Their Shipyards do a heck of a job at transformation!
Another term of the Cretin-in-Chief and our navy will have to rent it from the Brits.
How anyone in the military can salute that sorry piece of bottom-dwelling pond scum is beyond me.
Why, ohhhh why, cain’t Argentina leave this island group alone??? They have enough problems without tangling with the Brits again...
All they got there are sheep and mossy rocks...Geesh...
“Faukland Islands...Where the men are men, and the sheep are nervous!!!” ;-)
Can we all agree the UK has the coolest names for their battleships?
Saw “The Iron Lady” yesterday. History does indeed repeat itself.
Ok, that is pretty cool.
This makes me feel somewhat more confident about the security of the Falklands. Dauntless will be covered by at least one Astute-class as well.
Could do with more boots on the ground though.
Another important item would be a US President who didn't embolden Argentina with his anti-UK stance. If Newt won the nomination I bet it would lower tensions in the South Atlantic.
Am I missing something or are there only 48 planes in all of South America?
From a Navy that one hundred years ago had a steel wall of battleships and battle cruisers and supporting vessels protecting its country’s shores.
Their Shipyards do a heck of a job at transformation!
It had better be as advertised if things get hot. Kipling's "Odds are on the cheaper man" apply here. In the last war the Argies paired up Neptunes with Super Etendards armed with Exocet anti-ship missiles. The Neptune vectored the aircraft in, with the Etendards skimming below radar and occasionally popping up like a periscope for a bearing. The radar guys on the target, HMS Sheffield, wrote off the on again off again blips as just noise.
When the aircraft got within range, the let fly the Exocets and hit the unsuspecting ship which, because of her aluminum hull and deck, burned like a torch for six days before finally sinking. The Brits also lost HMS Ardent, HMS Antelope, MV Atlantic Conveyor and HMS Coventry. HMS Argonaut and HMS Brilliant were badly damaged. These ships were frigates and destroyers and one transport. A pretty good score for Third Worlders.
At the time there was a great hue and cry about our large carrier and battle group concept. The proponents pointed out that the Brits, who went small, suffered from being unable to project enough air power and couldn't protect these ships.
Let's hope this crap doesn't flare up again and more men die uselessly.
I was working as a contractor in Argentina when the last dustup over the Falklands occurred in the 80s.
At the time, Argentina’s economy was crap and el presidente at the time needed a distraction. He tried to start something with Chile over the southern border, but they wouldn’t bite. So, he turned to a minor, non-incident in the Falklands as the reason to go to war over the Falklands.
A little background: At the time, the Brits had been in control of the Falklands for about 150 years. And, before engaging the Argentines, the Brits asked the Falkland Islanders if they wanted to be British or Argentine. They all said British.
So, they went to war. While Argentina got in a lucky shot with an Exocet missile, ultimately, Britain sent them packing with their tail between their legs.
Unfortunately for the Argentines, the government kept lying to them about the progress of the war right up to the point they were defeated. And, the defeat stunned the people.
So, I’m surprised that they are gearing up for round 2. Although Britain has had control of the Falklands for nearly 200 years, now, the Argentines still try to claim them and refuse to give up and accept that they lost the islnds a long time ago.
Someday, reality will set in in Buenos Aires. But, apparently, not today!
Just last night we watched a special on the QE 2’s last voyage and her history. She was used to transport troops to the Falklands during the war there and had to be retrofitted (?) with reinforced decks for helicopter landing areas (2). It arrived in 16 days. Quite a fascinating program. So it’s especially interesting to see this thread.