Royal Navy Sea Harrier Falklands War - #3 of 4 'Sharkey' Ward.

Sea Harrier Falklands War - Commander Nigel David "Sharkey" Ward, DSC, AFC.
REEL 3 © IWM Continues: importance of maintenance of defensive air cover for as long as possible; question of Admiral Sandy Woodward's opinion of role of aviators; opinion of Argentinean Air Force competence and failure to engage Sea Harriers; opinion of track record of in air combat exercises prior to conflict; attitude towards shooting down Lockheed Hercules transport aircraft; story of shooting down of Major Tomba, 21/5/1982; story of shooting down of Argentinean Mirage Daggers, 21/5/1982.
Attributed:
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/ite... IWM

[@simonhellier7281]

Usually biographies are not too controversial but Sharkey speaks his mind!

[@alisonhilll4317]

That Rick Jolly is one hell of a man , as is Sharkey thank god there on our side , all very brave intelligent men , thanks guys .

[@Jabber-ig3iw]

I have a print of a picture of Sharkey in his Harrier over the Falklands, it had pride of place in my bedroom as a kid.

[@berniecoles2337]

I used to watch Harriers fly round my house in Llangadog in Carmarthenshire. I’d see the the top of the pilots helmets as they flew round and although I’ve seen other fighter jets circle the village, I’ve never seen anything as agile as the Harrier. They look like a Peregrine Falcon and by my observation, they fly like one too.

[@lawrenceabbott5292]

RIP Sharkey

[@RealDukeOfEarl]

I should be in bed, but I can't stop listening.

[@MikeS-ear2ear]

Perfect person for the job at hand 👍🏻

[@user-wj7qz9jn5b]

Really enjoyed this. Only thing that made me uncomfortable was him saying he felt nothing when he shot that Hercules down. Harsh brutality of war I guess.

[@garethv1554]

Wow never realised how good the Harrier was in the hands of the RAF in the Red flag against the yanks. Argies had no chance then. Just a shame all the top brass wasn’t singing off the same page.

[@muppetrowlf1473]

That’ll be the Fleet Air Arm. Not the RAF. RAF only ever moved mud with the jump jet.

[@Chilly_Billy]

Actually both the RAF and FAA have done quite well in exercises here in the U.S., air-to-air and air-to-ground. From what I've read and heard in interviews, the Buccaneer crews did outstanding work. And Vulcans successfully "bombed" several East Coast cities during the 1960's.

[@ronclarke8546]

Sharkey says he had a 25-1 kill ration against F-15s. That's incredible! Phenomenal! On an instrumented range where you can't just exaggerate! The F-15 is still very capable. Imagine how effective they became when they were equipped with AMRAAMS? Anyone has any info on AMRAAM equipped Harriers? What happened to the Sheffield and Atlantic Conveyor is a shame. They ignored good advice and exposed the troops on the Atlantic Conveyor such a devastating attack.

[@recce8619]

I do recommend reading his book. He does describe the couple of days they spent against the F15s. One advantage his guys had was their Phantom experience, which gave them experience in defeating the Sparrow. On the first day this allowed them to close to Sidewinder range. I don't know if they were simulating the AIM-9G or AIM-9L, but the Sea Harrier was very difficult to lock-on to with the Sidewinder, especially if they kept the nose up. Keeping the nose up is something Sharkey does repeat in this books. Drop the nose and it was all over. I've also read Nick Richardson's book when he was flying the Sea Harrier II. Describes doing DACT against Russian aircraft (Fulcrum or Flanker), and it didn't go well for the Harrier although they were carrying the AMRAAM. Harrier's like dogfighting at low level and slow speed. If they can get their opponent into that fight, they will do well. But improvements doppler radar lookdown capabilities probably make it a lot harder suckering the other guy into give up their advantage. But one thing that did strike me in this book was they were happy to drop the nose to gain speed, something Sharkey seemed against in his book. Development of Harrier tactics for a new age, or lost skills / knowledge?

[@mookie2637]

I'm not sure Ward should have let himself be dragged down to Woodward's level. Equally, who is actually to say that Woodward, privy to whatever information he had, was on balance wrong?

[@johnnypickles5256]

A lot of sunken ships might testify against him

[@user-fj6ms4vr6s]

When the guy took out two F-15s fox 2s and two f-5 Aggressor in a 1v 4 and the aggressor guys told the f-15c guys to take it on the chin and learn from the experience. He was 23-1 against f-15s his squad was 3-1 v f-15s. Have some respect.

[@benterrell9139]

This is outrageous. It was outrageous.it is still outrageous.

[@hog8035]

25 - 1 kill ratio against the F15. Yes Sharkey. In the Merg. BVR sea Harrier no chance.

[@669karlos]

Improvise, adapt and overcome: www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/16752/how-sly-raf-tornado-crews-repeatedly-killed-u-s-navy-f-14s-and-f-a-18s-in-training

[@topbanana4013]

that comment tells me you simply never listen to the vid. lol

[@sichere]

3 - 1 against the F15 Eagle and 25-1 against the F4 Phantom The Harrier is a very small air frame and very hard to detect or engage when at low level and the Sea Harrier's Blue Vixen radar could spot an F15 well beforehand.

[@muppetrowlf1473]

It’s a long standing British tradition. Used to make up for inadequate equipment. And that’s the only suitable epitaph for the Panavia Tornado; Inadequate. A European aircraft built on out of date principles and modified and messed about with so much that it was never worth the effort, especially to the British Tax Payer. The costs for the development of the ADV and F3 are eye watering. When all along the RAF were offered the F/A-18??? The Tornado had to fly into Desert Storm with a Buccaneer for company just to hit ground targets. Just as the Tornado ended up doing for the equally costly and ineffective Typhoon. Sharkey’s book is excellent. But remember he uses the engagements against the F-15 mainly to prove to the Royal Navy that the Harrier is a top fleet defender. The RN originally didn’t want it. But it’s a far cry from actual warfare. As well as tactics you need numbers. The Americans and the Russians have that. They can afford to be less adroit with their aircraft. They have overwhelming numbers. Had Britain lost just 1 Carrier in the Falklands, or had the Argies committed enough aircraft to take down half the 21 Harriers, all the tactics in the World wouldn’t have mattered…. We’d have lost!

[@sichere]

@@muppetrowlf1473 The MRCA was a long overdue concept from the days of the TSR2 days and it finally entered service as the TONKA with teo very different versions that were eventually outstanding and did what the Americans couldn't do in Desert Storm by taking out the Runways. They only changed to medium level after they ran out of targets having achieved air Supremacy and at that point they were not fitted for targeting at that level so Buccaneers joined the affray. The tales of Blue Circle radar is true but only due to the continuous developments of the Foxhunter radar. The Tornado is a very capable and versatile weapons platform.

[@williejon1229]

God, the ego of this guy........

[@charlesperry6088]

But his men thought he was the best boss they ever had

[@SuperHaz007]

We may not like it but a big ego is what you need in a wartime leader. Think of all the great leaders - many of them had big egos. This guy also had enourmous skill and leadership to go with it. From what an old acquaintance of mine said to me - he moulded their unit into what he described as the best air combat squadron in the world - bar none. Maybe they all had bid egos?! :)

[@marcusmason3440]

Perhaps the ego is in making a comment without knowing anything about the topic.......William.

[@Rick356A]

Ego's are what footballers and actors have, this guy has what is called courage, to do what he says and knows as fact.

[@stephenhathaway269]

Nothing wrong with having a big ego, provided it measures up to one’s humility, ability, integrity and actions.

[@marionoceti9971]

Wonder how this guy managed to fit into the cockpit with such a disproportional ego..