- British air services in the Falklands War
This is a list of the units, aircraft and casualties of the British air services in the800 NAS Sea Harrier FRS1 in low-visibility paint scheme.
Falklands War . The numbers in bold are the number of aircraft used in the war, the numbers in brackets are the number of lost aircraft. For a list of air forces from Argentina, seeArgentine air forces in the Falklands War .Units
*
No. 656 Squadron Army Air Corps - (Gazelle AH.1, Scout AH.1) 6 (1), 6Royal Marines * 3 CDO Brigade Air Squadron - (Gazelle AH.1, Scout AH.1) 9 (2), 6 (1)
Fleet Air Arm Royal Air Force All four engined "heavies" operated from Wideawake Airfield,
Ascension Island , but flew in the war zone.* No. 1(F) Squadron - (Harrier GR.3) 10 (4) "(HMS Hermes & Port San Carlos)"
* No. 18 Squadron - (Chinook HC.1) 4 (3) "+1 at Wideawake"
* No. 29 Squadron - (Phantom FGR.2) 3; "only at Wideawake"
* No. 39 Squadron - (Canberra PR.9) 2; "Clandestine operations from Chile"
* No. 42 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.2) 13 MR.2 from all squadrons
* No. 44 Squadron - (Vulcan B.2) 2
* No. 47 Squadron - (Hercules C.1)
* No. 50 Squadron - (Vulcan B.2) 1
* No. 51 Squadron - (Nimrod R.1) 3
* No. 55 Squadron - (Victor K.2) 20 Victor K.2 from both squadrons
* No. 57 Squadron - (Victor K.2)
* No. 70 Squadron - (Hercules C.1)
* No. 101 Squadron - (Vulcan B.2) 1
* No. 120 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.2)
* No. 201 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.2)
* No. 202 Squadron - (Sea King HAR.3) 1 "only at Wideawake"
* No. 206 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.2)Armament
* L44A1 GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun)
* 30 mm ADEN Cannon with 120-130 rounds "Sea Harrier, Harrier GR.3"
* AIM-9D/G SidewinderAir-to-air missile (AAM) "F-4 at Wideawake"
* AIM-9L Sidewinder AAM "Sea Harrier, Harrier GR.3"
*AGM-45 Shrike Air-to-Surface Anti-radiation missile (ARM) "Vulcan"
* BAe Sea Skua Air-to-Surfaceanti-ship missile "Lynx"
* Aerospatiale AS.12 Air-to-Surface missile "Wasp"
*Paveway IILaser-guided bomb (LGB), 454 kg "Harrier GR.3"
*BL755 Cluster bomb with 147 bomblets "Sea Harrier"
* 1,000 lb General Purpose Bomb "Sea Harrier, Harrier GR.3 & Vulcan"
*SNEB Rocket pods "Harrier GR.3"
* Mk. 46 Torpedo
* Mk. 11Depth charge Air Campaign
-----
Sea Harrier FRS.1
1,435 sorties [ [http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/air-war.htm Falklands Air War ] ] , 20 (+3) kills, 6 lost.
-----
Harrier GR.3
126 sorties, 4 lost.
-----
Vulcan B.2
5 sorties: 1., 3. May and 12. June; 21x1,000 lbs bombs - 31. May and 3. June; 4 ["armed with four Shrikes for another attack against the Falklands." page 67 in Peter R. March: The Vulcan Story, 2006, Sutton Publishing/'Vulcan to the Sky' trust, ISBN 0-7509-4399-8 ] xAGM-45 Shrike . 13. and 28. May sorties aborted.
-----
Victor K.2
375 sorties; 14 sorties per Vulcan raid, 12 sorties per extended Nimrod patrol, 6 sorties per Hercules long-range drop, 6 sorties per Harrier GR3 staging (4), 3 radar reconnaissance sorties to South Georgia.
-----
Nimrod MR.2
111 sorties: maritime patrols, coordinate air refueling, SAR links.
-----
Hercules C.1
50+ airdrop sorties at Falklands Island, 600+ airbridge sorties UK-Ascension IslandCasualties and aircraft losses
* Human losses:
** 2 Army Air CorpsGazelle shot down by friendlySea Dart missile from HMS Cardiff on 6 June. All four onboard killed, two from 656 Squadron,Army Air Corps and two from205 Signal Squadron ,Royal Corps of Signals ]
** 43 Commando Brigade Air Squadron Royal Marines
** 17Fleet Air Arm
* Passengers
** 1Royal Air Force [http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/brit-aircraftlosses.htm] Probable bird strike to transport helicopter operating between "Intrepid" and "Hermes" on 20 May]
** 18Special Air Service (Army)
** 3Royal Corps of Signals (Army)* Aircraft Lost in the Air:, no suffix: "Fleet Air Arm"
** 2 Sea Harrier FRS.1 (hit by ground fire during 4 May attack on Goose Green and byRoland missile during 1 June attack on Port Stanley)Ethell, Jeffrey and Price, Alfred "Air War South Atlantic" Macmillan Publishing Company (1983) pp.248-251 ISBN 0-02-536300-X]
** 3 Westland Gazelle AH.1 "Army" and "Royal Marines" [http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/brit-aircraftlosses.htm] (2 Gazelles shot down by Argentine army forces small arms leaving San Carlos area on 21 May) ]
** 3 Harrier GR.3 "RAF" (hit by ground fire attacking Port Stanley on 21 May, 27 May, and 30 May)
** 1 Scout AH.1 "Royal Marines" (shot down by Pucara at Goose Green on 28 May)* Flying accidents in the war zone
** 2 Westland Wessex HU.5 (crashed on in bad weather on Fortune Glacier 22 April)
** 2 Westland Sea King HC.4 (1 lost operational accident 23 April)
** 4 Sea Harrier FRS.1 (two 801 Sqn CAP collided over the task force on 6 May - one 800 Sqn crashed during takeoff from "Hermes" on 24 May - one 801 Sqn slid off deck in bad weather on 29 May)
** 2 Westland Sea King HAS.5 (ditched on 12 May & 17 May)
** 1 Harrier GR.3 "RAF" (landing accident on 8 June)* Lost onboard a ship
** 3 Westland Lynx HAS.2 (aboard "Ardent" on 21 May and aboard "Coventry" and "Atlantic Conveyer" on 25 May)
** 3 Chinook HC.1 "RAF" 25 May aboard "Atlantic Conveyor"]
** 6 Westland Wessex HU.5
** 1 Westland Wessex HAS.3 (when "Glamorgan" hit by Exocet on 12 June)* Self-destruct in Chile
** 1 Westland Sea King HC.4 (on 20 May)References
External links
* [http://www.naval-history.net/F63braircraftlost.htm British site about British Aircraft lost]
* [http://britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/brit-aircraftlosses.htm Britains Small Wars.com] :
* [http://www.fuerzaaerea.mil.ar/conflicto/index_conflicto.html Argentine Air Force (FAA) official site about the Malvinas/Falkland Air War]* [http://www.naval-history.net/F20faa.htm Fleet Air Arm] - [http://www.naval-history.net/F25raf.htm RAF Role and Operations]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.