Naval phase of the Falklands War

Like Great Britain and Argentina, the Falkland Islands were not divided.

"Latent" conflict

The small archipelago of the Falkland Islands was discovered in the South Atlantic in the 16th century. Scientists are still wondering who was the first navigator to reach them: the Spaniard Esteban Gomez in 1520 or the Briton John Devich in 1592. For more than two centuries, there was a Spanish garrison on the Malvinas Islands (the Argentine name for the Falklands) and, therefore, the entire archipelago was part of composition of the Spanish Empire. When Argentina declared its independence in 1810, the Spanish military left the islands. Argentina itself remembered about the island only ten years later; an Argentine landing force landed there, led by Captain Juet, who proclaimed the sovereignty of the Argentine Republic over the archipelago. The triumph did not last long. Twelve years later, the archipelago was captured by an English naval expedition, establishing its de facto subordination to the British crown. The young republic was unable to resist the aggressive policies of Great Britain, but to abandon its legal rights I didn’t intend to take possession of the Malvinas Islands either. The so-called “latent conflict” arose, and for some time the warring parties fell silent.

Oil, krill and parliamentary elections

In the 1960s, during the collapse of the colonial system, Argentina tried to return the Falkland Islands through diplomatic means. The country strengthened its influence on the islands in every possible way, built an airfield there, and established telephone communications. She even managed to gain the support of the majority of UN members, but England remained adamant. The Albion government refused to grant the island's Argentines equal rights with British citizens; London had its own interests in the deserted islands. They were especially interested in large deposits of oil and gas discovered in the coastal waters and coastal shelf of the islands. Another stumbling block was the crustacean krill, the monopoly right to catch which actually belonged to the British alone.

Some researchers see the Falklands War as one of the intrigues of Margaret Thatcher, for whom it became a small “victorious war.” On the eve of hostilities, and at the same time on the eve of new parliamentary elections, things were not going well for the “Iron Lady”. Thatcher's economic policies were not supported by everyone even within her party: 9 out of 22 ministers of her cabinet were against her economic initiatives. By December 1980, Thatcher's level of political trust had fallen to 23% ( lowest result among British prime ministers). But she refused to deviate from the planned course of economic reforms. “Turn if you want. The lady doesn't turn!" - she said at a party conference that same year. To restore the authority of the Conservative Party in Great Britain, Thatcher needed a small, victorious war. In addition, the victory was fully consistent with Thatcher’s foreign policy doctrine, which envisaged the return of Great Britain to the status of a great power.

Leopoldo's Victorious War

It was not only Thatcher who needed a victorious conflict. In 1881, as a result of a military coup in Argentina, Leopoldo Galtieri came to power. To achieve popularity among the Argentine population, he needed a small, quick, victorious war. What better way to win back control of the Falkland Islands? Initially, the operation, which received the name "Rosario" in memory of Captain Juet's ship, was planned for May 25, 1982 - the day of the Argentine national holiday. But British intelligence soon learned about the impending invasion and sent its submarine Spartan to the South Atlantic. Galtieri decided to act quickly and already on April 2, 1982, Argentine troops landed on the islands, quickly forcing the small English garrison to surrender. For England, this was a war not only for their own, as they believed, national interests. The war served as another test for the Western Bloc in “ cold war" Cuba and many other Latin American countries supported Argentina's actions in its “just” military operation to return the territories once “occupied by British imperialism.” An ambiguous position was taken by the leadership of France, which shortly before the conflict supplied its combat aircraft Mirage and sold French Exocet anti-ship missiles to Argentina's ally Peru.

Protection of British citizens

“If the islands were captured, then I knew exactly what needed to be done - they needed to be returned. After all, our people are there on the islands. Their loyalty and devotion to Queen and country was never in doubt. And as often happens in politics, the question was not what to do, but how it could be done,” Margaret Thatcher later recalled. The UN Security Council called on the warring parties to resolve the conflict through negotiations. But neither side was going to retreat. The British government announced that it would sink all Argentine ships that were within a radius of 200 miles or closer to the Falkland Islands (the distance from the islands to the Argentine mainland coast is only 287 miles). On April 5, an English squadron of 40 ships led by the aircraft carriers Hermes and Invisible set off from the American Portsmouth towards the Falkland Islands. Next, a British landing force landed on the Argentine island of South Georgia (south of the Falklands), quickly subjugating its territory. And already at the end of April, British aircraft from aircraft carriers began to strike Argentine positions on the islands.

"Maggie will come"

On the day when Peruvian President Fernando Belaúnde Terry received preliminary consent from Argentina to the terms of a peace agreement with Great Britain, the first powerful blow was struck by the British navy. On the same day, the British nuclear submarine Conkerror attacked the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano at a distance of 236 miles (which contradicted the earlier official warning). Almost 400 crew members died in the waters of the South Atlantic. Naturally, Argentina rejected any possibility of a peaceful solution to the conflict and open war began. Thatcher, like a true “Iron Lady,” was persistent in her political decisions. On her orders, British troops bombed the airstrips on the island and captured the Falkland Islands. “And when, at last, on the night of May 21st, the Royal Navy landed troops ashore at Carlos Bay, the island farmer expressed in one sentence the characteristic feature of our nation. When asked by the parachute officer whether he was surprised to see the operational formation at anchorage in the bay, the farmer replied: “Not at all. We knew Maggie would come,” Margaret Thatcher later recalled proudly and patriotically. She had something to be proud of; the Conservative Party again won a majority in the 1983 parliamentary elections.

Positions of the USSR and the USA According to British intelligence, the USSR “was ready to provide Argentina with warships, aircraft and missiles (SS type) in exchange for supplies of grain and beef at preferential prices.” But the USSR had its own unresolved problem - the war in Afghanistan. For this reason, all the pressure that the Soviet leadership exerted on the Anglo-Saxon powers occurred only within the framework of UN meetings. No active action to prevent military conflict or provide assistance to Argentina from outside Soviet Union did not have. On the contrary, the USSR renounced any participation in the Anglo-Argentine conflict, declaring to Curtis Keeble, the British Ambassador to the USSR, summoned to the Soviet Foreign Ministry on May 14, 1982, that “the British side, apparently, in terms of diplomatic cover for its military actions in the South Atlantic, several times addressed the Soviet side with so-called “warnings,” which are completely inappropriate and aimed at creating a fiction about some kind of “involvement” of the Soviet Union in the Anglo-Argentine conflict.” The states did not stand aside. The UK's main ally was US Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who persuaded Reagan and the Pentagon to provide "greater support to America's most loyal ally." The minister ordered his subordinates to “provide Britain with all possible assistance in matters of technical support and intelligence.” April 30 Reagan announces support for Great Britain and the imposition of sanctions against Argentina. The US administration used various levers of influence on Argentina and its Latin American neighbors. They forced Argentina to reduce its supplies of beef and grain to the USSR. The remaining South American countries declared their neutrality. The attempt to pass a resolution on the Falkland issue by the UN Security Council was vetoed by the United States and Great Britain. A special Anglo-American plan was developed against the possible inclusion of the USSR in the conflict. According to it, the USA and Great Britain had to put pressure on the USSR in several directions at once. With the support of the United States and France, Israel began military operation on the territory of Lebanon, supported by the USSR. Pro-American South Koreans began provocative actions against the DPRK. The United States, through Israel, began to provide material assistance to Romania, which actively opposed Soviet policy in Afghanistan, thereby shaking the organization of the Warsaw Pact countries “from within.” In addition, Great Britain and the United States managed to disrupt the conclusion of a number of contracts in April-May 1982 on the Gas-Pipes project, which planned to connect Western Europe and the USSR with mutually beneficial conditions for gas cooperation. Under US pressure, an agreement was reached on June 14 to cease hostilities, and the next day Argentine General Mendoza announced his surrender.

60 billion barrels

The latent conflict continues today. An official agreement between England and Argentina has not yet been concluded. Diplomatic relations between the states were restored only in 1990. IN last years The disputed islands have once again become the focus of the world community. According to British experts, there are oil reserves of 60 billion barrels on the shelf of the islands. If these figures are true, they are comparable to the reserves of the most oil-rich countries. For comparison, according to estimates for 2012, proven oil reserves in Russia amount to the same 60 billion barrels. In March 2013, with the full support of the British government, a referendum was held on the islands. To the local population the decision had to be made: “Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain its political status as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom? Yes or no". Of the 1,517 citizens who voted, 99.8% responded in the affirmative, advocating for maintaining the city's current political status. Argentina did not recognize the results of the referendum, maintaining its territorial claims to this archipelago. The problem of belonging to the Falkland Islands remains open to this day. And it is unlikely that one of the warring parties will agree to release such a tasty “piece of oil.”

A real war, from the point of view of order and organization, is remarkably similar to a brothel engulfed in fire. The Falklands conflict was no exception - a chain of sea and land battles in the South Atlantic that raged in May-June 1982 became good example of what modern warfare looks like in practice.

A crazy conflict on the edge of the Earth, in which not very wealthy Argentina butted heads with impoverished Great Britain. The first urgently needed a “small victorious war” and she found nothing better than to unleash a 150-year-old territorial dispute. The British accepted the challenge and went to defend the honor of the British Empire 12,000 miles from their native shores. The whole world watched in amazement “an argument between two bald men over a comb.”

As often happens, the “small victorious war” turned into a brutal defeat. Argentina turned out to be completely unprepared to conduct any serious military operations. There are only six AM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles, two tanker aircraft and two more or less serviceable SP-2H Neptune early warning aircraft. The fleet is stupid “stubs” of the fleets of the leading powers:

The formidable cruiser General Belgrano is the old American cruiser Phoenix, which miraculously escaped destruction in Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. You can’t escape fate - 40 years later, the Phoenix-Belgrano was nevertheless sunk in the Atlantic.

Super-carrier Bentisisco de Mayo - former Dutch Karel Dorman, originally the British aircraft carrier HMS Venerable, launched in 1943;

Destroyers"Ippolito Bouchard" and "Luis Piedrabuena" - former American destroyers like "Allen M. Sumner" also from the Second World War.

Isn’t it true, dubious forces for attacking a country that, from 1588 to the early 40s of the twentieth century, had no equal in the sea?

The Queen's Fleet Goes South

The “Great Victory” of the British Navy cannot be called anything other than an accident: a third of the ships of Her Majesty’s squadron were hit by Argentine bombs! Fortunately for the British, the Argentine pilots used rusty American ammunition - after lying in a warehouse for thirty years, for some reason they refused to explode.

Explosion of the ammunition magazines of the frigate "Entilope"

The small frigate Plymouth received 4 “gifts” from the sky, but none of the bombs worked properly.

The destroyer "Glasgow" - a direct hit from a 1000-pound aerial bomb. Having broken through several decks, the dangerous object rolled into the engine room, but... there was no explosion.

Frigate "Antrim" - direct hit 1000-lb. air bombs. The Argentine pilots were again let down by the fuse.

Frigate "Broadsword" - unsuccessfully dropped 500-lb. the bomb ricocheted off the crest of a wave and tore the side of the frigate. It swept like a black shadow through the interior of the ship, destroying flimsy bulkheads and mechanisms in its path, flew onto the flight deck, crushed the helicopter, and... waving goodbye to the stubs of the stabilizers, fell into the water.

Frigate "Argonaut" - heavy damage from two unexploded bombs. The ship lost its combat capability.

The sinking of the frigate "Entilope"

The British landing was hanging by a thread:

The landing ship "Sir Lancelot" - on the approach to the Falkland Islands received a direct hit of 1000 lb. air bomb. Fortunately for the British, there was no detonation - otherwise the ship, loaded to the brim with Marines and equipment, would have turned into a hellish brazier.

The landing ship, "Sir Galahad", could also have died on the way - in the open ocean, "Sir Galahad" received a terrible blow of 1000 lbs. bomb, which Once again, spared the British
However, the ship could not escape its fate: Argentine Air Force attack aircraft burned the Sir Galahad during the landing at Bluff Cove. By that time, most of the Marines had landed ashore, however, 40 people burned along with the ship.

The third landing ship, Sir Tristram, came under heavy attack from Argentine aircraft during the Marine landings at Bluff Cove, leaving a 500-lb. bomb. British sailors and marines rushed in horror into the icy water - away from the dangerous “attraction”. The “humane” bomb waited until the last sailor left the ship and was immediately detonated. “Sir Tristram” burned for several hours - it’s scary to imagine if at that moment there were hundreds of marines on board.

"Sir Tristram" returns from the war

By the way, during the raid on Bluff Cove, the Argentines, in addition to two landing ships, managed to seriously damage one of the 200-ton lighters with a British landing force (later sank).

In total, according to statistics, 80% of the Argentine bombs and missiles that hit Her Majesty's ships did not work properly! It’s easy to imagine what would happen if they all exploded - Glasgow, Plymouth, Argonaut, landing ships - they would all inevitably die. Having lost a third of the squadron, Great Britain lost the opportunity to conduct combat operations on the other side of the Earth and lost the Falklands War. Truly, the British were one step away from disaster!

But 20% of the detonated ammunition was more than enough to destroy six ships of the British squadron!
- the destroyer Sheffield was burned by an unexploded Exocet anti-ship missile;
- the destroyer "Coventry" - died under the bombs of Argentine attack aircraft;
- frigate "Ardent" - numerous hits from aerial bombs, explosion of ammunition magazines;
- frigate "Antelope" - two unexploded bombs, detonation during an attempt to clear mines;
- Atlantic Conveyor air transport - simultaneous hit by two Exocet anti-ship missiles;
- the previously mentioned landing ship "Sir Galahad" - the damage was so severe that the British had to scuttle the ship in the Atlantic.

Argentine Air Force, path to victory

It is simply amazing how the Argentine Air Force was able to cause such damage with its limited forces. At that time, the Argentines had only six (!) air-launched anti-ship missiles and the same number of their carriers - the latest French-made Super-Etandar fighter-bombers. Moreover, the last sixth “Super-Etandar”, which managed to arrive in Argentina before the start of the war, could not take off for a completely banal reason - the absence of part of the avionics.

10 obsolete Canberra bombers, purchased from Great Britain in the early 70s, sporadically took part in the fighting - the Argentines only achieved the loss of 2 vehicles, without any success.

A-4 Skyhawks are attacking!

The effective use of the Argentine Daggers and Mirages turned out to be impossible - the runway on the Falkland Islands was too short for modern supersonic aircraft, and the Argentine Air Force had to operate from airfields on the continent. Due to the lack of an in-flight refueling system on the Daggers and Mirages, they could reach the combat zone with only a minimal bomb load. Combat sorties at the limit of their range did not promise anything good, and the active use of modern fighter-bombers had to be abandoned.

Note. "Dagger", aka "Nesher" - an unlicensed Israeli copy of the French fighter-bomber "Mirage 5". Israeli vehicles that had served their purpose, having undergone modernization, were sold to Argentina. This is the kind of “junk” that the Argentine muchachos had to fly on!

Key impact force Argentine aviation received subsonic A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft: already initially adapted for long-range combat missions, the old machines turned into formidable ones - the vast majority of the losses of the British fleet are attributed to them! Argentine pilots had to operate hundreds of miles from the coast, breaking through rain and snow charges at extremely low altitudes, avoiding enemy combat air patrols. There are a ton of bombs on the external sling. Ahead is an endless ocean, in the vastness of which the British squadron is hiding. Find and destroy! And on the way back, be sure to meet an air tanker, otherwise the plane will fall into the cold waters of the Atlantic with empty tanks.

Subsonic attack aircraft Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Hero of the Falklands War

Only the stupidity and carelessness of the British command allowed the Skyhawks to so brazenly attack ships and feel like “kings of the air.” The British went to war, saving even on self-defense anti-aircraft artillery systems (such as Phalanx, AK-630 or Goalkeeper). The destroyers and frigates had nothing but imperfect air defense systems, unable to deal with low-flying targets. In the close range, British sailors had to rely, at best, on a pair of manually aimed Oerlikon cannons, and at worst, fire at low-flying aircraft with rifles and pistols.
The result was predictable - a third of Her Majesty's ships came under missile and bomb attacks and were severely damaged.

In terms of order and organization, the Falklands War really was a hell of a mess. Dangerous mix from mistakes, cowardice, negligence, original solutions and unsatisfactory performance military equipment. Taking a closer look at the episodes of the Falklands conflict, you get the feeling that the fighting was filmed on Hollywood soundstages. The actions of the British and Argentines sometimes look so naive and paradoxical that it is impossible to believe that this could happen in life.

A striking example is the triumphant sinking of the newest destroyer Sheffield.

“The newest destroyer Sheffield was in fact a small “pelvis” with a displacement of about 4,000 tons - now such ships are usually called frigates. Combat capabilities The “newest destroyer” was identical to its size: the Sea Dart naval air defense system with an ammunition load of 22 missiles, a universal 114 mm caliber gun, an anti-submarine helicopter... that, perhaps, was all that the Sheffield team could count on.

However, even the newest American super-destroyer Zamvolt would not have saved the British sailors. On the fateful morning, while in the combat zone, the Sheffield commander ordered to turn off all radars and electronic devices of the ship - so as not to interfere with his conversations on the Skynet satellite communication channel.
The flying missile was visually noticed from the bridge only a second before it hit the destroyer. The Exocet struck the side, flew through the galley and broke up in the engine room. The warhead of the Argentine missile, as expected, did not explode, but the destroyer had enough of the torch from the running rocket engine - the aluminum hull structures flared up, the synthetic finishing of the premises blazed with unbearable heat, and the cable sheaths crackled. The tragicomedy ended sadly: the Sheffield completely burned out and sank a week later while being towed. 20 people from his crew died.

The victory was not easy for the Argentines: the SP-2H Neptune AWACS aircraft, due to the failure of the on-board equipment, was only able to establish radar contact with the ships of the British formation on the fifth try - which is not surprising, it was an aircraft from the mid-40s.
By the way, on the 15th day of the war, both Argentine “Neptunes” were completely out of commission, and subsequently naval reconnaissance was carried out in even more sophisticated ways: with the help of a Boeing 707 airliner, a KC-130 air tanker and a Liarjet 35A business class aircraft.

The sinking of the destroyer Coventry looks no less wonderful.
Argentine Skyhawks caught up with him 15 miles from Pebble Island - suddenly appearing from behind the rocky cliffs of the island, four attack aircraft unleashed a barrage of free-falling bombs on the destroyer and the accompanying frigate Broadsword.
The British formation was covered by deck-based SeaHarriers, but at the time of the attack the fighters were withdrawn due to the threat of being hit by anti-aircraft fire on the ships. However, it was not possible to cope on our own - the destroyer’s air defense system did not work. "Coventry" tried to drive away the enemy planes with the fire of a universal gun, but to no avail - the planes were already on a combat course. As luck would have it, the Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun jammed - as a result, the destroyer crew fired back at low-flying aircraft using rifles and pistols.

The frigate got off relatively lightly - one of the bombs pierced it right through from the bottom up (this case was discussed a little higher) and did not explode. The destroyer Coventry was less fortunate - of the three that hit it, the 500-lb. aerial bombs, two exploded - 20 minutes after the attack the ship capsized and sank.

The Argentines also had a lot of problems that time - out of the six aircraft of the strike group, only four reached the target. Another decrepit Skyhawk was unable to carry out its bombing mission due to a failure of the bomb release mechanism.

The events of the Falklands War were marked by a whole range of amazing decisions and military ingenuity.
Having used up their stock of air-based anti-ship Exocets, the Argentines turned to improvisation. From the old destroyer Segui, local craftsmen removed and reprogrammed two ship-based Exocets - both missiles were delivered by transport plane to the Falkland Islands, where they were secretly deployed on the coast in anticipation of British ships. The target designation was provided by the army mobile radar RASIT.

On June 12, 1982, the destroyer Glamorgan came under fire from the shore - the first missile missed, the second struck the upper deck in the area of ​​the helipad and exploded, creating a 5-meter hole. The fragments and products of the explosion penetrated into the helicopter hangar, where the fully fueled helicopter was located at that time. The fire raged for four hours, and 14 sailors died fighting the fire. The next day, with the help of the floating workshops, the destroyer managed to regain its limited combat capability.

As in any war, there is a bit of black humor here.
Trying to stop the advance of Her Majesty's fleet, the Argentines began to use anything that could fly and bomb as bombers, including the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft (an analogue of the domestic An-12). On May 29, 1982, the Hercules discovered the lonely naval tanker British Way - 500-lb. immediately flew down. bombs rolled by hand from a folded cargo ramp. Despite the absence of any aiming devices, more than half of the ammunition hit the target and, naturally, did not explode.

The bold raids of the C-130 “bomber” ended sadly - two days later the Argentine Hercules was discovered and attacked by a carrier-based SeaHarrier. However, shooting down a military transport aircraft turned out to be not an easy task - the huge Hercules ignored the hit of the AIM-9 Saudwinder missile, continuing to pull towards the shore on its three remaining engines. The pilot of the SeaHarrier, Lieutenant Ward, had to fire the entire ammunition load of the guns - which is 260 shells - in order to destroy the Argentine "sea corsair".

The tragicomedy in the South Atlantic lasted 74 days and cost, according to official data, 907 human lives. It is worth recognizing that both warring sides sought to minimize human losses - at the slightest threat, the units preferred not to tempt fate and surrendered. Fortunately, the fighting took place over the ocean and over deserted, practically uninhabited islands, which made it possible to exclude civilian casualties - the military solved their problems in a fair fight.
The traditions of the Wehrmacht played a certain role in the undoubted military successes of Argentina - after the end of World War II, South America became a refuge for many German military specialists. And we must admit that it was not in vain that they ate their bread in the new place - the training of Argentine officers turned out to be much better than anyone expected.

Alas, despite all efforts, Argentina lost the Falklands War to smithereens - when 80% of the bombs that hit the target do not explode, one cannot dream of victory. The British fleet turned out to be no simple adversary - with the help of nuclear submarines, the British drove the Argentine fleet into its bases in a matter of days. The Falkland Islands garrison was isolated and victory was only a matter of time. The British took dear revenge for the death of their warships - 74 Argentine Air Force aircraft did not return to the airfields. It is noteworthy that the SeaHarrier carrier-based fighters accounted for only 28% of the destroyed Argentine aircraft, the rest of the aircraft were chalked up by air defense systems and anti-aircraft artillery of Her Majesty’s ships.

On November 8, 2012, an article was published: “Special forces actions during the Falkland Islands War” http://maxpark.com/community/832/content/1647149

Some community members asked for more detailed coverage of the fighting.

The 1982 Anglo-Argentine armed Falklands conflict, known as the Falklands War, resulted in the largest naval battle since World War II. On the British side, two aircraft carriers, over 70 vertical take-off and landing aircraft "Sea Harrier" and "Harrier" and 80 helicopters took part in the hostilities.

The results of military operations in the Falklands War in the South Atlantic were carefully analyzed by specialists from the leading naval powers and influenced the formation of their fleet construction programs. Including our Navy. Therefore, I will dwell on some details of these military actions.

Argentine troops landing on ships

For more than 150 years, the Falkland Islands (in Argentina they are called the Malvinas) Islands have been a disputed territory between Great Britain and Argentina. After many countries introduced a 200-mile zone, within which their right to industrial development on the seabed and fishing extends, coastal waters and the coastal shelf of islands began to acquire particular value. On March 13, 1982, the Argentine government demanded that Great Britain return the islands to its jurisdiction. However, the negotiations did not lead to anything, and already in early April 1982 landing force The Argentine Navy captured the Falklands. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made a statement at an emergency session of Parliament that her government's goal was to quickly restore British administration to the islands. The Falklands War became inevitable.

Argentine Marines land

For two and a half months, Great Britain built up its forces in the South Atlantic. By the start of hostilities in May 1982, the British military had concentrated 50 warships and 48 auxiliary vessels in the area of ​​the Falkland Islands, located off the coast of South America and Antarctica at a distance of 13,000 km from England.

The core of the formation of British surface ships were two aircraft carriers - Hermes and Invincible, which, together with escort ships, created two carrier strike groups. The defense of aircraft carriers was given Special attention, primarily from the impact of Argentine aviation. Four container ships of the Atlantic Conveyor and Atlantic Causeway types were converted into aircraft carriers in just a week, each carrying 10-20 Harrier aircraft. On board some British ships were nuclear weapon, ready for immediate use. The Falklands conflict could well go beyond a conventional war.

By the beginning of the Falklands War, Argentina outnumbered the enemy in aircraft (7 to 1) and in the number of ground forces (1.5 to 1).

On May 2, 1982, the British nuclear submarine Conqueror, following the target designation of US space reconnaissance, attacked and sank the only Argentine cruiser General Belgrano with three torpedoes. 368 crew members were killed, becoming the first casualties of the Falklands War. Fearing further losses, the command of the Argentine Navy returned all surface ships to their bases, and the Skyhawks from the only Argentine aircraft carrier Veinticinco de Mayo were relocated to Tierra del Fuego. The Argentine military command decided to conduct combat operations using shore-based aircraft with refueling aircraft in the air using Hercules-type tankers.

Downed British SeaHarrier fighter. Falklands

However, the British aircraft carriers Hermes and Invincible with escort ships moved 86 miles northeast of the Falkland Islands - to the limit of the reach of the Argentine Air Force and themselves widely used their aircraft to destroy enemy ships, vessels and aircraft, as well as to carry out strikes along runways at Falkland Islands airfields and at coastal facilities. Sea Harrier aircraft carried out continuous air defense of the British fleet, making an average of six sorties per day, each lasting an hour and a half. They sank the Argentine transport Rio Carcarana, the frigate Comodoro Somellera, the reconnaissance ship Narval and damaged the patrol ship.

Photo showing the Argentine Mirage V at an extremely low altitudenext to British ships on May 24, 1982

On May 4, 1982, two Argentine Super-Etandars attacked the British destroyers Plymouth and Sheffield with Exoset AM38 anti-ship cruise missiles from a distance of 37 km. Having approached the ships, the missiles captured targets and continued flying in homing mode at an altitude of 2-3 m above the water. On the Plymouth, the missiles were detected 40 seconds before approach and they managed to put up a curtain of dipole reflectors, protecting the ship from damage. On the Sheffield, the missiles were discovered only 4-6 seconds before the hit. One of the missiles struck the starboard side at a height of 2.4 m from the waterline. After five hours of fighting for survivability, the crew, who lost 20 people killed and 28 wounded, abandoned the ship, which sank on May 10, 1982 while being towed. The loss of Sheffield was the biggest shock to Britain during the Falklands conflict.

Launch of the Exocet anti-ship missile from an Argentine Super Etender aircraft at the Sheffield destroyer

On May 25, 1982, the day of the Argentine national holiday, 72 aircraft of the Argentine Navy dealt the most powerful blow to the British Navy unit. The Skyhawk and Mirage aircraft sank the English destroyer Coventry, the second Sheffield class for this company, and damaged the destroyer Broadsward. Timely passive interference - dipole reflectors - thwarted the defeat of the main target of this attack, the Hermes aircraft carrier. However, one of the Exocet missiles fired hit the Atlantic Conveyor transport, which sank five days later. On June 8, an Argentine Skyhawk sunk the large tank-landing ship Sir Gellahead with three 227-kilogram bombs that hit ammunition prepared for unloading. The second similar ship, Sir Tristram, was seriously damaged. Argentine attack aircraft used Exoset AM38 anti-ship subsonic missiles weighing 735 kg with a warhead weighing 165 kg, which could hit targets at a distance of up to 70 km.

British destroyer Sheffield hit by Argentine aircraft

The British government presented Argentina with an ultimatum to withdraw Argentine troops from the Falklands within 48 hours. The ultimatum was not accepted, and on May 2, an English frigate sank an Argentine tanker. In mid-May, British commandos raided Pebble Island and destroyed enemy aircraft and weapons depots located there. On May 17 and 21, the British side demanded the withdrawal of Argentine troops from the Falklands within 14 days. Argentina again refused.

British special forces before the assault on the islands

On May 21, British troops landed in the Falklands. The operation involved 22 thousand soldiers, 2 aircraft carriers, 7 destroyers, 7 landing ships, 3 nuclear submarines, 40 Harrier vertical take-off fighter-bombers and 35 helicopters. Two days later, the British captured the villages of Port Darwin and Goose Green on East Falkland Island.

British special forces in battle

The group of Argentine troops on the islands numbered 12,000 people. About 150 Argentinean aircraft, reaching the combat area at the limit of the tactical radius, were over the targets for no more than 2-3 minutes due to the fuel reserves they had. Thus, the Argentine command was unable to organize serious opposition to the British landing.

Medical assistance under fire

Between 21 and 30 May, a total of 8,500 men landed on the islands. By June 2, the British blockaded the main city of the Falkland Islands, Port Stanley, from sea and land. On June 15, its garrison was forced to capitulate.

The stricken British destroyer Coventry falls on its side

During the Falklands conflict, a total of up to 60,000 personnel, over 180 ships and vessels and up to 350 combat aircraft took part in the fighting on both sides. For this period Falklands War Britain lost two missile destroyer Sheffield class, two Ardent class missile frigates, a large tank landing ship, and the Atlantic Conveyor container ship. There were many hits on the British ships, but for some reason the fuses of the American 227 and 454 kg bombs did not go off and English sappers neutralized the stuck bombs inside the ships. British losses in aviation - 10 aircraft, 24 helicopters. Losses in people: 225 people killed, 777 wounded. Four squadrons of Sea Harrier vertical take-off aircraft from the Hermes and Invincible aircraft carriers shot down 23 Argentine aircraft without losing a single one of their own.

Argentina lost a cruiser, a submarine, a patrol vessel, a frigate, three transports, a trawler and two boats in the Falklands War. Aviation losses - 142 aircraft. Casualties in people: 690 killed, 186 wounded. Noteworthy is the large difference in aviation losses between the two sides, which is associated with the active use by the British of electronic countermeasures, especially clouds of dipole reflectors, which Argentina did not have.

Argentina's defeat in the Falklands War was due to both the enemy's superiority at sea and more high level training of British paratroopers.

British special forces

Since 2001, April 2 is celebrated in Argentina as the Day of Veterans and War Fallen. Thousands of survivors still experience ongoing stress. “Malvinas syndrome” continues to claim lives in all the years that have passed since the surrender of the Argentine expeditionary force.

About 200 Argentine veterans of the Malvinas conflict committed suicide, almost 4 thousand combatants returned home disabled. More than half of veterans are unable to control their aggressiveness, which does not allow them to adapt to society.

The 45th Airborne Battalion enters Port Stanley after a forty-kilometer march.

CIA opposition to Soviet plans to assist Argentina

Part of the military and political archives of the USA, Great Britain, Argentina, Pakistan and the Taliban, declassified in 2010-2012, shows that the plan was comprehensive. London then carried out a large-scale military operation abroad - one might say, distant lands from Great Britain itself. Of course, with the aim of restoring British colonial power on these very remote islands. According to some reports, due to the presence of large oil and gas resources there, as well as due to the top-secret underwater military and intelligence facilities of Great Britain in that area. This operation was carried out with the support of the United States.

And its implementation was facilitated by the difficult socio-economic situation within the USSR and in its relations with a number of neighboring states. And, perhaps, the first factor here was Soviet policy in Afghanistan, against which Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, China, Western powers and underground ultra-Islamist groups in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan actually rallied into a single bloc.

According to British intelligence, Moscow was allegedly “ready to provide Argentina with warships, aircraft and missiles (SS type) in exchange for supplies of grain and beef at preferential prices.”

And, if the war had become protracted, support from the USSR could have been the only chance for Argentina.

However, the US administration and American corporations, skillfully combining various levers of influence on Argentina (from financial and economic to political) prevented not only a Soviet-Argentine military-political “link”, but also forced Buenos Aires to reduce supplies of beef and grain to the USSR at preferential rates prices. The Americans also achieved that Argentina’s neighbors declared their neutrality, and the Chileans, for example, stopped laying claim to the five British South Pacific Pitcairn Islands located near the Chilean Easter Island

As for the British-American plan to prevent the possible participation of the USSR in Argentina's war with the British, it was put into effect, we repeat, from early to mid-April 1982. And it was agreed upon with the main allies of Washington and London at that time.

The main provisions of the plan were as follows.

1 . Stimulating terrorist attacks and separatism in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Already in February-April 1982, in these republics, with the help of the Afghan Mujahideen, as well as British, American and Pakistani intelligence services, the network of ultra-Islamist groups of local chauvinists was expanded - in particular, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the against the Soviet occupation of the Khanate of Khiva, the Khanate of Kokand and the Emirate of Bukhara”, “committees to support the struggle of Afghanistan”, “Alliance for the Liberation of the Pamirs”. For example, it was planned explosion of the Nurek hydroelectric power station in Tajikistan, one of the largest in Asia.

Various kinds of anti-Soviet and anti-Russian actions have become more frequent. Moreover, direct or indirect assistance to these groups was provided either by special services or “non-governmental humanitarian foundations” of Pakistan, Iran, China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan. And at the same time the situation worsened Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

The intelligence services of Syria, India, Northern (YAR) and Southern (NDRY) Yemen helped counter some operations of this kind in the USSR. But the situation in the region naturally restrained Moscow’s foreign policy activity. Moreover, in ultra-remote South America and the South Atlantic.

2. A sharp strengthening of the US and British Air Forces and Navy, including through long-range weapons, in the British Chagos Archipelago (in the center of the Indian Ocean), British Gibraltar and British territories In Cyprus.

Options for “freezing” or slow skipping were prepared Soviet Navy through the Strait of Gibraltar (between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean).

The British Navy and Air Force were also strengthened on the islands belonging to Great Britain in the Western and South Atlantic (Anguilla, Bermuda, Virgin Islands, Montserrat, St. Helena, Ascension, Turks and Caicos).

3. A “collective” request to the UN was being prepared, combining the situation in Afghanistan with the “Soviet occupation of the Khiva, Kokand Khanates and the Bukhara Emirate.”

4 . Pressure on Moscow increased in all directions. Namely: in April-May there was an increase in military tension on the Syrian-Israeli ceasefire line (1973). Israel began to invade Lebanon more often and bomb it (in order to shackle Moscow and Damascus in this situation). At the same time, American-South Korean provocations against the DPRK became more frequent, which, we recall, was linked to the USSR by a mutual military assistance treaty (1961).

5. In April-May 1982, the USA and Great Britain disrupted the conclusion of some contracts on the well-known Soviet-Western European project “Gas-Pipes” (see, for example, “Economic relations of the USSR and CMEA countries with the West”, M., 1984).

6. The United States increased the number of its troops and strengthened their weapons in the Aleutian Islands neighboring the USSR. The same was done at US bases in Spain, Portugal, Guantanamo (southeast Cuba), Okinawa (southern Japan), the Philippines, US-owned Puerto Rico, Hawaii, parts of the Virgin Islands and the Panama Canal Zone.

7. The undermining of the Warsaw Pact “from within” continued. Namely: Romania, which criticized the USSR’s policy on many issues, including Afghanistan, began to receive significant assistance from the West (and Israel) in the creation of Romanian atomic weapons in the spring of 1982.

Perhaps all these circumstances did not allow the USSR to directly support Argentina in the Falklands War.

The 2nd Parachute Battalion celebrates victory.

British media in the 1980s. claimed that the Soviet satellites Kosmos-1345 and Kosmos-1346, launched on March 31, 1982 (by the way, on the eve of the Falklands War), monitored the situation around the Falkland Islands, including the movements of the British fleet. And the information received was allegedly transmitted through Cuba to the Argentine command. It was also indicated that information received after overflights by Soviet reconnaissance aircraft of the British Navy heading to the conflict area was also transmitted to the Argentines.

On May 14, 1982, the British Ambassador to the USSR, Curtis Keeble, was urgently summoned to the Soviet Foreign Ministry. He was protested that “the British side, apparently in terms of diplomatic cover for their military actions in the South Atlantic, several times turned to the Soviet side with so-called “warnings”, which are completely inappropriate and aimed at creating a fiction about some then the “involvement” of the Soviet Union in the Anglo-Argentine conflict.”

Anyway, soviet planes Long-range reconnaissance Tu-95s, based at the airfields of Conakry (Guinea) and Luanda (Angola), observed British ships heading to the south Atlantic, but did not approach the conflict islands.

According to the recollections of reconnaissance aircraft pilot Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Bulbenkov, “we led the British along the South Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay to the islands without entering the conflict zone.

The beginning of the war is considered to be March 28, 1982, the day when the Argentine fleet left its naval bases. The specifics of the conflict, associated with the island location of the disputed territories, made the establishment of control over the adjacent sea area the key to victory, which required the involvement of significant naval forces by both sides

The Falkland (Malvinas) archipelago, consisting of two large (West and East Falkland) and about two hundred small islands and rocks, is located in the southwestern part Atlantic Ocean. Despite the small size of these pieces of land lost in the ocean, the Anglo-Argentine conflict for sovereignty over them has been going on for 182 years. Official date The beginning of the conflict is considered to be 1833, when the English landing on the archipelago disarmed and deported to their homeland the Argentine garrison, which had occupied this former Spanish territory since 1820. The conflict was in a sluggish stage for quite a long time - since 1833, the Argentine government annually lodged a protest with Great Britain, which was traditionally rejected, until information about a giant oil field in the archipelago area spread in the mid-1960s. For a long time it seemed that the parties would be able to find a peaceful solution to the issue, but the Argentine leadership, encouraged by the sluggish reaction of Great Britain to the creation of an Argentine military base on the disputed South Sandwich Islands in 1977, nevertheless decided to act by military means. The schematic plan, codenamed "Rosario", envisaged the occupation of the islands within five days in a bloodless operation, followed by the establishment of a military administration there. The Argentines were so confident that there would be no military reaction from Great Britain that after the end of the operation they intended to withdraw the bulk of their troops from the islands, with the exception of a limited garrison to guard the military governor. The plan, somewhat later renamed Azul, was approved on March 16, 1982 and envisaged the start of the operation after May 30. However, information received about the departure from Montevideo of the British Navy auxiliary vessel John Biscoe with a unit Marine Corps to strengthen the garrison of the Falkland Islands forced the Argentine government to decide to postpone the operation. The beginning of the Anglo-Argentine armed conflict, known in the USA and Europe as the “South Atlantic Conflict”, in Argentina as the “Malvinas Conflict”, and in the UK as the “South Atlantic War” or “Falklands War”, it is generally accepted that March 28, 1982 is the day when The Argentine fleet abandoned its naval bases.

The specifics of the conflict, associated with the island location of the disputed territories, made the establishment of control over the adjacent sea area the key to victory, which required the parties to attract significant naval forces. Both sides of the conflict had relatively numerous naval forces, which included aircraft carriers with jet aircraft on board, as well as ships armed with guided missile weapons.

Number of Argentine and British navies in the South Atlantic

Ship class	Argentina	Great Britain
Aircraft carriers
Cruisers
Destroyers
Patrol vessels
Minesweepers
Nuclear submarines
Diesel submarines
Landing ships
Landing helicopter dock ships
Transports and support vessels

Despite the short duration (the conflict lasted 74 days) and the anecdotal nature of some events, the Falklands War had a significant impact on the development of navies in the world.

Submarine warfare

To participate in the Falklands War, the command of the British fleet allocated four submarines (including three nuclear-powered ones). The Argentine Navy had four diesel submarines, of which one (Santa Fe) was of limited combat capability, and two (Salta and Santiago del Estero) required major repairs. During the entire war, four cases of the use of submarines were noted.

Hunt for the Santa Fe submarine

Information about the Argentine submarine Santa Fe heading to the port of Grytviken (South Georgia archipelago) was received by the British on April 23 around noon as a result of radio interception of communications between the Argentine Hercules C-130 aircraft and the submarine. The search for the submarine was carried out by six English anti-submarine helicopters. "Santa Fe", traveling on the surface (the boat could not give more than 13 knots of speed, had problems with torpedo armament and batteries), was discovered by a helicopter from the destroyer "Entrim" using radar equipment at dawn on April 25 and attacked by two Mk.11 depth charges. As a result of underwater explosions, three holes were formed in the boat's hull below the waterline, most of the equipment was damaged, and a fire started. An anti-submarine helicopter from the frigate "Brilliant" fired a Mk.46 torpedo at the submarine, which did not explode, since the object of attack was at a depth of less than 4 m. Then two helicopters from the destroyer "Endurance", and later a helicopter from the frigate "Plymouth" attacked boat missile strike with AS.12 anti-ship missiles. In both cases, the missiles did not explode, so the pilots fired at the Santa Fe from heavy machine guns. The crew of the Santa Fe managed to put out the fire and, firing from automatic small arms, moored to the pier at Cape King Edward, where the sailors left the boat and joined the garrison at Grytviken.

Submarine "Santa Fe" (entered service in 1944)
Source: smg.photobucket.com

Attack by the submarine "San Luis" on the destroyer "Coventry" and the frigate "Arrow"

On the morning of May 1, the Argentine submarine San Luis discovered the ships of the British radar patrol (the destroyer Coventry and the frigate Arrow) and launched an attack with one torpedo on the destroyer Coventry from a distance of 6.21 miles. The wire-guided SS-T-4 Telefunken torpedo exited normally torpedo tube, but after three minutes the connection with her was interrupted, and control was lost. Moving in a straight line after losing control, at the final segment of the distance the torpedo, guided by its own on-board homing equipment, aimed and hit the Mk-182 anti-torpedo acoustic device, towed by the frigate Arrow. The British search for the Argentine submarine lasted 20 hours, as a result of which it was discovered by anti-submarine defense helicopters from the Hermes aircraft carrier. This allowed the frigates Diamond and Yarmouth to establish hydroacoustic contact with the submarine and attack it with three helicopters using depth charges and a Mk-46 torpedo. All attacks were ineffective - the Argentine submariners managed to break away from the enemy thanks to the successful use of hydroacoustic countermeasures.

The sinking of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano

The search for the Argentine task force "79.3" consisting of the cruiser "General Belgrano", the destroyers "Hipolito Bouchar" and "Piedra Buena" for the first time in history was carried out on the basis of space reconnaissance data (received on April 28 from the United States) by the nuclear submarine "Conqueror".

British nuclear submarine"Conqueror" (entered into service in 1971)
Source: wikimedia.org

British submariners were able to establish direct visual contact with the Argentine formation on April 30. Despite the use of underwater hydroacoustic systems by the Argentine destroyers, on May 1 the Conqueror submarine was able to take up a tracking position at a distance of 25 cables from the enemy. On May 2, at about 15:45, having received an order to attack any Argentine warships, the boat took a position south of the cruiser heading a direct course. The torpedo attack was carried out at 15:57 from a distance of less than 1 mile with three Mk-8 torpedoes fired in a fan pattern. Two torpedoes hit the General Belgrano (the first hit the hull near the aft engine room; the second exploded 20 m from the ship’s stem) and one hit the destroyer Hipolito Bouchar (the torpedo did not explode). As a result of a torpedo hitting the cruiser's engine room, a hole was formed, power supply systems and mechanisms were disabled (this left the ship without electricity), and he was killed personnel the engine room watch shift, as well as personnel resting in two wardrooms located above the engine room (of the 275 sailors who were there, 234 died). As a result of the explosion of the second torpedo, which hit the nasal tip, which was unprotected by armor and anti-torpedo boules, the ship's tank along the first main caliber turret was torn off (the total length of the torn section was 20 m). 20 minutes after the explosion, when the list reached 21°, the commander of the cruiser ordered to abandon the dying ship. On board the General Belgrano were 56 officers, 627 petty officers, 408 sailors and two civilian stewards. Total losses amounted to 323 people (about 30% of the ship's crew), while greatest number losses were among junior command personnel (about 50%).

The cruiser General Belgrano (launched in 1938). By the end of 1982, it was planned to withdraw it from the fleet and sell it to the USA to organize a museum ship
Source: wunderwafe.ru

Attack by the submarine "San Luis" on the frigates "Alacriti" and "Arrow"

On the night of May 11, the British frigates Alacrity and Arrow were discovered by the Argentine submarine San Luis, which fired a salvo of two SST-4 torpedoes from a distance of 2.86 miles (one torpedo did not exit the torpedo tube, and the second did not two and a half minutes later the remote control cable broke. The speed with which the enemy ships were moving did not allow the Argentine submariners to carry out a second attack.

Use of high-precision air-launched anti-ship missiles

The Falklands War is the first conflict in which air-launched anti-ship missiles (ASMs) were used. The theory of using these munitions assumed the approach of attack aircraft to the area where ships were located at low and then ultra-low altitudes (up to 50 m), followed by a short climb to 150–200 m to turn on the radar in order to capture the target, followed by the launch of missiles. To neutralize this method of using missiles, it was considered sufficient to create three echelons of air defense - the long-range radar detection echelon (AWACS), the main air defense echelon and the short-range air defense echelon. It was planned to use groups of destroyers or frigates deployed at a distance of 200–220 km from the center as AWACS. By the beginning of the war, Argentina had five aircraft carrying anti-ship missiles (the French Super Etandar, whose crews did not have time to undergo training for takeoff from an aircraft carrier, which forced them to take off from land airfields and refuel in the air), as well as six anti-ship missiles. Exoset AM39. Due to limited funds, Argentine aircraft used anti-ship missiles in only two cases.

Argentine torpedo bomber "Super Etandar"
Source: ru.wikipedia.org

Sinking of the destroyer Sheffield

On the morning of May 4, the Argentine command decided to attack a British carrier strike force that was maneuvering northeast of Port Stanley and discovered by a reconnaissance aircraft. The air defense of the aircraft carrier formation was organized according to standard scheme in three echelons, the British used the destroyers Coventry, Sheffield and Glasgow as AWACS, which patrolled at a distance of 220 km from the center of the convoy.

Diagram of an air attack on the destroyer Sheffield
Source: Foreign Journal military review", No. 8 for 1984

The radar stations installed on ships made it possible to detect high-altitude targets at a distance of 300 km, but the detection range of low-flying targets was 30 km (in fact, as a result of interference from the sea surface, it did not exceed 20 km). The Argentine strike group included five Super Etandar aircraft (two strike and one reserve, each of which was armed with one Exocet anti-ship missile), two more aircraft served as tankers. The strike group was guided by the R-2N Neptune patrol aircraft. The approach of the attack aircraft to the area where the British ships were located was carried out at a speed of 900 km/h at low and then ultra-low altitudes (40–50 m) from a less threatening southern direction for the British in radio silence. At a distance of 46 km, the flight altitude was increased to 150 m and the onboard radar was briefly turned on, which made it possible to detect the destroyers Sheffield and Glasgow. The missiles were launched from a distance of 37 km (according to other sources - 30 km). Thus, the missiles were launched outside the potential detection zone of low-flying targets by English radars (as it turned out later, the Sheffield radar was completely turned off to ensure the operation of the Skynet communication line). One of the missiles was detected by the Glasgow radar crew and disoriented using dipole reflectors, and the second hit the Sheffield destroyer. The missile did not explode, but punched a hole measuring 4.5 by 1.2 m in the hull 1.8 m above the waterline, passing through the control station power plant and the combat information center room, got stuck in the survivability post, causing a fire. Because of large quantity flammable decorative materials, foam fillers for thermal insulation of ship structures, synthetic fabrics and paints, the fire began to spread quickly, and the temperature at its epicenter reached 950–1100°C, which caused the ignition of aluminum-magnesium structural elements of the superstructures. The burning stopped only in the evening of May 5, after several central compartments and part of the ship's superstructure had completely burned out. On May 10, the destroyer sank while being towed.

Fire on the destroyer Sheffield after being hit by an anti-ship missile
Source: naval.com.br

The sinking of the Atlantic Conveyor aircraft

On May 25, at 14:34, two Argentine Super Etandars launched an attack on a British aircraft carrier force near East Falkland Island. The flight took place at an altitude of 30 meters above sea level. When 150 miles remained to the expected location of the British ships, the Argentines dropped to 10 m. At 16:14, the pilot of the leading aircraft increased the altitude and briefly turned on the on-board radar. At 16:20 both pilots launched their rockets. The operation of the Super Etandarov onboard radars was detected by the radar of the destroyer Exeter, about which the ships of the aircraft carrier group were notified. To set false targets, specially equipped helicopters took off from the aircraft carriers Hermes and Invincible. As a result, the British managed to divert the missiles from their aircraft carriers, and the Exocets shot down from the combat course were retargeted at another large facility - the Atlantic Conveyor air transport. The missiles hit the aft part of the left side of the aircraft, resulting in the death of 11 crew members. A strong fire started on the ship, and after there was a threat of an explosion of ammunition, it was decided to remove the crew from it.

Burning Atlantic Conveyor
Source: fourfax.co.uk

Air attacks on British ships using bombs, rockets and cannons

In the 1960s–70s, small-caliber anti-aircraft automatic guns were considered an anachronism, which affected the composition of the anti-aircraft weapons of British ships (out of 25 escort ships, 9 had no anti-aircraft guns at all, and the rest had 1–2 20 mm caliber guns). The Argentines had two destroyers built in Great Britain according to the Sheffield project, which allowed them to develop an effective system of attacks on British ships. The attack was supposed to be carried out from low altitudes in several successive waves from different sides of the ship, reaching the target from sharp aft corners - this was supposed to complicate the work of anti-aircraft missile systems.

Attack of the destroyer Glamorgan and the frigates Arrow and Alakriti

On May 1, at 5:25 p.m., a strike trio of Argentine Dagger M-5 aircraft (the Israeli version of the French Mirage fighter-bomber), each armed with two 227-kilogram bombs, attacked a group of British ships including the destroyer Glamorgan. , frigates "Arrow" and "Alacriti". The Argentine pilots reached the target at maximum speed and at low altitude. Active opposition from the British came down to the use of anti-aircraft guns by the destroyer Glamorgan. missile complex"Sea Cat", frigate "Arrow" opened fire from the bow artillery installation, and the frigate "Alakriti" - used light machine gun small caliber. The Argentine planes, which were not damaged, dropped bombs, but none of them hit the target (close explosions only slightly damaged the hulls of the Glamorgan and Alacrity). Already at the exit from the attack, Argentinean planes fired at the Arrow, achieving eight hits from 30-mm shells and wounding one sailor.

Damage to the destroyer Glasgow

The attack on the destroyer Glasgow and the frigate Diamond, discovered on May 12 at 11 a.m. by an Argentine patrol helicopter at a distance of 30 miles from Port Stanley, was carried out by eight Skyhawk A-4B attack aircraft and six Dagger M-5 armed Mk-17 bombs, the fuses of which were adjusted to have a 25-30 second explosion delay. The attack was supposed to be carried out in two successive groups with an interval of 7 minutes. During the battle near Glasgow, the Sea Dart missile system malfunctioned, which forced the ship to fire from the bow universal launcher and small arms. Fire from the Sea Wolf missile system of the frigate Diamond managed to destroy three of the four attacking Skyhawks (the bomb dropped by the fourth aircraft ricocheted off the surface and flew over the Glasgow). The second group of Argentine aircraft, 7 miles before the target, made several evasive maneuvers (this allowed them to free themselves from being captured by the Sea Wolf radar) and carried out dive bombing (two bombs exploded near the Glasgow, one hit the destroyer, but did not explode, and another one ricocheted and flew over the Diamond). Subsequently, British repair teams managed to restore the watertightness of the Glasgow hull and return the ship to service.

Battle over Death Valley

On May 22, 1982, at 10:31 a.m., Argentine aviation (two flights of three Dagger M-5s, armed with Mk-17 and BRP-250 aerial bombs) launched the first strike on British ships in the Falkland Strait. During the attack of the first three on the frigate Broadsword, two air bombs were dropped (they did not hit the ship) and shelling was carried out from aircraft guns(14 people were injured and two helicopters were damaged). The second trio hit the destroyer Antrim with two air bombs (both bombs did not explode, and one of them got stuck in the aft missile cellar), which caused a fire and failure of some of the ship's systems. When re-entering the Entrim, the Argentines fired at it with cannon fire (seven people were wounded; to save the ship from the explosion, they had to throw Sea Slag anti-aircraft missiles overboard).

The aircraft of the second strike group attacked the frigates Argonot and Ardent. As a result of the attack of the frigate Argonot, passing through the radar “dead zone” (the British noticed the enemy only visually), five Skyhawks dropped 10 Mk-17 bombs, two of which hit the ship (both bombs did not explode), and eight exploded in close proximity to it. One unexploded aerial bomb broke the main steam line between the boiler and engine rooms, destroyed the boiler electric fan, steering gear and reverse gear, which led to the complete loss of the ship's speed. The second bomb got stuck in the ammunition magazine, causing the detonation of the missile ammunition (killing 2 people) and a fire. During the attack of the frigate "Ardent" by three "Daggers" (height - 50 m, approach from the stern of the ship, covered only by a 20-mm cannon), the pilots achieved three hits (two bombs hit the hangar, the third - the aft compartment auxiliary mechanisms). A repeated attack on the frigate Ardent was carried out by a flight of Skyhawk A-4Q (re-attack from the stern), which scored seven hits with aerial bombs (killing 22 people and injuring 37 people). As a result of the explosions, a fire broke out, the spread of which was facilitated by significant reserves of fuel in the tanks, bulkheads and superstructures of the ship made of aluminum alloys, flammable insulation of electrical cable routes and a variety of decorative synthetic materials. Recognizing the impossibility of extinguishing the fire, the crew abandoned the ship, which exploded a day later.

Burning British frigate Ardent

100 great wars Sokolov Boris Vadimovich

ANGLO-ARGENTINE (FALKLANDS) WAR (1982)

ANGLO-ARGENTINE (FALKLANDS) WAR

The war between England and Argentina for control of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), lying in the South Atlantic 400 km from the Argentine coast.

These islands are in the possession of England, but its rights are disputed by Argentina, which claims that the archipelago was first discovered by Spanish sailors in the mid-16th century, before the British visited it. In 1820, after declaring independence from Spain, the United Provinces of La Plata (future Argentina) claimed the Falklands, which the Spaniards called the Malvinas Islands. In 1829, the Argentine military governor and a small detachment of soldiers landed there. In 1833, English ships arrived here, declared the archipelago a British possession, and the Argentines on it were taken to their homeland. Argentina never recognized the Falklands as British territory.

In 1982, the military government of Argentina, led by President General L. Galtieri, was in a state of crisis, experiencing increasing discontent among the population due to the deteriorating economic situation of the country. In order to distract the people from the hardships of life and stay in power on a patriotic upsurge, Galtieri decided to seize the Falkland Islands by force. He hoped that England would not fight over several rocky islands located 13 thousand km from the British Isles. Moreover, their population did not exceed 2 thousand people (the overwhelming majority were descendants of British settlers).

March 19, 1982 on the island. South Georgia, an uninhabited island ruled from the Falklands capital Port Stanley and located 800 miles from the archipelago, was landed by several dozen Argentine workers under the pretext that they needed to dismantle an old whaling station. Instead, they raised the Argentine flag on the island. English soldiers tried to expel them from South Georgia, but Argentine troops came to the aid of the workers. On April 2 they also landed on the Falkland Islands.

A company of 80 British marines located in Port Stanley, on the orders of Governor R. Hunt, capitulated without resistance. Galtieri appointed the commander of the Argentine Expeditionary Force, General M.B., as the new governor. Menendoza. England broke off diplomatic relations with Argentina that same day.

On April 3, the UN Security Council adopted resolution No. 502, calling on the parties to resolve the conflict over the Falklands through negotiations. England demanded the withdrawal of Argentine troops as a condition for the start of negotiations. Buenos Aires agreed to negotiations, but refused to withdraw troops.

On April 5, a British squadron of 40 ships, led by the aircraft carriers Hermes and Invisible, with a 10,000-strong expeditionary force on board, sailed from Portsmouth to the South Atlantic. On April 7, the British Secretary of Defense announced that, starting from April 12, the British fleet would sink all Argentine ships that were within a radius of 200 miles or closer to the Falkland Islands. Argentina responded by calling up reservists and sending additional troops to the islands. The airfield at Port Stanley began to be converted to receive military aircraft.

On April 25, the British squadron landed troops on South Georgia, which captured the Argentine garrison without a fight. On April 30, England imposed a complete military and naval blockade of the Falklands. British aircraft from aircraft carriers attacked the Argentine positions on the islands, disabled both airfields and damaged several enemy combat aircraft and helicopters. On May 2, a submarine sunk the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano, which was outside the 200-mile exclusion zone declared by the British. 386 crew members were killed. On the same day, Argentine planes sank the British destroyer Sheffield, killing 30 people.

The British government presented Argentina with an ultimatum to withdraw Argentine troops from the Falklands within 48 hours. The ultimatum was not accepted, and on May 2, an English frigate sank an Argentine tanker. In mid-May, British commandos raided Pebble Island and destroyed enemy aircraft and weapons depots located there. On May 17 and 21, the British side demanded the withdrawal of Argentine troops from the Falklands within 14 days. Argentina again refused.

On May 21, British troops landed in the Falklands. The operation involved 22 thousand soldiers, 2 aircraft carriers, 7 destroyers, 7 landing ships, 3 nuclear submarines, 40 Harrier vertical take-off fighter-bombers and 35 helicopters. Two days later, the British captured the villages of Port Darwin and Goose Green on East Falkland Island.

On May 26, the Argentine government proposed to withdraw troops of both sides to their bases within 30 days and transfer the islands to UN administration for the period of negotiations. However, the British did not doubt their victory and did not respond to the Argentine proposals.

On May 30, Argentine planes managed to damage the aircraft carrier Invincible, but this did not have any impact on the course of the British operation to liberate the Falkland Islands. On June 12, British marines and paratroopers surrounded Port Stanley. On June 14, a ceasefire agreement was reached, and on June 15, the 10,000-strong Argentine garrison led by General Menendos capitulated. Argentine losses were about 700 killed, British losses were about 250 dead. Shortly after the surrender, President Galtieri resigned. Power in Argentina passed to a civilian government. General Galtieri was sentenced to 12 years in prison for starting a war with England, of which he served 7 years.

As a result of the Falklands War, British sovereignty was restored. In February 1990, Anglo-Argentine diplomatic relations were restored.

Argentina's defeat in the Falklands War was due both to the enemy's superiority at sea and to the higher level of training of British paratroopers.

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