British Harriers VS Argentine Mirages in the Falklands

[terencejay]

BBC reporter out with the force, on one raid: 'I'm not allowed to say how many aircraft took part, but I counted them all out, and counted them all back in again'

[jatpack]

The UK forces had better training and better missiles. The mirage was faster, could out climb the harrier.

[Crusty_Camper]

I still have dreams about the Exocets attacks. You think your ship is fast until there's a missile 3 metres off the sea coming at you doing 800 kph and you've got 5 seconds to react.

[BrownSofaGamer]

The Mirages also had tiny fuel tanks due to them being point defense interceptors. They had very little time on station for air combat to occur, which is also likely why they ultimately were the ones who had to push down to the Harriers optimal altitudes if they wanted to engage. The Harriers could simply wait out the Mirages limited fuel store to pick and choose engagements at will. This combined with things others have mentioned such as the British having all aspect AIM-9Ls and better pilot training meant the Argentine Mirages were fighting an almost one sided engagement.

[andrewmurphy]

As proud as I am of our pilots, it would be fair to say, that the skill and bravery of the Argentinian pilots, who were attacking at low level over the Sound, is very noteworthy. So low infact, that some of the fuses on their bombs, didn't have time to arm. Of course, I'm not saying our Buccaneer low levels.

[taylorcasale]

There’s nothing so expensive as a second rate air force

[wyldhowl]

The Argentines were not wrong in one sense. If they wanted to stop the Brits from retaking the Falklands, destroying the Royal Navy fleet had to be the priority.
The British made sure to also leverage their political primacy to deny the Argentines access to the kind of advanced munitions which would have been a big problem (Sidewinders, Exocet missiles), and spare parts.
Try to remember BOTH nations were considered allies of the US, France, etc. in the Cold War against the USSR; the Brits basically told those nations to choose which ally they considered more important (the UK won that argument of course).

[Bo_Nidle]

The biggest technical advantage the Harriers had was that they carried the all aspect version of the Sidewinder, the Aim9L which allowed them to lock on in a head on fight rather than have to get behind their opponent which was what the Argies had to do.
Second was superior training. FAA and RAF pilots against Argentinian? No contest in terms of ability.
Third the Harrier, whilst not faster than the Mirage V it was certainly more manoeuvrable.
Fourth, tactics. The Harrier pilots were experienced enough to bring the Argies down to their best altitude . A basic rule of air combat is make your opponents fight your fight, you do not fight theirs. You make sure you use your aircraft’s strengths to your advantage.
The Argentinians lost because they were up against true professionals on land, at sea and in the air.

[AnTiThesis-HaT-HoT]

Packet radio was depicted as stunning new SAS kit when the reality was that Radio Amateurs who invented it had used it for several years prior. The SAS did raid an amateur radio shop in Portsmouth and nicked all the kit just before sailing.

[j.p.]

The running joke back then was-
'Why are the Argentinean Navy buying new Glass Bottomed boats??...
So they can Inspect their Air Force, of course...'

[honodle]

I remember when the Brits sent their powerful force southwards from U.K. and engaged the Argentines, who had overrun the Falklands, the newspaper headline was "The Empire Strikes Back".

[leecutler]

Maybe... but because of the bravery from the Argentinian pilots, we still lost 5 ships and a lot of brave men

[Thechist]

Moral of the story: Never buy Nato militar equipment if you are going to fight against a NATO country.

[walterblanc]

The Argentinian Skyhawk pilots were very brave.

[paulweston]

The Canberra was fairly aged by then, but a great British built bomber. Oh the irony

[warrendevine]

My brothers RM Drill Sgt fought in the conflict, got to meet him and he was pretty open with what he saw and was part of. It was quite harrowing for a 15 year old to hear!

[theninearemine]

The Harrier was a legend. It even inspired its modern replacement, the F35 B. And not just for the Royal Navy, but for the US Marines as well.

[fahrradmittelfranken]

I wonder how many of the people commenting here have never heard about the HMS Sheffield and the Exocet, despite having watched 3 or 4 shorts about the war by now

[drzdeano]

im fairly sure the brits had a deal with chile to detect the Argentines as they took off, allowing the brits to be far more accurate with response air patrols.

[rovercoupe]

Great little aircraft the Harrier. It’s like a vtol Gnat. M