KorschtalExactly

[@anandmorris]

When the Brits arrived there were no Argentinians on the island. There were a few nomadic herders, who may have been from south American mainland, but had no affiliation to any nation.

[@swoop1352]

@@anandmorris Nomadic herders? What did they do, fit their sheep and cows with water wings?

[@anandmorris]

@swoop1352 they swam. I have no idea, i often wondered that myself. The islands were already mapped, and it was the pope, back in the 15th century (?) who decided the Falklands belonged to spain and not portugal (by way of a pencil and ruler). The islands were empty bar the nomads when the British arrived. They were unused by any nation or empire up until then. Claim of the land was on a map and on paper only.

[@paulmakinson1965]

One of my childhood friends joined the French airforce and trained the Argentine pilots on French equipment. He told me they were some of the most professional foreign pilots he had ever encountered. I also had a client who had been an Argentine fighter pilot during the "Malvinas" war. He told me that the delta wings (Mirage 3) were not as good at low altitude and low speed as the harrier, and their ordnance was mostly for air to ship strikes (Exocet missiles) and not so much ordnance for air to air engagements. He was against the war and saw through the political subterfuge of the military dictatorship. But when you are in the military, orders are orders. Both military fought gallantly, and the Argentine loss ended the dictatorship and brought about democracy in Argentina. So some good came out of it. We must remember that many good soldiers died and had life changing injuries on both sides. I mostly pity the poor Argentine conscrips who were sent with minimal training, little in the way of warm clothing and food. Many came from the warm northern provinces and had never faced the extreme antarctic cold. These guys had to face fierce, experienced professional fighters like the Gurkhas. Many Argentine conscrips were descended from Welsh immigrants and were fluent in English, for them it was close to fratricide.

[@oldman1734]

The Gurkhas took little part in the Falklands war.

[@LunaticTheCat]

​@@oldman1734 Well that's simply not true.

[@scottessery100]

@@LunaticTheCatcorrect. They were in plenty of actions. If true one account saw them ordered to take a series of trenches. The co was upset to see the Argentinians running away but not being caught by the Gurkhas. Ashamed they later apologised but the co asked why are you wearing your Bergens … we weren’t ordered to take them off. As they weighted about. 40 kg and most Gurkha are 60 ish kg. No wonder the argies got away

[@oldman1734]

@@scottessery100 I’m old enough to remember the Falklands war. It dominated the news, as you might expect. And the Gurkhas were sent ashore and the Argentinians fled, the Gurkhas followed but well behind. They saw little action. That’s a fact. Also the Gurkhas aren’t quite what they are cracked-up to be. But, but, they are fantastically fit. I served close by them in Malaya (as it was called then) in 1959. The “Emergency” (as it was called) was 90 percent over by then, but I had a good understanding of what happened. And I did go on one “operation” (had to confirm name of relatives before setting off, etc) so I know a little about events.

[@JBRAI22]

My granddad was friends with a Commander of a UK sub during the war. He was in the harbor when the Invincible returned which is cool to hear

[@EdMcF1]

The Sea Harrier was made by Hawker Siddeley, Hawker was founded by Sir Tom Sopwith, whose Sopwith company built such WW1 legends as the Sopwith Pup and the Sopwith Camel. Sir Tom lived to 1989, so he lived to see his aircraft take on the Kaiser, the Painter-Corporal, Benito, Hirohito and the Junta.

[@chrisk_nfl4120]

Essentially, the moral of the story is that you dont fuck with British pilots in the Cold War. Those guys were ready for a fight

[@nigeldepledge3790]

Interestingly, the British government in the early '70s was trying to find a way to hand the Falklands to Argentina. Unfortunately, they made yhe mistake of holding a referendum among the Islanders. The result was overwhelming : the Falkland Islanders wanted their home to remain British.

[@GeraltofRivia22]

Damn those pesky referendums and allowing the general populace to have a voice.

[@Battlemage15]

The Sea Harrier beat the Argentine Air Force certainly, but the Argentine Air Force put one hell of a beating on the Royal Navy in spite of everything against them. They carried Argentina in that war to the point even the British respected their attack pilots.

[@anzaca1]

It was literally only because of the Exocet, really.

[@Battlemage15]

@anzaca1 They only had 5 of those. Most of the Royal Navy loses were due to low level bombing runs. Done at maximum range, in broad daylight, through multiple layers of defenses. Five better fuses and the loses would have been twice as bad in terms of ships and God only knows in terms of men.

[@Eis_]

Seriously, those guys are pretty much fighting in a suicide mission for nothing. I would respect their bravery too if I was in one of those boats.

[@mikearmstrong8483]

​@@anzaca1 Exocet caused the loss of a single warship and a single merchant ship, from beyond visual range. Nowhere near the losses and damage caused by Argentine pilots flying directly over their targets to drop unguided bombs.

[@murphy7801]

​@@anzaca1did someone compliment french arms, what a rare time to be on the internet.

[@owlwaifu4949]

One of my dads favorite jets is the harrier Its actually a pretty nifty little thing despite its problens and i love wherever i get to use it in games, especially in project wingman

[@dumptrump3788]

The best explanation I heard of this conflict was as follows: In the end, the Argentinians were used to fighting border conflicts & their own people. The British were used to fighting World Wars.

[@leerubybritvic1990]

The Argentina aircraft were old American and Franch aircraft .No match for sea harrier.Also they were not carrying any air to air missiles.

[@1IbramGaunt]

@@leerubybritvic1990 actually the Argentines DID have still reasonably capable American and French air-to-air missiles of their own, including Sidewinders; missiles that, while not as advanced and modern as those the British had, were still more than capable of bringing down any Harrier if shot right; the Argentine aircraft were simply not using them or even carrying said missiles at all a lot of the time, preferring to use the payload space for bombs or anti-ship missiles instead, and had hardly even been making attempts at engaging the British fighters in dogfights, simply turning away and using their generally-greater speed and agility to get away instead after an attack

[@leerubybritvic1990]

@@1IbramGaunt American aircraft van carry four of eight air to air missiles.You just have attach them under the wings.

[@1IbramGaunt]

@@leerubybritvic1990 I know, I was saying the Argentines were largely choosing not to so they could use the space for bombs or anti-ship missiles instead

[@javiercoria7529]

@@1IbramGaunt sure, each one developed tactics acording to their own capacity and the enemy .

[@Alexander-the-ok]

As a Brit, the Harrier was one of those rare sources of pride in British Engineering I had as a kid. That said. I’ve always had a certain respect for the Argentinean pilots. Sent on a near suicide mission by an idiotic dictator….and they still managed to give the Navy a bloody nose.

[@MrXbow4300]

Being a Brit, I can explain why we didn’t let the Falklands go. UN meeting Argentina: Las Malvinas is ours, as it is an example of British imperialism. Britain: We will relinquish control of the Falklands if the islanders do not consider themselves as British. Islanders (in referendum): We. Are. British!

[@Jesters-Jinx]

There are two rules for modern militaries to remember. Don't touch British Islands. Don't touch American Boats. These will serve you well in your campaigns.

[@jakemarshall360]

The crew of the USS Liberty might disagree

[@Jesters-Jinx]

@@jakemarshall360 that's true. But That's a sub rule, don't annihilate your Ally's with "Proportional" retaliation when there is an accident. Especially when half of their military equipment is subsidized and provided by yourself.

[@mahouaniki4043]

Russia, Iraq, Iran, DPRK, and of course Israel beg to differ.

[@Jesters-Jinx]

@@mahouaniki4043 obviously don't know what you're talking about. Just one example is Operation Praying Mantis. Sunk half of Iran's navy in an 8 hour work day. At the time it was the largest naval engagement since world war 2. Feel free to look up other examples yourself.

[@razgriz9146]

@@Jesters-Jinx I'm pretty sure it still is the single largest naval engagement since WWII. Unless you consider Russia's promotion of the Moskva to a Submarine as the new placeholder, of course.

[@seanbruce8294]

Imagine the higher kill count if the only UK carrier capable of handling F4 Phantoms was able to stay in service for a few more years.

[@mkvenner2]

The Hermes could hand the f4 but it was already converted to a skyjump flight deck

[@adder3597]

Not even just that. Keeping Ark or having Eagle available would've meant having the Gannet AEW aircraft available, which was a capability the Hermes/Invincible task forces sorely lacked.

[@THE-BUNKEN-DRUM]

​@@mkvenner2: So, therefore, it couldn't handle F4s.

[@user-in9in8hf9w]

Sea conditions would have been a factor, and hermes in catobar would have cut down the amount of planes by a 3rd and possibly meant less sorties, swing roundabouts, gannet would have been a game changer

[@ilejovcevski79]

There's also the logistics. Unlike in DCS or Warthunder, where mission creators, especially for MP, make sure both sides have a "fair" chance to find each other over "neutral" ground on "favorable" terms, IRL, the Argentinians had to fly to their targets, and that means they had limited fuel to engage in any protracted ACM, at least most of them.

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

Taking back Falkland with its meagre "task force" was an absolutely _incredible_ feat for (an almost completely) financially broke Britain to accomplish One of the most stunning military victories since WW2 RIP the fallen - _lest we forget_ 🇦🇷🇬🇧

[@ALV694]

It was honestly Argentina's war to lose, as they could turned that island into a kill zone, but they fumbled it from day 1.

[@Anglo_Saxon1]

What the UK class as "broke"is probably quite substantial for a lot of countries 🤑

[@tflwulf69]

It was as much down to the quality of each sides soldiers, a lot of the Argentines were conscripts, the UK sent, Commando's, Paras and Ghurka's. The rest was down to sheer dumb luck, there were several key victories for the UK that was just sheer luck or stubborness.

[@Anglo_Saxon1]

@@tflwulf69 It's a lot easier to defend an area,than than to remove a well entrenched enemy(especially when it's a small island 8,000 miles away).

[@phineascampbell3103]

Can you imagine what would be happened to any remaining British overseas territories or all the British overseas citizens if we hadn't responded with force to the Falklands being taken by military invasion?!

[@davefloyd9443]

Royal Navy. Founded 1548 a.d. Fighting mantra: "Find, close with and destroy the enemy, at first contact". This was the 'Find out' element of The Junta fckn about.

[@zacherynuk842]

Having flown a GR5 - which was 'twitchy' I have so much respect for the operators of the Mk1's - like jugging balls whilst unicycling and shooting baloons from the arms of an angry clown.

[@anthonyrouse1618]

Fun little story about the adoption of the 9-L. It was discovered that the reprofiled canard fins meant the missile wouldn't fit on the Shar's launch rails. This was brought to the attention of one Lieutenant Commander Tim Gedge commander of 800 squadron. To fix this he knew would require an expensive redesign and recertification program. Or.... He could just ask the Chief Petty Officer responsible for arming the aircraft if he had any ideas. "Well, we could just file down the rails we already have to make them fit..." Gedge told him to just get on with it.

[@user-ck3uu8rj3x]

This event has obviously reached the 'England/Germany 1966' level of notoriety..

[@Jake-xe4cv]

The 'small contingent of British marines'' [40 something] fought for more than 6 hours against overwhelming Argentine forces of Marines and other units, inflicting many casualties. For some reason both the British and the Argentines played down their heroic stand. Ricky D Phillips has made it a goal to get to the truth and he did so in his book 'The First Casualty' BZ Naval Party 8901. Heroes to a man...

[@rickyphillips7630]

It was 69, but who's counting...? I'm glad you enjoyed The First Casualty. Nice to get a mention :)

[@stuffmcstuff399]

The Falklands war proved to the world that a Professional Army trumps a conscript/national service built army. Rightfully so.

[@charlesunderwood6334]

One minor but interesting point of the Falklands War- the Argentinians sometimes sent radio messages in Welsh because there are Welsh speakers there. This worked well against Chile who could not easily translate this. However the Welsh Guards found this very useful, and far easier to use than if it had been in Spanish.

[@BenHurPalpat]

Little known fact : France offered some agressor training as the fleet was departing, to further increase the Fleet Air Arm pilots knowledge of Mirages III/V advantages and disadvantages.

[@sebastien3351]

Thank you for bringing out that fact. Yes, the French AF provided a month-long aggressor (or Red Flag) type program against the same types of fighters (Mirage 3/5s and Daggers) the Argentine AF had purchased from France. The Harrier pilots received ACM training against while the RN's fleet sailed south. Many weeks later as the RN fleet passed by the Ascension Islands, a RN destroyer was dispatched, picked up the Harrier pilots and, brought them to the RN carrier. So, by their training they greatly out classed the Argentine pilots. After the conflict the RN realized how badly they needed early warning airborne radar for its fleet, the one thing they needed that caused so much destruction to the fleet.

[@lukedogwalker]

France also provided data for the Exocet, and training involving an Exocet equipped Mirage locking up a British ship so that the operators could train how to optimise their processes to spot and track the missile and launching aircraft.

[@catsfrommars]

Thou shall not touch the Her Majesty’s (RIP) Rock Collection

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

Nah...this is a perfect example of what happens when you come between an Englishman and his sheep.

[@grahamkearnon6682]

The Hermes dispite being much older was a far more powerful warship. She was the fleets flagship with large operations rms and, communications. She had four of her own landingcraft too. I have a rear deck photo of thirty (30) harriers parked late in the war. I had just turned 18 when we sailed off.

[@heofonfyr6000]

What a thing to be a part of. Proudest moment of any western nation in a couple of generations. Must have felt all the more palpable with you being only 18. Hell of a debut gig! Throwing you a landlubber salute from the army.

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

Some people can't understand why Britain went to war over an attack on an island thousands of miles away. In 1941 America did just that.

[@johnharris6655]

Japan never occupied Hawaii. The did occupy the Aleutians until they nearly Froze to death.

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

@@johnharris6655 Attack. Doesn't need any words after it.

[@nataliamundell6266]

​@@johnharris6655 also doesn't the fact that they where attempting to occupy them amplify op point

[@samwilsamwil-pr6so]

The words "harrier jump jet" cause brits to feel very visceral below the belt

[@wirelessmug]

this is true

[@ToaArcan]

Yeah this is why I'm banned from half the RAF bases in the country.

[@saturnvmoon8592]

The favourite fact is 809 Squadron a squadron formed after the invasion that was taken down to the Falklands on a cargo ship has recently (December 2023) been reformed to fly the F35B Lightning jet

[@leerubybritvic1990]

I think they managed to take off the Harriers .Before it was struck by excoept missile fired by a mirage.They lost most of the helicopters.

[@saturnvmoon8592]

@@leerubybritvic1990 indeed the harriers had transferred to Hermes and invincible I believe there were waiting to be able to land the ship to unload the rest

[@st1nk1n]

The Harrier is an incredibly difficult aircraft to fly. So, the quality of the pilots is extremely high, meaning an average pilot in a lesser air force really doesn't stand much chance. They say you fight the pilot, not the aircraft and the British had excellent pilots.

[@theenduriangamer5509]

The British pretty much ironed in the "Small, but well trained" millitary idea, and it's carried on to this day. The skill of those pilots is something that can never be understated.

[@ABrit-bt6ce]

Argentina had some wonderful pilots, they were just put into a fight they couldn't win. If they had gone all out to take on the Harriers then the story could have been much different.

[@bigsmokeinlittlechina174]

Aim-9L is one hell of a drug

[@billballbuster7186]

Good program thank you. I would like to add the Sea Harrier was a small target both on radar and in the infra-red spectrum. There was no flaming exhaust for a missile to lock on too, the 'hot' nozzles were hidden under the wings. Aircraft do not usually fight at Mach 2, almost all engagements are at sub-sonic speeds were Sea Harrier had the advantage. The AIM-9L was a superb missile, far better than those operated by yje Argentines, mostly French Matra R-530 and R-550.

[@richardvernon317]

All of the AV-8B's shot down in Gulf War 1 were killed by IR SAM's. The Harrier is more likely to be killed by a Proximity fuzed IR Missile than an aircraft with a Jet pipe at the back as the IR missile on a harrier explodes where all of the fuel is. Plenty of normal fighter aircraft have survived a near miss from an exploding IR SAM. No harrier ever did.

[@billballbuster7186]

@@richardvernon317 That was 10 years later than the Falklands war. No British Harriers were lost to IR SAMs.

[@richardvernon317]

@@billballbuster7186 The flaw is in the basic design you idiot!!! The only MANPADS the Argies had were Blowpipe (until somebody gave them some SA-7's) One of the Argies did manage to kill a GR3 with a Blowpipe. British plane spotters are so thick!!!

[@LeMAD22]

As a french Canadian who doesn't care much for the UK, I think Argentina's attitude to this day towards the Falklands is absolutely disgusting. I mean, France has Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon a few kilometers from Canada, but it's theirs. We won't try to steal it from them.

[@rickyphillips7630]

The French are reasonable people though, for the most part... Argies are not.

[@James28R]

'you dont care for the uk'? what is wrong with you. did we steal your lunch money?

[@nighthawk3305]

​@@James28RYOU STOLE MY SHOES AND CALLED IT AN "ARTIFACT"

[@warhead_beast7661]

Fun fact: they had to file down the launch rails to mount the 9L since there was not enough time to order and get 9L compatible launch rails

[@fightertales]

That I didn't know!

[@anzaca1]

2:28 The thing is, the time for Argentina to properly assert any claim, even though they don't have one, has passed. Britain has offered multiple times to take the matter to international court, but Argentina refused every time. Because they know they have no actual case.

[@Werrf1]

Argentina refuses to take part in any negotiations if the islanders are represented. The British refuse to take part in any negotiations if they're not. Says it all, really.

[@robstone4537]

Everyone rants “The F15 Eagle is unbeaten in air to air combat”. So is the Sea Harrier.

[@astrafaan]

Most of these vehicles are used against those who quite frankly have no chance against them - so hardly surprising

[@Yosemite-George-61]

...good thing y'all had the American Sidewinder...

[@bravo2zero796]

The brits might not have the biggest army or navy anymore but they always turn up

[@heofonfyr6000]

We also happen to be the best

[@PlvsVltra]

sigue soñando@@heofonfyr6000

[@CH1LDOFTHEMOON]

The Argentinian navy had glass-bottomed boat's so they could keep an eye on their Air Force!

[@FirstDagger]

I heard the idea floated around that the SHAR using thrust vectoring for kills story was a ruse to distract from just how good the Lima Winder was.

[@fightertales]

That would make sense

[@Skelbton]

harrier? i hardly know 'er!

[@fightertales]

Ayyyy lmao

[@Angel_423]

Hello, falkland islander here. I found this fascinating even if i knew all of the stories already 😅. Ignoring all the politics this was a good video

[@richardnewcombe9449]

Britain wasn't an Empire when the Falklands war happened. And the Falklands were British before Argentina got its independence. As for the Argies having the Falklands ? Yeah right !

[@jimmyhillschin9987]

I was just about to say the same thing. 'The British Empire' = bullshit.

[@britishpatriot7386]

​@@jimmyhillschin9987please don't cry cupcake

[@darkmatter6714]

To say “we’ll look at how the ‘humble’ sea harrier beat the mighty mirages, daggers and sky hawks” would be like saying “we’ll look at how the ‘humble’ F22 beat the mighty Rafale, F15 and Typhoon. The Harrier was the ONLY front line attack aircraft the US bought from another country - there was nothing “humble“ about it.

[@anonnemo2504]

Indeed so, a formidable aircraft, retired far too early.

[@darkmatter6714]

@@anonnemo2504 although retired by the British, it is still good enough to operate in NATO countries like Spain and Italy

[@fightertales]

It was humble in the fact that it was a subsonic light attack aircraft pressed into an air to air role.

[@darkmatter6714]

@@fightertales In that regard, you are right.

[@jimdavis8391]

I believe the US did purchase or build under lease some Hawks too.

[@danielstroubledthoughts5386]

Just for context... Everyone living on the island was English.. not a single Argentinian had ever lived there.

[@Chio_OB]

British

[@PoyimaMedia]

They were mostly Kelpers, they refused to be called Brits. But yeah, the Falklands are legally British

[@rickyphillips7630]

Not entirely true. There were the and are now, Argentine Falkland Islanders, but all of them wanted then as they voted so recently, to remain as a British territory.

[@santiagogarciamaffeo9597]

I truly take no side, but not really. There was a settlement that was removed by the british before they established their own.

[@rickyphillips7630]

@@santiagogarciamaffeo9597 Not entirely true... there was a private business venture there with British permission over which the Argentine flag was raised in 1829. Argentina ignored two British diplomatic protests over it. The settlement was not removed by the British, nor were the settlers, merely the British flag was put back.

[@honeybadger6313]

A harrier pilot in the Falklands said. ‘ Had they gone for us first, we would all have eventually been shot down due to the numbers. Instead they left us alone and went for the ships’.

[@Nonicknameleftforme]

Yes, it really seems that this was the key factor. Bad tactics are mostly the biggest decider. If the Argentinians would split their forces and sent 10 aircraft against the ships escorted by higher flying fighters, the British would have been in a lot of trouble.

[@jimdavis8391]

A little like something that occurred over S E England in 1940...

[@o1lec1]

If you ever get bored, the supersonic harrier is an amazing concept.

[@diestormlie]

Rocket-Assisted Harrier. You know you want to see it.

[@anonnemo2504]

A formidable aircraft, retired far too early. Thanks for an excellent video.

[@elderbug1824]

Your intro is poorly worded. Argentina invaded UK possessions. Britain responded by taking them back.

[@MrNajibrazak]

it isnt fashionable to state the facts nowadays, and anything isnt fashionable is racists. 🤣

[@singlespeedpunk7744]

Lets see Columbia invade and take Hawaii and see how the yanks like it 😂

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

@@singlespeedpunk7744 Hawaii was forcibly occupied by the US against the will of the native Kingdom there.

[@bobsemple9341]

​@@Gustav_Kurigayou've no idea what ur talking about. Why bother speaking?

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

@@bobsemple9341 So you're saying that there wasn't a Native kingdom in Hawaii before the US colonized it? Should probably tell the Hawaiians that. Amazingly intelligent people in the comments here.

[@heofonfyr6000]

''Surely the British would just hand them over'' erm.... people live there what the hell is a government legitimately for if not to defend its people? 😂

[@fightertales]

The Argentineans were definitely on some stuff.

[@Mr_Dumpty]

In regards to the viffing, I have heard that it was possible to do and could be used as an effective combat manoeuvre, but that pilots were unwilling to use it in combat as it was so difficult to pull off correctly and effectively, especially whilst being shot at, and that a failure to pull it off correctly would have left the Harrier in a very poor, low energy position.

[@TheEDFLegacy]

I never realized how much of a night and day change the AIM-9L variant was from earlier versions. Interesting! 😳 Makes me really wonder about the difference between it and the AIM-9X!

[@fightertales]

The AIM-9X scares me.

[@Skyhawk1998]

The AIM--9X actually feels hatred.

[@CammieRacing]

A fantastic documentary with incredibly engaging visuals!

[@fightertales]

Thanks!

[@asylumassassin3089]

As a brit it's always nice to watch a video talking about us that's not just about us being massive nob heads especially when it's a quality Falcon vid! Also I guess I have no choice but to listen to Back in Control on repeat for the rest of the day.

[@fightertales]

Happy to entertain!

[@migranthawker2952]

I can remember a Harrier pilot being interviewed after the Falklands conflict and stating that one of the tactics they used was to virtually "stop" in mid air to let an enemy aircraft overshoot, then chase the enemy down.

[@JW007100]

The A4 skyhawks that Argentina used were from my dad’ s Marine squadron out of El Toro Marine Airbase, they were later sold to Argentina stripped down of certain avionics. He was a Captain then and retired as a Major , in command of Los Alamitos Naval Air Station Marine unit. He fought in WW2 at Okinawa, Saipan, New Guinea, then during the Korean War, when Vietnam came along he taught air combat at China Lake a pre “Top Gun” . He had 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses along with many other medals and ribbons. He was worried about the British troops due to his knowledge of the capabilities of the A4 Skyhawks, but later had commented that the British SAS ? were hidden and observing the Argentines taking off giving advanced notice of an impending attack. Despite this he wasn’t surprised that Argentina still managed to inflict the damage they did. A little side note , every time they executed a simulated nuclear attack during training they succeeded. He died at 98. The last of the “Flying Peons”.

[@richardvernon317]

There were no SAS giving warning of Argentinean Aircraft taking off or warnings from Submarines!!! The RAF had a Type 95 Air Transportable radar sitting on a Mountain in Chile and raid warnings were communicated to the Task Force via SATCOM. The Radar was "Sold" to Chile and 10 RAF Personnel were Deployed to train the Chilean Air Force in how to maintain and operate it. A Bloke I worked for was one of the 10 and he told me the story 10 years before it was officially declassified. There was an attempted SAS insertion, but it failed after the Helicopter inserting them was spotted.

[@FMAlchemist2006]

@@richardvernon317 that's correct.

[@javiercoria7529]

You sounds very proud of your father, congrats to you . I am reading all comments here, beside yours .most of them.from.british people . I realize the lack of experience in war have our Latinoamerican countries, and perhaps never get it

[@simonbuxton5419]

Not sure what you mean by granting Falkland's independence. The people that live there are British, and there are no indigenous people to give it back to. Even the Argentinian people are basically European, so in terms of rights of the islands it makes no sense. You do say the history is complicated, so I am just correcting the phrase "granting independence".

[@rooneytutoring]

He was trying to frame Argentina's position for the audience, so he used their framing. Given he was talking about how the Argentine government was trying to justify their position. He is not agreeing with that position just giving a very quick political summary.

[@85daniel]

Fun fact - The UK also had a significant advantage. At the time, Germany and the USA had cracked the encryption of the argengentinian diplomatic agent service and provided the British with information. Among other things, this revealed the approximate position of General Belgrano.

[@britishpatriot7386]

😂 fake comment, the British didn't need help breaking codes 😂 you have been told porkies my lad.

[@rickyphillips7630]

The Crypto-AG was actually owned by the CIA who did use it to help us. The UK had cracked the Argentine codes several years before, anyway, but the CIA sped that process up for us. No, it wasn't used to find the location of Belgrano though: Chile helped us a bit with that.

[@martinpowell3855]

Oh why does everyone seem to think that the Harrier is operated in vertical take off mode. This is completely wrong the Harrier is actually operated as a STOVL mose that is Short Take Vertical Landing. Oh and this applies to the F35 as well.

[@rickyphillips7630]

At least no salty Argies are claiming they sank HMS Invincible yet... that claim usually goes around, much to everyone's hilarity.

[@USS-Prinz_Eugen]

Oh no, they are fucking claiming it, saw two guys convinced the Argentines sank carriers, and one even claimed 2 British carriers were sunk! Nicely done fact-checking salties.

[@yaqui4994]

1806: First British invasion of Buenos Aires Criolla Victory !!! 1807: Second British invasion of Buenos Aires Criolla Victory !!! 1845 - 1850: War of Parana Criolla Victory !!! ........ .... ................

[@copter2000]

@@yaqui4994 What happened after 1850?

[@alanchantiefighterskuanlia627]

Words from Winkle Brown, if the British didn't retired one of her Carrier that could carry F4 phantom, easily end the war in just 5 day with the phantom

[@user-in9in8hf9w]

If they could take off in the rough seas, though they would have had the advantage of allot longer range if the bucaneers were used as tankers, so potentially calmer seas, Phoenix Squadron roland white (this guy owes me a pint) two bucanneers overflew belize in the 70's and stopped an invaision and harriers were flown in as a deterrant.

[@user-in9in8hf9w]

I've plugged 3 books, good reads

[@user-in9in8hf9w]

Wings on my sleeve by eric winkle brown is also a very good read

[@Bxz_3492]

The only thing I knew about this war was a story my dad told me, about a clip of an argentinian plane destroying something with a french made missile. So while the britsh government were looking at the french like "yo wtf" , the french arms manufacturer were showing the clip around like "look what our stuff can do". Dunno if thats true tho.

[@kutter_ttl6786]

The only recorded air to air kill achieved by the Argentinians was a Scout helicopter by Pucaras, guns only. All other British aircraft losses were from ground assets, collateral from ships getting hit, or accidents. There were some notable achievements by French missiles that they could've used for marketing, just not in an air to air context. 1 Harrier was possibly shot down by a Roland SAM, and the Exocet was used to sink the Atlantic Conveyer and damage HMS Glamorgan.

[@rayofhope1114]

It is interesting that the British -who had Exocet’s to arm their own ships - stopped using Exocet’s soon after the Falklands war and converted to the Harpoon missile. It could be that post war analysis showed a concern in the overall success rate of the Exocet. Of 11 missiles known to have been fired one hit the Sheffield and set fire to the ship but did not explode. Two missiles hit a supply ship having been decoyed away from the original warship targets. One missile glanced off a destroyer which remained operational. All others were either destroyed or decoyed away by warship defences. For a missile with a supposed 90% accuracy the actual was less than 40%. Yes they caused loss if life and damage but it should have been much worse from a Brit point of view. Conjecture this may be but why did the Brits drop the weapon from their arsenal following the war?

[@Whitpusmc]

I think the Brit’s fought well and got the win through professionalism, determination and bravery. I think the incident proved that Harriers were not long enough ranged and didn’t have the radar and weapons to effectively perform the CAP role against Exocet armed jet aircraft. If the Argentines had not run out of Exocets and the Skyhawks bombs had been accurately fused it’s possible that the Brits would have had to suffer significantly more causalities. I don’t think they would have lost but it’s possible. It was a close thing for a bit and more Exocets would have made a difference.

[@TomGayler]

To be clear, the Harrier force and air part of the task force deployed to the Falklands conflict was made up of both Royal Navy and Royal Air Force pilots and crew. Two versions of the Harrier deployed to the Falklands, the Sea Harrier FRS1 made up the majority of the Harriers with GR3s from RAF 1 Squadron operating on HMS Hermes.

[@005AGIMA]

As a kid back then, I recall being glued to the news on TV, showing us graphics of how the Harrier was going to win us the war, and how it could just fly up mid combat, and drop down behind the enemy. That was all BS of course, but I didn't know or care. Love this aircraft to this day.

[@tonyhaynes9080]

I was on 4 Squadron Harriers in Germany '78-'80, and I remember one of the pilots saying that if he had to go to war, he wants it to be in a Harrier. I guess that I, and the whole world understands why now.

[@davidcross8028]

It also explains why Adolf Galland wanted a squadron of Spitfires in 1940, The P51 Mustang wanted a Merlin, and Goering was irritated by Mosquitos.

[@numberstation]

As usual, there’s a lot of “They won because they had better missiles”, comments here which is a huge insult to the pilots concerned. They had only very recently received the AIM-9L and they fired nearly all from within the same envelope as they would have done with the previous version, close up and from behind. Yes, the AIM-9L was superior to its predecessor but the idea that it was solely responsible for the overwhelming victory is laughable.

[@Mishn0]

See the article at "The War Zone", "Her Majesty's Death Ray" and stop trying to revise history.

[@numberstation]

@@Mishn0 I’m not rewriting history, I’m pointing out a fact. Are you really insisting the reason RAF/Royal Navy pilots were so dominant is solely down to the AIM-9L? Seriously? That article merely confirms what I said, that the AIM-9L had only very recently been received and that pilots had very little time to try and familiarise themselves with it. Read it again. It doesn’t contradict my point about how they were used and gives no examples where the AIM-9L succeeded where the AIM-9G would have been guaranteed to fail, and that’s because of the reasons I stated. Do you not understand that the British pilots were simply better trained and performed better? That the Argentine pilots, although very brave indeed, were not as well trained and used outdated tactics? The British pilots were simply in a different league to their opponents, they were absolute world class, top-tier pilots trained and equipped to fight against enormous Warsaw Pact forces. This isn’t all just my opinion, it’s fact. Here’s Sharkey ward, listen from 11:55 to 14:40 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIHQgJeprNejgrMsi=lJDn8jJXEuXdjTs- Dave “Mog” Morgan, 46:04 to 49:07 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHWvpqV8Yt2IaZosi=JIC7sTIguMNYwxVz If you really do think AIM-9L was overwhelmingly what decided the outcome, I suggest you stop basing your beliefs on a single article you once read. Edited to include links.

[@n0kt0h45]

​@@numberstation very useful information, yet almost certainly wasted on this braindead 'Murican thinking the US is always superior, anything else is "rEviSinG hIstOrY". sigh

[@Ihasanart]

TheWarzone has a good article about the Argentinian pilots reaction to first learning the Brits had -9L's,. The Brits very deliberately sent up a pair of harriers with some of the few -9Ls they were delivered a couple weeks prior to escort a RAF 707 recce jet which was routinely being approached by Argentinian jets trying to intercept the recce flights prior to the task force getting in range. The harriers when escorting the 707 made sure the Argies took photos of them carrying -9L's for the psychological value of 1, knowing the Brits had the most advanced AAM in existence and 2, knowing the US was officially supporting the Brits over the Argies in the conflict. Reportedly the Argie pilots had a significant loss of confidence when further approaching the task force's vessels after that point but before the shooting started.

[@davedixon2068]

RAF didn't have a 707 recce jet at that time, plus if the Argies had gotten close enough to take photo's they would have been unlikely to return with them. More likely the Argies found out by looking in the news paper or aviation press.

[@Ihasanart]

@@davedixon2068 my brain got a little turned around, it was an Argie 707 they used to try and recce the task force, the sea harriers made a bunch of intercepts of them nice and close so they got photographed showing their -9Ls off.

[@SparksHardcoreMusic]

Am I the only one seeing these Harrier pilots paired together and laughing at how different they are. Each time its like gruff dude and boy scout lol.

[@edvoon]

The other reason for the highly lopsided kill score was because the enemy fighters’ main target were the ships, not the harriers. They were probably so heavily laden with bombs that they couldn’t carry A2A missiles, or simply didn’t have them. They were literally bringing guns to a missile fight with predictable results.

[@MsZeeZed]

The 1834 reassertion campaign took place after the guy who ran the Falkland’s ranch failed to pay his British workers and was in real trouble with the islanders. The British gov. in London failed to bail him out, so he approached the Argentine state (all of decade old) to “help restore order” because the folks in Buenos Aries owed him money. Argentina sent a ship & some troops, but also a governor & no money! Not the deal he was expecting. Basically an opportunist move on the original British settlers (the Falklands had no prior human population before the British). Bad calculation as the British really did care about these islands & people (even if was just having a port in this part if the world) and sent a fleet to liberate the islands from foreign control. There is no historical connection between the Argentinian settlers and the Falkland islands and there never has been.

[@rickyphillips7630]

Pretty much nailed it there. I know this bit of history well, and you sum it up nicely.

[@qasimmir7117]

Another key factor was a long range radar assistance from Chile that helped the Royal Navy anticipate Argentine Airforce attacks and concentrate Harrier strike groups. Otherwise they would flying around willy nilly trying to find enemy fighter groups. Without Chile’s radar assistance, the carriers would’ve been hit and that would be the end of the operation and the Falkland Islands would become the ‘Malvinas.’ Chile’s involvement was kept top secret until 2013 I think.

[@jjba3553]

Neat videos, glad I found you through lazerpig

[@fightertales]

Welcome aboard!

[@omega3556]

This was enjoyable to watch. Thank you for the effort!

[@JBRAI22]

I really wish that Argentine didn't invade because I REALLY wish that the Invincible could of joined the Royal Australian Navy

[@lonurad1259]

I am enjoying looking at the soy rage in the comments. This is priceless.

[@rickyphillips7630]

Argentines get angry and frustrated because literally everything they are told is a lie, and they cannot reconcile it. The entire war is a collage of feeble lies for them, hence they have the saying "The war is not known in Argentina" because, quite simply, they are fed lies instead.

[@hivolt9993]

23-0! The Brits were Chads! Look how cool they look in those pics! Those guys weren't losing

[@flyingpiggie979]

This is completely unrelated. But I saw one of my mates with a tenner, which is apparently worth more than the entire Argentinian economy.

[@TomFynn]

I read somewhere that the Argentine Mirages came in at high altitude where they had the advantage over the Harriers but the British pilots simply stayed at low altitude. Imagine flying into a war zone and finding that the enemy simply ignores you.

[@davedixon2068]

wouldn't do much for your self esteem

[@ZeePanzer]

One answer: AIM9L

[@marshalzhukov4782]

9L all aspect great and all but the british fly boys knew not to fly high and keep low to make sure they are on as even fighting ground as possible neutralizing as much advantages that the Argentine fast jets have

[@lindsaycole8409]

The thing about the British overseas territories is that they get the best of both worlds. They get to be independent, small countries kind of, but with the military protection of Britain. Falklands is sort of unimportant when considered as the Falklands, but the principle at stake, that a British overseas territory that requested help from the UK wouldn't be protected was huge. The overseas territories are the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, and various Caribbean islands like Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands and of course Gilbraltar. Although UK probably wish they didn't have to deal with Pitcairn island. As you'll note many of these are tax havens that form part of the dark British financial system. Operate as effective arms-length tax havens with anonymity, but plugged into City of London and protected by the UK military.

[@rickyphillips7630]

The Channel Islands and Isle of Man are crown dependencies, not BOTs.

[@requiscatinpace7392]

We’re a small nation but we’re a warring nation. We’ve been scrapping for our entire history.

[@Maverick626]

i talked with a falkland war vet ( on the argentinian side) , the air force on their side was really worse than reported , very few planes actually airworthy , low on spareparts , the sub on the area didnt help the situation with the carrier, the " david vs goliath " metaphor i feel like its opposite of the reality , still fun video tho , hope to see one narrating how ballsy were the argentinian a-4s going lower than the british boat´s radars to try and bounce some dumb ordenance and score a hit with just a few minutes before going bingo fuel

[@fightertales]

Interesting! At the time I know Argentina was effectively the most powerful South American military, but most of it's troops were conscripts. The aircraft maintenance issues make sense.

[@oolieboolieyeah]

The Argentine pilots were well respected by the RN pilots.

[@stefanstein6404]

There was no mention of the early radar warning from Chile that prevented the British Navy from having to provide 360 24 7 combat patrols, which would have not been possible with the available plans and pilots. By knowing when and from what direction the Argentinien planes were coming, the British could maximize their own air assets.

[@artistcomplex]

Fun vid on one of my favourite aircraft, but I did want to note that although no Harriers were lost to enemy fire, the task force did suffer the loss of Harriers in the air, with one case I believe involving a friendly collision. Plus, one reason the Harrier pilots were so well-trained was because they had to be to fly them. It's been known as something of a widow maker to pilots not given enough time to get a feel for how it flies, and particularly how it lands.

[@fightertales]

They also lost two to ground fire

[@richardvernon317]

@@fightertales The Harrier Force lost 5 to Ground Fire, Two SHAR and Three GR3's. Total Deployed Force was 28 RN SHAR and 10 RAF GR3 (plus another 4 RAF GR3's that got down there on a ship on the 10th June but were not disembarked until after the war finished ). 2 SHAR shot down by Ground fire, one by AAA and one to a Roland SAM. 3 GR3's shot down by Ground fire, One to a Blowpipe SAM, One to AAA and one ran out of fuel due to Small arms damage. 2 SHAR lost to either a Mid Air or flew into the sea (both were diving down to low altitude to check out an unknown radar contact in very poor visibility while under control of two different ships (the aircraft were not flying as a pair)). 1 SHAR crashed into the sea after taking off on a night bombing mission. 1 SHAR fell off the carrier while it was making a high speed turn. 1 GR3 suffered FOD damage while trying to land at San Carlos and crash landed. 2 SHAR were damaged by Ground Fire All of the GR3's were hit by some form of small arms fire. SAHR Pilots HMS Hermes 15 RN 5 RAF HMS Invincible 14 RN 2 RAF GR3 Pilots 12 RAF Total number of pilots that flew Harriers in the Falklands War 29 RN / 19 RAF