British air forces in the Falklands War

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This is a list of the units, aircraft and casualties of the British air forces in the Falklands War. The numbers in bold are the number of aircraft used in the war, the numbers in brackets are the number of lost aircraft. For a list of air forces from Argentina, see Argentine air forces in the Falklands War.

Contents 1 Units 1.1 Army Air Corps 1.2 Royal Marines 1.3 Fleet Air Arm 1.4 Royal Air Force 1.5 Armament 2 Casualties and aircraft losses 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Units

[edit] Army Air Corps

• No. 656 Squadron Army Air Corps - (Gazelle AH.Mk.1, Scout AH.Mk.1) 6 (1), 6

[edit] Royal Marines

• 3 CDO Brigade Air Squadron - (Gazelle AH.Mk.1, Scout AH.Mk.1) 9 (2), 6 (1)

[edit] Fleet Air Arm

Squadron	Aircraft	Number	Lost	Notes
737 NAS	Wessex HAS.Mk.3	2	1	HMS Antrim & HMS Glamorgan
800 NAS	Sea Harrier FRS.Mk.1	12	2	HMS Hermes
801 NAS	Sea Harrier FRS.Mk.1	8	4	HMS Invincible
809 NAS	Sea Harrier FRS.Mk.1	8		HMS Hermes & Invincible
815 NAS	Lynx HAS.Mk.2 and HAS.Mk.3	14	3	Type 42 destroyers, Type 21 and Type 22 frigates
820 NAS	Sea King HAS.Mk.5	9		HMS Invincible
824 NAS	Sea King HAS.Mk.2	5		RFA Fort Rosalie & Olmeda
825 NAS	Sea King HAS.Mk.2	10		Atlantic Causeway & RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
826 NAS	Sea King HAS.Mk.5	9	2	HMS Hermes
829 NAS	(Wasp HAS.Mk.1)	9		(HMS Endurance, HMS Bristol, Leander class & Type 12 frigates)
845 NAS	Wessex HU.Mk.5	15	2	RFA Tidespring, Tidepool, Fort Austin & Port San Carlos
846 NAS	Sea King HC.Mk.4	15	3	HMS Hermes, Fearless class, SS Canberra, Elk & Norland
847 NAS	Wessex HU.Mk.5	24		Atlantic Causeway, RFA Engadine & Port San Carlos
848 NAS	Wessex HU.Mk.5	15	6	(HMS Endurance, RFA Olna, Atlantic Conveyor & Astronomer)

[edit] Royal Air Force

All four engined heavies operated from Wideawake Airfield, Ascension Island, but flew in the war zone.

• No. 1(F) Squadron - (Harrier GR.Mk.3) 10 (4) (HMS Hermes & Port San Carlos)
• No. 18 Squadron - (Chinook HC.Mk.1) 4 (3) +1 at Wideawake
• No. 29 Squadron - (Phantom FGR.Mk.2) 3; only at Wideawake
• No. 39 Squadron - (English Electric PR.Mk.9 Canberra) 2; Clandestine operations from Chile
• No. 42 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.Mk.2) _{13 MR.2 from all squadrons}
• No. 44 Squadron - (Vulcan B.Mk.2) 2
• No. 47 Squadron - (C-130 Hercules)
• No. 50 Squadron - (Vulcan B.Mk.2) 1
• No. 51 Squadron - (Nimrod R.Mk.1) 3
• No. 55 Squadron - (Victor K.Mk.2) _{20 Victor K.2 from both squadrons}
• No. 57 Squadron - (Victor K.Mk.2)
• No. 70 Squadron - (C-130 Hercules)
• No. 101 Squadron - (Vulcan B.Mk.2) 1
• No. 120 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.Mk.2)
• No. 201 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.Mk.2)
• No. 202 Squadron - (Sea King HAR.Mk.3) 1 only at Wideawake
• No. 206 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.Mk.2)

[edit] Armament

• L44A1 GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun)
• 30 mm ADEN Cannon
• * AIM-9D/G Sidewinder Air-to-Air Missile (AAM)]] F-4 at Wideawake
• AIM-9L Sidewinder AAM
• AGM-45 Shrike Air-to-Surface Anti-radiation missile (ARM)
• BAe Sea Skua Air-to-Surface anti-ship missile
• Aerospatiale AS.12 Air-to-Surface missile
• Paveway Laser-guided bomb (LGB)
• BL755 Cluster bomb
• 1,000 lb General Purpose Bomb
• CRV-7 2.75in Folding Fin Rockets
• Mk. 46 Torpedo
• Mk. 11 Depth charge

[edit] Casualties and aircraft losses

• Human losses:
  • 2 Army Air Corps^[1]
  • 4 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron Royal Marines
  • 17 Fleet Air Arm
• Passengers
  • 1 Royal Air Force ^[2]
  • 18 Special Air Service(Army) ^[2]
  • 3 Royal Corps of Signals(Army) ^[2][1]

• Aircraft Lost in the Air:, _{no suffix: Fleet Air Arm}
  • 3 Westland Gazelle AH.Mk.1 (Army) and Royal Marines ^[3]
  • 4 Harrier GR.Mk.3 (RAF)
  • 2 Sea Harrier FRS.Mk.1
  • 1 Scout AH.Mk.1 (Royal Marines)
• Flying accidents in the war zone
  • 4 Sea Harrier FRS.Mk.1
  • 2 Westland Sea King HC.Mk.4
  • 2 Westland Sea King HAS.Mk.5
  • 2 Westland Wessex HU.Mk.5
• Lost onboard a ship
  • 3 Chinook HC.Mk.1 RAF^[4]
  • 3 Westland Lynx HAS.Mk.2
  • 1 Westland Wessex HAS.Mk.3
  • 6 Westland Wessex HU.Mk.5 ^[4]
• Self-destruct in Chile
  • 1 Westland Sea King HC.Mk.4

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Gazelle shot down by friendly fire 5 June
2. ^ ^{a b c} [1] Probable bird strike to transport helicopter operating between Intrepid and hermes
3. ^ [2] 2 Gazelles shot down by Argentine army forces leavin San Carlos area
4. ^ ^{a b} on Atlantic Conveyor

[edit] External links

• British site about British Aircraft lost
• Britains Small Wars.com:
• Argentine Air Force (FAA) official site about the Malvinas/Falkland Air War

• Fleet Air Arm - RAF Role and Operations

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