Posted on 10/28/2014 1:25:30 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Is it true they have the only operational squadron of Sopwith Camels left in the world?
Another consequence of a communist victory in the voting in Brasil.
That is entirely possible, I mean we haven't seen Snoopy flying around here lately. Maybe he went down to Argentina to keep up his flying skills.
I don’t like the name, reminds me too much of my wife and kids.
The “Cold War orphans” have all fallen into poverty since the military relinquished control; with few exceptions Latin America is a leftist bloc now.
Uh oh, we are supposed to be selling a lot of military equipment to Brazil soon, including potentially Type 26 Frigates. Maybe we’ll have to face them one day like we did Type 42 destroyers during the 1982 conflict.
Had the Argie military had their heart in it (which they didn't) and had they committed more forces, the Brits would have taken heavier losses. Of course, had the Brits decided to widen the war to Argentina itself, the Argies would have been in a real hurt locker.
Back then, we would have suffered for sending harriers over the argie mainland,where they could have used their fighters to full effect without having to worry about fuel and staying low to deploy ordinance and avoid radar. Nowadays of course, we have tomohawks and euro fighters with better refueling capabilities, as well as a real base at RAF Mount Pleasant, and the argue military capability has stagnated and degraded ever since. They would certainly be in for a world of hurt today.
Had they moved their Mirages (and reserve F-86s) to the Falklands, they could have provided real air defense against the Harriers, but they weren't that committed. I think the Argies were more worried about an attack of opportunity coming from Chile.
You are correct, that today the Argentines would be in a much, much worse position (unless they destroyed the forward deployed RAF aircraft with a special forces attack). Even then, they would be in a worse position for keeping ahold of the Falklands after they were taken.
The British military is a pale shadow of its Cold War counterpart, both in terms of numbers and equipment. The rickety 2-carrier British armada that had to be cobbled together to win the Falklands War no longer exists, thanks to defense cuts under both Labour and Tory governments. Argentina's real problem isn't its military which probably hasn't gotten weaker, relatively-speaking, compared to British forces. It's the economy, which has gone down the Venezuelan garden path, without the Venezuelan bounty of large amounts of easily-extracted oil deposits.
The UK has maintained its submarine forces and they have TLAM (Tomahawk Land Attack Missile). The Argentine Navy has minimal ASW capability. A single sub could take out the airfields and do some major port damage as well. If there are one or two TLAMs left over, there goes the power grid as well.
After the airfields are closed, then the Harriers can do as they wish.
TLAMs can take an airfield out for a few hours, maybe even a few days, but that would be the extent of it.
A few TLAMS per airfield won’t shut them down for long. The issue is that the RAF now has constant presence on the Falklands with aircraft which are far superior to the Argies, who still don’t have the capability to spend more than a few minutes over the Falklands, due to range/fuel.
If, the British military has grown smaller, then the Argentine military is in pathetic shape. They have had virtually no new inductions in the past 3 decades compared to the British-in the meantime, the UK has inducted newer subs and force multipliers.
The UK’s deterrent fleet of Typhoon fighters on the island can tear apart any Argentine aerial formation till the cows come home. A single Astute class submarine carries enough Tomahawks to level most assets in Buenos Aires while having enough torpedoes to sink most of its rickety fleet.
Modern Argie aircraft would complicate the picture for the RAF.
If the RAF base were taken out, the Gripens would pose a major problem for Harriers. F-35s would fair better.
A sneak attack similar to the initial landing of Argentine troops during the Falklands campaign would neutralize the Typhoons and the lone destroyer. Argentina's modern German subs and P-3 Orions could be tasked to hunt the British sub prowling the island's waters. While the Falklands are 400 miles away from Argentina, they are thousands of miles from the UK. Reinforcement and resupply are expensive and complicated. The last engagement stretched the limits of Thatcher's political capital. The next one may end up with the islands renamed the Malvinas.
As to escalation, if Britain levels Buenos Aires, it will face a trade embargo from Latin America. And much of South America would jump in on Argentina's side, including Brazil. Would the EU even stand behind the UK during the ensuing economic hostilities?
My view is that the Brits need to station more assets on the Falklands. Because if the Argentines grab it, they won't have the political capital necessary to marshal the immense resources necessary to take it back.
Respectfully, The British retired their Harriers, and sold them to the U.S. Marines, in 2011. Your point remains valid, but it would be another U.K. aircraft that would fill the role. Thank you.
Regarding the Harriers, kindly see my post #18. Thank you.
You are so correct. I thought only the RN Harriers had been retired, and the RAF still had theirs.
Thanks for the info.
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