FALKLAND WAR. PART ONE – OPERATIONS
The
military conflict which took place in Falkland
Islands (also known as Malvine) began on 2 April 1982 (the day
when Argentinean forces invaded the islands) and ended on 14 June 1982 (the day
when the city Port Stanley was
liberated and Argentinean forces capitulated). The belligerents were Argentine
and United Kingdom. In short, the official reason for war is historical:
Argentinean government pretended that the islands belonged to Argentine
beginning with 1765, after gaining the national independence. The same year, UK
took the control of the islands, after a short military conflict between the
two states[1].
According
to other sources, due to the great internal problems, the military junta that
was governing Argentine preferred to occupy the Falkland Islands, hoping to a victory in order to compensate the
inefficiency of domestic economic policies[2]. No
matter if we take into consideration the historical and moral reasons, one
should know that the military regime was facing great economic difficulties.
This is proved by the following facts:
- The inflation
rate exceeded 100% in 1982;
- The
government introduced tough austerity measures;
- The
government tried to distract public attention from the internal problems by making
all possible to achieve international success, no matter in which field; for
instance, during the 1978 World Football Cup, they intensely exploited the
national team’s success in internal propaganda;
-
The act of cheapening national currency,
in order to increase exports, caused the massive decrease of reserve currency (for
instance, the reserves lost 308 million USD, during a single day)[3];
-
Massive riots caused by low living
standard were stopped using force[4].
Falkland Islands
are located on the South-Eastern Atlantic, at approximately 8,000 nautical
miles from UK and approximately 400 nm from Argentine.
When
the military conflict started, the belligerents had the following military
assets available (for UK, we took into consideration just the assets deployed
in the operations area and in the proximity areas)[5]:
|
Type
of asset |
Argentine |
Great
Britain |
|
Nuclear propelled submarines |
- |
4 |
|
Diesel-electric
submarines |
4 (only 2
operational) |
1 |
|
Aircrafts
carriers |
1 |
2 |
|
Assault
ships |
- |
2 |
|
Cruisers
|
1 |
- |
|
Destroyers
|
7 |
8 |
|
Frigates |
3 |
15 |
|
Patrolling
ships/Corvettes |
15 |
3 |
|
Auxiliary
Ships (cargos, tankers, maintenance and so on) |
22 |
82 |
|
Multirole fighting planes |
5 Super Etendard 60 Skyhawk 40 Mirage III/V |
28 (Sea-Harrier – VTOL). |
|
Close
air support planes |
60 Pucara |
- |
|
Helicopters |
60[6] |
150 |
|
Strategic
bombers |
- |
2 – 4 Vulcan |
|
Armored
vehicles and support vehicles (landed) |
1,100[7] |
|
It
is necessary to add that, during the campaign, other British warships and
auxiliary ships were deployed in the operations area.
Troops
landed: Argentine – approximately 13,000; UK – approximately 4,000.
Chronology
of the main events during operations[8]:
13
March 1982:
60 Argentine civilians land from an Argentinean civilian ship at Southern Georgia Islands (British
islands, located at 800 nm South-East from Falkland),
in an apparent economic conflict in Southern Atlantic, between Argentine and UK.
29 March: UK deploys
a nuclear propelled submarine to Southern Atlantic.
2 April: Argentinean
forces land in Falkland and engage
the British garrison. After a few hours, British troops surrender.
3 April: Argentinean
troops, transported by helicopters, land on Southern
Georgia Islands. They engage a British Marines subunit which resist for a
while, succeeded to down an Argentinean helicopter but, finally, surrender.
5 April: UK
gathers a powerful Navy Task Force which immediately starts the deployment to
South Atlantic.
12 April: British
impose a 200 nm Maritime Exclusion Zone (MEZ) around Falkland. The exclusion
zone was initially enforced by submarines.
22 April: British
Special Forces conduct reconnaissance missions in Southern Georgia Islands. Two helicopters crashed due to the severe
meteorological conditions.
25 April: A
British Navy Task Force performs assault operations in Southern Georgia Islands. An Argentinean submarine is damaged and
captured. The Argentinean Forces surrender.
30 April: British
submarines succeeded to impose a 200 nm Maritime Exclusion Zone (MEZ) around Falkland.
1 May: A Vulcan bomber, which took place from a
British base located in Ascension Island (approximately 3,300 nm
North-East of Falkland) bombs the
airport located near Port Stanley and
damages it. Argentinean fighters engage British ships near the islands, but no
results.
2 May: Argentinean
Navy deploys four Task Groups in the proximity of MEZ. A British nuclear
propelled submarine attacks and sinks cruiser General Belgrano, the Argentinean Navy flag ship, outside the MEZ.
3 May: British
helicopters damage an Argentinean patrolling ship.
4 May: A Vulcan bomber and British fighters
engage land targets on Falkland. Argentinean
Super Etendard fighters engage and
damage the destroyer Sheffield, using
an Exocet anti-ship missile. Sheffield will sink after six days.
7 May: UK
warns that any Argentine warships or military aircraft over 12 nm from
Argentina's coast would be treated as hostile.
9 May: two
British fighters attack and sink an Argentinean intelligence-collection vessel.
11 May: A
British frigate sinks an Argentinean naval cargo ship near Falkland.
12 May: 12 Argentinean
A-4 perform attacks against two
British destroyers. Results: a destroyer damaged, three planes downed.
14 May: British
warships, coordinated by landed Special Forces teams, destroy 11 Argentinean
close air support planes, an ammunition store and one radar.
21 May: British
troops land at four separate points in the North-Western area of the main
Eastern island of Falkland (Eastern Falkland). Argentinean warplanes
engage ships and landed units in several waves. A British frigate is sunk;
other two are hit by bombs which fail to explode. Two transportation ships are
severely damaged. 15 Argentinean warplanes are downed.
22 May: Landed
British troops expand and consolidate their positions inside the island.
23 May: Argentinean
warplanes engage British ships. A frigate is damaged (she will sink later) and
seven planes are downed.
24 May: Argentinean
warplanes continue to attack British ships in several waves. Eight planes are
downed and two auxiliary ships are damaged.
25 May: More
Argentinean air attacks against British Navy. A destroyer is sunk by bombs and
a transportation ship is sunk by an Exocet
missile. Seven planes are downed.
27 May: British
troops advance to Port Stanley. New
attacks of Argentinean warplanes take place against British ships, but no
results. Two Argentinean planes are downed.
28 May: British
airborne subunits gain control of key-points on Eastern island, after 12 hours
of fighting.
29 May: Argentinean
warplanes attack British landed troops but cause few losses. 30 May: Argentinean warplanes attack
British ships. Three planes are downed.
7 June: British
Special Force teams take key-points near Port
Stanley.
8 June: Argentinean
warplanes attack British ships. A transportation ship is sunk and other three
are damaged; a frigate is damaged. For planes are downed.
12
iunie:
A British destroyer is damaged by land-based Exocet missile.
13
iunie:
British troops launch major offensive operations against Argentine positions.
14
iunie:
British troops enter Port Stanley. All
Argentine troops surrender. End of operations.
Losses:
a. Personnel:
- Argentine: 655 dead, 1,300 wounded, 11,848 prisoners of war[9];
- United Kingdom: 253 dead, 775 wounded[10].
b. Assets[11]:
- Argentine:
Ø
Ships sunk: 1 cruiser, 1 patrolling ship,
4 auxiliary ships;
Ø
Ships damaged: 1 corvette, 1 patrolling
ship;
Ø
1 submarine damaged and captured;
Ø
Air assets downed or crashed: 60 warplanes,
43 helicopters (based on estimation);
Ø
Armored vehicles and support vehicles:
1,100 (captured or destroyed).
- United Kingdom:
Ø Ships
sunk: 2 destroyers, 2 frigates, 1 assault ship, 2 auxilliary
ships;
Ø Ships damaged: 2 destroyers, 14 frigates, 2 assault ships, 7 auxilliary
ships;
Ø Air
assets downed or crashed: 10 multirole
fighting planes, 29 helicopters.
[1] Katelyn Tietzen, After Thirty Years: The Falklands War of
1982, Clemson University, 2014, p. 1.
[2] Peter Willetts, Filipe
Noguera, Prospects for a Settlement of
the Falklands/Malvinas Dispute, Institute for Conflict Analysis and
Resolution George Mason University, March 1992, p. 7.
[3] Lucas Abeledo Vilarino, articolul Falklands
War, History Society, The University of Exeter, online at https://thehistorianjournal.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/britain-versus-the-south-atlantic-the-causes-of-the-falklandsmalvinas-war/, accessed on 25 April 2017.
[4] Lt. Jason McClure,
article The Falklands War: Causes and
Lessons, Strategic Insights magazine, Volume III, Issue 11 (November 2004),
Center for Contemporary Conflict, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey,
California.
[5] Department of the Navy,
EET C- Washington, D.C. 20350, Lessons of
the Falklands - Summary Report, February 1983, Appendix B.
[6] Based on my personal
observation: both belligerents, especially Argentine, tried to minimize the
published losses; that is why the
figures from the table are approximate; depending on the source, they are
bigger or smaller.
[7] Article The Falklands Conflict – History and Predictions for the Future,
Historia i Polityka magazine, nr. 24 (31)/2018, p. 14.
[8] Department of the Navy,
EET C- Washington, D.C. 20350, Lessons of
the Falklands - Summary Report, February 1983, pp. 15-21.
[9] Martin Middlebrook, Argentine Fight for the Falklands,
Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2009, pp. 282-284.
[10] Sir Lawrence Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands
Campaign, Vol. II, London and New York: Routledge, 2005, pp. 772-774.
[11] Department of the Navy,
EET C- Washington, D.C. 20350, Lessons of
the Falklands - Summary Report, February 1983, Appendix B.
Sorce:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Falkland-Islands
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