France, being an ally of the United Kingdom, recalled all technicians, which left Argentine scientists and electronic engineers to figure out a way to make the missiles take input from the plane's computers. Additionally, the required programming for the missiles to interact with the Etendard's computers had not been completed by French engineers when the conflict broke out. 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.
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.
#THE FALKLANDS WAR 1982 OSPREY PDF FULL#
The involvement of Israel in helping to return the A-4 to full operational status has been alleged, but has never been confirmed. The arms embargo placed by the United States in 1976, due to the " Dirty War", had made most airframes unusable. Īrgentina's fleet of A-4 Skyhawk attack jets was in very poor condition. Also, the A-4 Skyhawk force were dependent on the two available KC-130 tankers, limiting the number of aeroplanes which could attack simultaneously. Although the Argentines had more aeroplanes than the British Task force, a good number of them were Pucara turboprops. The long distances from their bases prevented them from using their top speed or they risked running out of fuel. About half of those were posted in the interior and along the Chilean border. īy the best estimates, Argentina had about 240 planes when the war broke out. Israel Aircraft Industries technicians that were in the country under the 1979 IAI Daggers contract continued their work during the conflict. Finally on June 4, ten Peruvian Mirage 5 with AS-30 missiles arrived to Tandil but the war ended before they could be used. 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.
This was politely declined by the Argentine government. In Argentina's favour, Peru immediately offered its support to the Argentine cause, with the Peruvian Air Force even offering to fly combat missions. 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. The option to attack Chile was a cause of great concern to the Argentina military during the war. The FAA's training, tactics and equipment were focused on a possible war against Chile, resulting from disputes such as the Beagle conflict. 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. It was not trained or equipped for such a mission. The Argentine Air Force ( Fuerza Aérea Argentina FAA), which had never fought against an external enemy since its establishment in 1912, had never considered the possibility of waging a long-range naval air campaign against a major NATO power. Consequently they were taken by surprise when the British responded with a large-scale mobilization, and a task force to retake 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. Despite initiating the war, Argentina had not prepared a plan for the subsequent defence of the islands.
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