This article describes the composition and actions of the Argentine air forces in the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas). For an overview of the air forces of the United Kingdom, see British air services in the Falklands War.
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As Argentina triggered the war it would be reasonable to think they were prepared, and had a plan on how to defend the islands. The military dictatorship that governed the country at the time regarded the seizure of the Falklands as a political act to obtain a diplomatic bargaining position, and not as an act of war. Consequently they were taken by surprise when the United Kingdom responded with a large-scale mobilization, and a task force to retake the islands.[1]
The Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina; FAA) had never considered the possibility of waging a long-range naval air campaign against a major NATO power. It was not trained or equipped for such a mission. The FAA had only two tanker aircraft to serve the whole air force and navy, and its fighter-bomber Mirage IIIs and IAI Daggers were not equipped for aerial refuelling. The FAA's training, tactics and equipment were focused on a possible war against Chile, resulting from disputes such as the Beagle conflict.[1][2]
The option to attack Chile[3] was a cause of great concern to the Argentina military during the war. The Chilean armed forces had deployed a significant force to Chile's common border with Argentina, and the FAA was forced to reinstate their retired F-86 Sabres to bolster Argentina's air defences. In Argentina's favour, Peru immediately offered its support to the Argentine cause, with the Peruvian Air Force even offering to fly combat missions. This was politely declined by the Argentine government. As the war progressed, Peru and Venezuela sent critical aircraft spare parts to Argentina, urgently needed by the FAA and the Brazilian Air Force leased two EMB111 Bandeirantes maritime patrol aircraft to the Argentine Navy.[4] Finally on June 4, ten Peruvian Mirage 5 with AS-30 missiles arrived to Tandil but the war ended before they could be used.[5] Israel Aircraft Industries technicians that were in the country under the 1979 IAI Daggers contract continued their work during the conflict.[6]
By the best estimates, Argentina totaled about 240 planes when the war broke out. About half of those were posted in the interior and along the Chilean border [7]
On paper, the 20 subsonic British Sea Harriers could easily have been wiped out by the more than hundred Argentine combat planes, including many supersonic jets. The reality was different. The long distances from their bases prevented them from using their top speed or they risked running out of fuel.[8] Although, the Argentines had more aeroplanes than the British Task force, a good number of them were Pucara turboprops.[9] Also, the A-4 Skyhawk force were dependent on the two available KC-130 tankers, limiting the amount of aeroplanes that could attack simultaneously.[10]
Argentina's fleet of A-4 Skyhawk attack jets was in very poor condition. The arms embargo placed by the United States in 1976, due to the "Dirty War", had made most airframes unusable. The involvement of Israel in helping to return the A-4 to full operational status has been alleged, but has never been confirmed.[11]
The small air arm of the Argentine Navy (Armada Republica Argentina; ARA) was in the middle of the transition from the A-4Q Skyhawk to the new Super Etendard. Only five of the Etendard's anti-ship Exocet missiles had been delivered at the time of the conflict, at which point an arms embargo prevented the delivery of further shipments. Navy pilots, particularly those of the 3rd Naval Fighters Squadron flying A-4Qs were the only trained in the specific art of bombing warships. Air Force pilots trained during April against the two Argentine Type 42 destroyers, similar to those of the British Fleet, and according the Naval officers all the sorties were shot down causing great concern to the High Command until the successful May 1 strikes which they proved that aircraft could survive.[11][12]
Finally, Argentine military aviation had never been involved in an international conflict, indeed the last time the Argentine military had been involved in an international conflict was the War of the Triple Alliance more than a century before.
In spite of these disadvantages, Argentine air units bore the brunt of the battle during the six-week war, and inflicted serious damage and losses to the naval forces of the United Kingdom. Low-flying jets attacking British ships would provide the world with some of the most sobering and dramatic images of the war. By the end of the conflict, the British forces had come to admire the FAA's spirited conduct in the face of an effective air defence network[13] during the hostilities, but as always, air power alone cannot win a war. Admiral Sandy Woodward, the British Task Force commander said: "[t]he Argentine Air Force fought extremely well and we felt a great admiration for what they did."[14]
The Air units involved in the Falklands War were under the following chain of command:
Air units moved from home bases to southern facilities. Amid fears about British/Chilean air strikes and/or SAS raids, Argentine aircraft were dispersed in the surrounding areas of their southern airfields, e.g., several parts of the national route #3 were used for this purpose.
The numbers in bold are the number of aircraft engaged in combat without counting those in reserve, the numbers in brackets are the number of aircraft lost during the war.
Spanish: Fuerza Aérea Argentina
Spanish: Comando de Aviación Naval Argentina - COAN (Argentine Naval Aviation)
Spanish: Comando de Aviación del Ejército Argentino ( Argentine Army Aviation )
Spanish: Prefectura Naval Argentina
| System | Obs |
|---|---|
| Ships Sunk | HMS Sheffield, HMS Coventry, HMS Ardent, HMS Antelope, RFA Sir Galahad, Atlantic Conveyor plus a Landing Craft Utility ("Foxtrot Four" from Fearless) |
| Ships Damaged [21] | HMS Glasgow, HMS Antrim, HMS Brilliant, HMS Broadsword, HMS Alacrity, HMS Arrow, HMS Argonaut, HMS Plymouth, RFA Sir Bedivere, RFA Sir Lancelot, RFA Sir Tristram, RFA Stromness |
| A-4 Skyhawk | 133 sorties by the A-4B and 86 by the A-4C. They flew with unreliable ejection seats due to the US embargo placed from 1977. Naval A-4Q performed 12 sorties. They were highly dependent on the two available KC-130 tankers, limiting the number of aeroplanes that could attack simultaneously. |
| Canberra | 46 bombing sorties against ground targets, operating from Trelew, to avoid more congestion on the closer southern airfields. |
| Dagger | 153 sorties against naval/ground targets by the two squadrons. Their lack of aerial refueling capacity severely affected their performance without any chance of manouvering over the islands. They were obliged to fly the shortest flightpath and had less than 10 minutes to find their targets. The discovery of their approach corridor by the British led to 7 aircraft being shot down by Sea Harriers CAP, something just realized when one of the downed Dagger pilots was recovered by own troops. By the end of May they began carrying an improvised chaff dispenser consisting of aluminium strips inside their airbrakes. |
| Total Sorties: | The above figures shown a total of 430 attack sorties from the mainland of which 18 aircraft were intercepted by the Sea Harriers and another 14 were shot down by anti aircraft defences. |
| System | Obs |
|---|---|
| Mirage IIIEA | Argentine sources indicate that a number were withdrawn from operations over the islands to protect the mainland against Vulcan strikes,[22][23][24] however, they made 58 sorties providing decoys for the strike units with particular success on the June 8 attacks against the British landings ships.[25] Their lesser internal fuel capacity, compared to the Daggers, prevented them from being used in their escort role. |
| Boeing 707 | The unarmed airliner made 54 cargo flights and other 61 for reconnaissance and surveillance duties[26] against the British Task Force heading southFAA map locating the fleet for the first time on April 21 when a Sea Harrier shepherded the 707 away. On May 22 another 707 managed to evade 4 Sea Dart missiles launched against it but the risk of further sorties was too great and from that point on the 707's made no further attempt to find the Task Force.[27] On another occasion they made a casual encounter with a British Nimrod both unarmed aircraft looked each other over and continued their missions. |
| IA 58 Pucará | They performed reconnaissance and ground attack missions from the Falklands airfields and surveillance of the Patagonian coast from bases in Southern Argentina. Most of the island-based Pucarás were destroyed on the ground, due to the lack of Hardened Aircraft Shelters. They shot down a Royal Marines Westland Scout during the battle of Goose Green. |
| Fenix Squadron | 126 decoying plus 52 reconnaissance sorties. They were also extensively used as communications relay and pathfinder flights to guide the combat jets with the Learjets’ superior navigation systems. |
| C-130 Hercules | 33 night flights to BAM Puerto Argentino in May/June (Blockade runner). Among the cargo transported in those flight were the 602 Army Commandos Coy, 155 mm CITEFA cannons, an improvised land based Exocet launcher, the Roland SAM system and a RASIT radar replacement. They evacuated 263 wounded and a British PoW in their returning flights. Starting 15 May, they also took over the dangerous task of searching for naval targets for the strike units, after the retirement of the last SP-2H Neptune available. On one of these daylight missions, a Hercules was intercepted and shot down by a Sea Harrier. 29 May, the British tanker British Wye was hit by bombs dropped by a Hercules, north of South Georgia[28] (Not officially recognized by the FAA) |
| KC-130 Hercules | Refueling sorties for A-4s and Super Étendards, also for battle damaged fighters. |
| Fokker F-28 Navy | 15 night flights to BAM Puerto Argentino in May/June (Blockade runner) |
| Army Aviation | 796 helicopter flights on the islands |
| 1st Air Brigade Construction Group Air Force | In charge of maintaining Port Stanley airbase operable. Throughout the conflict, the airport installations were attacked with 237 bombs, 1,200 shells from the Royal Navy gunline and 16 missiles, however, it was never out of action entirely. Many sources claim that the runway was covered with piles of dirt during the day causing British intelligence to surmise that repairs were still in progress.[2] Craters were in fact heaps of earth placed there to make it look as though the runway was damaged.[29] In fact, the British were well aware that the runway was still in use by C-130[30] and attempted to interdict these flights leading to the loss of a C-130 on June 1.[31] |
Argentine strike aircraft did not carry air-to-air missiles, with the exception of 8th Air Brigade Mirage IIIEA fighters and 6th Air Brigade Daggers on May 1. All retained a secondary armament of either 20 mm or 30 mm cannon.
75 fixed-wing aircraft and 25 helicopters.
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