Falklands Conflict in the Air | How British Harriers beat the odds 

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As an Argentine I would love to be able to visit your museum sometime, and the perspective you offer was also very valuable to me. I was two years old at the time. I am sorry for the British and Argentine losses, needless bloodshed.

Blackbuck was such a British operation. Cobbled together against the odds and far beyond what was expected to be possible. The bravery of the Argentinian pilots was never in doubt but outclassed.

The Harrier was the spitfire of the 80s, fantastic aircraft. 👏

I've just recently returned from holiday in Argentina and I was stationed, temporarily, in the UK during the 90's. Both countries are great, with wonderful citizens and beautiful countryside. It's sad that this conflict took place. War is horrible and it is the politicians that bear the most responsibility for things like this happening. But, while I was in Buenos Aires, I met a young British man. He also had nothing but good to say about the friendly nature and wonderful country of Argentina. Cheers!

Still remember BBC's Brian Hanrahan reporting from one of the carriers on the Harriers going on a raid, "I'm not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid, but I counted them all out, and I counted them all back." Quite a few still doubted the Harriers, thinking them more of an airshow novelty, their performance in the Falklands proved the worthiness of the aircraft and pilots beyond any doubt, all the more remarkable considering this was not the sort of deployment any of them had ever been designed for, but they did it anyway, in the best traditions of the Senior Service.

The efforts made to get the 2 Vulcans to reach Port Stanley were damn near Herculean. Difficult to overstate how impressive that mission was.

A really good short documentary. I was 12 at the time of the conflict and this absolutely had a bearing on my life. I joined the R.A.F. at the age of 20 and at 23 was on detachment on the HMS Ark Royal during the Yugoslavia conflict. To stand on the top decks and watch the Harriers on their sorties was a childhood dream, we can't all realise these can we. Respect to all of the casualties of that war, something you don't think about so much aged 12 and watching your Country go to war 8000 miles from home, in that I include all of the surviving troops who made it home on both sides.

The long range bombing of the Stanley airfield was the equivalent of Doolittle's B25 Tokyo raid; tactically insignificant but politically and emotionally a huge blow for Argentina and a morale boost for Britain.

I was a Radar operator on board HMS Bristol. We took up the position vacated by HMS Sheffield. I can remember the punishing flight schedule of the Harriers, particular the CAP . Whilst there is no denying that the Harrier did well, however, if I had to be the flagship officer in command then I would have preferred the Phantom F4 fighters and a squadron of jags. Not having a proper aircraft carrier was a sin.

As an American I have always been fascinated by the Falklands War. This series has been one of the most in depth analysis covering the war. Thank you for making such a brilliant series yet again!

I thoroughly recommend the book Vulcan 607 which describes the Vulcan attack in detail. The mission was incredibly complex and they were extremely lucky to get there and back. I mentioned the book to a colleague who was ex-navy, and it turned out that he was mentioned in the book. He flew a helicopter during the conflict.

I think there may well have been a certain amount of complacency on the part of Argentina. They probably couldn't believe we seriously intended to take them on with Harriers.

me and my pals watched when the Sheffield was struck. I ll never forget the sick feeling in my stomach as she was nearly broken in half. It brings tears to my eyea even now.

The A4 Skyhawk was one of the most seriously underestimated ground attack fast jets in the history of air combat.

I would recommend the book by Nigel ‘Sharky’ Ward - Sea Harrier over the Falklands. Detailed account from one of the Sea Harrier commanding officers.

Thanks... A4 Skyhawks operated with our RNZAF... HMS Invincible visited NZ in the 80's and I thought the Sea Harrier was amazing.! .a mate of mine was Tactical Radar Operator on HMS Invincible during the Falklands War and he didn't know if he was going to live or die! and also there is a GR3 Harrier in a museum here in NZ.. thanks from down under 👍✈️🇳🇿

Outnumbered, thousands of miles away from homeland, all odds against them, yet they came out victorious! Respect from greece!

As a 9 year old boy in the US, this was the first war I remember following. Eleven years later and was a US Marine Lance Corporal training with the RM Commandos. By that time many of the RM corporals, sergeants, and color sergeants that trained me were veterans of the "yomp" to Port Stanley. I learned a good deal from them. The more I study the Falklands conflict the more I become impressed with what an impressive feat of arms and daring this operation was. It remains an important case study for those of us who are looking at the future of naval campaigns in the littoral operating environment. It is extremely relevant to current US concepts of expeditionary advanced base operations. (EABO). If the Argentines had the engineering capability to repair the Port Stanley Airfield, that could have been a game changer. That airfield was single point of failure for Argentine airpower. They failed to protect it and that probably lost them the war.

It's a little like the Doolittle Raid; the effect on the enemy's morale was more important than the physical damage inflicted.

May the fallen on both sides rest in peace.

I had the honour of meeting a Falkland helicopter veteran. He crashed, and was trapped in his aircraft. A very brave man. I don't think he ever received the care he needed afterwards.

I can remember 2 harriers flying over our school in bradford on their way to the deployment to the Falklands conflict. I was 11 i think, i couldnt believe how loud they were but as typical boys we were thrilled at the sight of them. What machines!! Nothing but respect for pilots of both sides of this carry on.

My late father-in-law worked for BAe and was the pattern-maker for the jet 'nozzles' to be cast around. He was a time-served carpenter/joiner and worked the patterns up in lignum vitae. Patterns are usually formed in pieces so that the pattern can be dismantled and removed from the casting and re-used. Interestingly, he had worked building Mosquitoes during WW2.

Some of the footage early in this piece showing the low flying Argentinian forces is just mind blowing. I was 12 when this war broke out and will never forget the scenes of carnage on the nightly news in NZ

We will always have a special place in our hearts for the people of Chile 🇨🇱 ♥️ 🇬🇧

Excellent training, focused and courageous pilots and a thorough understanding of the Harriers limitations and how to work around them.

Never ceases to amaze me when I see footage of Harriers vertical landing.

Once again out numbered but won. History doesn't lie. Never under estimate us Brits

Let's not forget the live intelligence sent by Chile (obs and long range radar), letting the task force know that the AAF was on its way, and allowing the Harrier to get airborne without wasting too much fuel.

we never stood a chance against those sea harriers , those planes are one of the best in human history ever made .plus they look so handsome

I've seen one of those 20 Sea Harriers at the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection, the story is quite impressive.

Is it weird to love old wars. Like not for the death but the storyline and details of every move made on each side, and the events that prevent new wars from starting and peace talks.

The Harrier Forward Operating Base (FOB) was constructed at Port San Carlos, not San Carlos as stated in this video. It based four Harriers, two Sea Harriers and two GR3s each day and was pumping 40,000 gallons of AVCAT into Harriers and helicopters each day. Argentine aircraft were focused on the ships in San Carlos and missed the construction of the airstrip and refueling installation at Port San Carlos which was impossible to camouflage. I was the engineer commander within 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, responsible for choosing the location and overseeing the construction of this FOB by 59 Independent Commando Squadron Royal Engineers who built the fuel supply system and 11 Field Squadron Royal Engineers who build the strip and then operated the facility. The Royal Navy named this location, HMS Sheathbill Royal Naval Air Station Port San Carlos. Once Argentine commanders realized Harriers were ashore it was too late for them to do anything about it. From talking to Argentine commanders post conflict, they informed me that once the British had Harriers flying and refueling from a base on shore they realized they could not win.

No mention of how Chile helped the UK with the setting up of a secret early warning radar station on Chilian soil, which was able to detect Argentinian aircraft taking off to attack the British shipping. The continual use of this radar eventually caused it to break down for repairs, which directly lead to the loss a of British Frigate. This early warning radar allowed the 20 Sea Harriers to be used more effectively, since they where warned of attacks by Argentinian aircraft taking off from the mainland.

Thank you so much for this Falkland video series. I have heard many times about this war but in fact, knew very little about it.

Love the Harrier. Made loads of Airfix models of these as a kid. My dad was born in the Falklands. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

Being Portuguese and pro British during that war, I nevertheless feel sorry and have the greatest respect for the Argentine Air Force and C.A.N.A. pilots. They were absolutely fearless, took terrible losses, were immensely Patriotic and fought the whole war alone, without the support of the Argentinian Navy who for some unfathomable reason was allowed not to fight anymore after losing one ship. (just imagine the Royal Navy doing the same after losing the Sheffield!) The Argentinian Air Force, on the other hand, was forced to make sortie after sortie and suffer accordingly, operating in the limit of their combat radius and using free fall bombs that they strove to drop at point blank. They appeared not to be properly trained in Air Combat maneuvers too. Pierre Clostermann, a French former RAF Wing Commander in the Fighter Command who also praised their courage, was then criticized by some British newspaper on the grounds that being a former RAF pilot he should not praise the enemy publicly. Frankly, the world is awash with stupid people!

I was there as a cadet for the launching of HMS Invincible A Harrier stopped in front of the queen, bowed , stood on it's tail and then went vertical So cool!

The Harrier truly is a beautiful machine. There's just something about seeing it landing in VTOL mode that never fails to take my breath away.

Crystal clear explanations ! Very well structured and documented storytelling which is deeply captivating attention of the viewer....BRAVO !!!!

Respect to the pilots of the Argentinian airforce even our forces said the fought bravely . Lest we forget all those who died bravely in that conflict .

Good episode. It is also worthy of note that the Harrier's vectored thrust allowed them to decelerate much faster turning the tables on any aircraft attacking from the rear, turning prey into hunter. It was one of those circumstances where the pilot's skill and confidence in their airframe and their understanding of its unique capabilities made it lethal to aircraft that at an initial glance seemed to be superior.

Fascinating war - as a young Infantry Major RNZIR, I did a presentation to 1 Task Force RNZA on the Falklands Campaign, it was of course more infantry based but did deal somewhat briefly with the air and sea component. I believe I still have the actual presentation! Enjoyed the video you produced.

Beautifully put together. Thank you for taking the time to put this part of our history together. Subbed 🙂

just love how much respect the veterans have for each other. The British talking about how brave the Argentinean pilots were. For me this is a stark contrast with the Argentinean naval and ground forces who seem very unprofessional.

Harriers are an awesome fighter plane. I worked with them in 1975. On my ship they landed like a helicopter but mostly took off down the deck. The thrust being so powerful it would rip the surface off of it.It was like a hurricane at the beach. Tiny pieces hitting you everywhere. You had to watch if a pilot moved the nozzles while taxing around. The thrust would blister your skin quickly and I mean blister painfully. I saw many deckhands drop their equipment and run. After the cruise was done they showed us the maneuverability of the aircraft. Forward/ Backwards and Sideways as well as standing still alongside the ship.

I was a school child when this happened and avidly followed events. In over four decades I've yet to read derogatory comments from those who were there about the Argentine pilots. A guy I once worked with was there and witnessed much first hand. The Argentinian pilots pressed home their attacks with success under heavy fire without flinching. They were also savvy enough to clear off when Sea Harriers were around. Appalling loss of life for my nation and their's.

I was stationed at RAF Gutersloh in Germany on Harriers at that time. I remember the hours that we put in to prepare and modify our GR3s to operate from carriers. Never drilled any holes in the aircraft to let sea water out though.

Argentina did have 100 OLD aircrafts (5 of them modern), and only two air refuelling C130, Only 12 could fly at the same time. Under the best conditions that's very little airpower considering they have to strike a 100 ship fleet (2 of them aircraft carriers with 12 modern planes each) + a strategic bomber squadron. Regarding the Black Buck raids, those were an utter failure, it did negligible damage to the runway itself or military support units. The 1200m airstrip was a small civilian airport unable to support high performance combat airplanes in Argentina inventory. It was useful to medium cargo planes. My uncle fought in Darwin and he was present and almost killed at the shoot down of a Harrier on may 4 during a extremely low level attack, at the morning hours. He was in his trench and the Harrier sudden attack was met with antiaircraft fire and very little small arms fire from some of the troops who were able to react. The british pilot ejection seat catapulted him in the same exact moment the plane hit the ground while desintegrating in a rolling fireball. The fireball rolled 400 meters in the fields neaw Darwin and the pieces showered his trench and many fighting positions called fox holes. He was unharmed, but the british pilot (a very tall man) was tangled in a wirefence and killed in his airplane seat, still with smoke and fumes from the rocket. As the burial was given with military honors, my uncle Hugo was in the guard and he can be seen in the video of the burial of the british pilot. The pilot name was Lt. Nicholas Taylor. watch?v=MyZ5ipzXgEo

Great series, always remember a friend in middle school who’s dad was in the conflict bringing back pictures of downed Argentinian aircraft, very brave pilots on both sides. Worth including the famous ITV news broadcast from Brian Hanrahan

Around 10:00 it's amazing to hear the admiration and respect that "enemies" have for each other.

I'd say the Argentine Air Force also beat the odds by employing unguided ordinance with such impeccable accuracy, which would have otherwise inflicted much graver losses on the Royal Navy, if only so many of their bombs hadn't failed to explode. Very few actual dogfights occurred during the course of the actual campaign, as, once the AAF aircraft had completed their attacks, they were compelled to speed back to the mainland on their remaining fuel, completely vulnerable and with no time to engage in a turning duel.

This content is so good in quality. Love this Falklands series, one of the best channels on YT.

I was part of 801 Sqdn throughout the Falklands War. Some of the facts quoted during the video I believe are not correct. The harrier GR3 was never fitted with RADAR. The GR3 was approved for the fitment of RWR, which is not a RADAR. It’s a means of detecting when a RADAR is scanning the aircraft. My second point is that I am not sure how your SHAR CO from 809 can comment on the 1st May raid on port Stanley, when he didn’t arrive in the theatre until 18th May on SS Atlantic Conveyor. The SHAR aircraft on Atlantic Conveyor were used as attrition spares for 800 / 801, therefore 809 did not exist or take part in combat operations during the Falklands War.

This is a great series for sure. I would like to hear more about the logistics of supporting the RN fleet so far from home.

I forgot about the V-bomber in that war. I was going to join the army , but told I was to old. 3 years later . The Falkland wars started. Few of my friends left the army a few years before as well. Watched it on the news. Listened and Showed what was happening with bad news from both sides. It's only from dominated TV shows that you saw the real horrors of that war. Hoped that Britain would never be in a war again. But I was wrong. . Good show. 😊

I don't think I have ever clicked on a video this fast. This mini series is one of the best I have seen on the topic, especially as a naturalized Brit who would like to learn more and more about our country. I look forward to the episode about the ground combat operations. Keep up the good work IMW!

The Falklands campaign demonstrated the superb abilities of the Raytheon AIM-9L Sidewinder, which was a vast improvement over earlier versions of the Sidewinder. The AIM-9L's reputation was further cemented when in June 1982, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, 80 Syrian aircraft were downed by the IAF, mostly utilizing AIM-9L' s. It was been proven before that given the better trained pilot and superior technology, a smaller force can defeat a much larger one. I hope Mr. Putin heeds this lesson of history if he tries to mess with NATO, whose members militaries are some of the best-trained in the world.

The psychological impact on the Argentinian Air Force of the Black Buck raids was priceless. It said “We can get at you on the ground, and we will.”

The Reformers like Sprey and Boyd seems to have discounted Harriers downing their opponents using missiles as an example of mature tech being beneficial to fighter aircraft.

9:37 The ship on the left with the twin funnels is the cruise ship SS Canberra, which was commandeered for the conflict as a troop carrier. It’s seen here in ‘bomb alley’ with Argentinian jets attacking the British ships. Later, Argentinian pilots said they didn’t attack the Canberra because they thought it was a hospital ship (because of its white colour). It was actually a troop ship, full of troops. If it had been attacked the carnage would have been huge. It had an aluminium superstructure so it would have gone up like a box of matches.

We had an Argentine Navy pilot on our staff at LANTFLT a few decades ago. He flew A4s during the Falklands War. He explained that his aircraft carried enough bombs and fuel to hit the target and return to base but only if he took no evasive action. According to him, the FAA and RAF Harriers mostly conducted stern chases against nonmaneuvering targets. This tactic was effective, he admitted, but it took little skill and was more akin to clubbing baby seals than fighter combat. He also admitted that the Argentine Navy Air arm went to war with little experience wrt setting bomb fuzes for low altitude delivery. According to him, about half of the Argentine bombs that struck RN ships failed to detonate. If they had detonated, the RN would have lost many more ships and this might have tilted the war in Argentina's favor. He wasn't bitter and could be seen drinking beer with RN officers at official functions. Just another pilot thrust into a politician's war.

A very interesting video and superb commentary by Paris. Very knowledgeable and clear on this. As normal in war a lot of skill required as well as an equal measure of luck.

Soy venezolano, la guerra Malvinas/Malvinas es uno de los conflictos más interesantes. Según todos los informes, y puedo decir con seguridad una cosa: ninguna de las partes tenía una ventaja absoluta sobre la otra. Los argentinos por un lado. Poseía una enorme flota de combate de más de cien aviones de combate. Su ala de combate consistía en cazas Mirage IIIEA e IAI Mirage-V Dagger, armados con misiles Magic-I y Shafir II respectivamente. Su ala de combate consistía en aviones de ataque A-4B / C / Q Shykawk, bombarderos Canberra y aviones de ataque IA-58 Pucara. Pero hubo dos problemas que afectaron mucho a su flota. 1. Su ámbito de aplicación; la flota argentina estaba desprovista de pistas de despegue y aterrizaje en la zona. Dependiendo del 95% de las pistas del continente, los cazas Mirage III y Dagger no tenían reabastecimiento aéreo, por lo tanto, sus patrullas aéreas solo podían durar 5 o 7 minutos. Los A-4 eran los únicos con capacidad de reabastecimiento, pero sin la escolta de los Deltas argentinos tenían que volar al nivel del agua y totalmente indefensos contra los PACs británicos. Sumado al hecho de que el ala de ataque a tierra IA-58 fue destruida por el SAS en una operación magistral, dejó el apoyo terrestre en nada. Los británicos por otro, su ala de cazas navales Sea Harries para el combate aéreo con misiles AIM-9L Sidewinder. Con su ala de ataque de cazas Harriers Gr.3, bombarderos Avro Vulcan y varios helicópteros de ataque (que no mencionaré porque hay muchos). Aunque los británicos tenían una enorme superioridad tecnológica, sufrían de un número muy limitado de aviones para el teatro donde se llevaban a cabo los combates. Las parejas de Sea Harrier tuvieron que cubrir un área de patrulla que era dos veces más grande de lo que su alcance y tiempo de vuelo permitían, con aproximadamente el 69% de los PAC Harrier logrando interceptar a los grupos de ataque argentinos. Por otro lado, la mala comunicación entre los PAC fue otra contribución a este problema, además, el radar del Sea Harrier, Ferranti Blue Fox, demostró ser incapaz de atacar a los cazas argentinos en barrido bajo. Solo cuando las rutas de ataque pudieran descifrarse en medio del conflicto se podría usar la ventaja de los Harriers y Sidewinders. Los ataques terrestres se realizaron de manera extraña. Por un lado, los Harriers Gr.3 lograron destruir algunas posiciones en tierra, nunca lograron eliminar un activo importante, el radar Puerto Argentino/Stanley operó durante toda la guerra, mientras que las posiciones de artillería y búnkeres no fueron muy relevantes. en su uso. Como resumen, la guerra fue interesante, ambas fuerzas aéreas utilizaron el ingenio a mano para llevar a cabo sus tareas, hubo combates aéreos interesantes, como el 1 de mayo entre el Mirage III y Daggers contra los Sea Harriers, los ataques contra el Conventry y Shefield, la lucha en San Carlos como la primera batalla aérea naval moderna. Entre otros, pero si hay algo que decir, es que este conflicto abrió un nuevo paradigma para las estrategias aéreas que se tomarían pronto, ambas partes aprendieron de sus debilidades. Saludos desde Venezuela.

Great series. Thank you. Love your work 👍

The latest missile variant was an enormous help (thanks USA), I hope that gets a mention. Diplomacy and skullduggery was another front in the conflict. It did and Sharkey gets a line too, his book on the Sea Harrier combat air patrols is excellent.

These videos are superb! (but don't need to say the aircraft is behind you;) Keep up the great job. Can't wait to get back for another visit.

No question that the Harrier's unique abilities gave it a great advantage in such a small war zone with limited landing space/run ways, whether it lacked the speed of the Argentine jets or not. If it happened today we would certainly miss it. The Vulcan missions an amazing feat considering the distances involved. My stepfather was in the RN on nuclear subs. at the time and one of his mates was on HMS Conqueror that sank the Belgrano. Not exactly a fan of Thatcher but at least she had the guts not to back down like our current PM would.

Nice job and getting the video out at the 40th anniversary of the daring mission! I loved it!

Actually, as a british military analyst in the aftermath of these events pointed out, the crucial factor was geography. If the falklands Islands had been just 35 miles further from mainland Argentina, their warplanes had not the range to return to base. 35 miles closer, and their attacks would have benefited from dummy runs to survey their targets with lethal consequences

I've got a few personal historical notes to add.... My (ex-) wife and I were probably the first civilians to set foot on the Falkland Islands after the war, as it was one of the first ports on the Lindblad Cruising Antarctic tour that year. Port Stanley may have been one of our first stops... memory's fuzzy on that, and it WAS many years ago, but we found the people we encountered to be warm and welcoming and happy to see friendly faces. The people, the accents and the countryside were very reminiscent of our visits to Scotland in previous years, and it was clear to us that the British BELONGED there, as opposed to the Argies. On one of our excursions into the countryside, we came upon an abandoned Argentinian cannon, surrounded by spent cartridges and round shot from spent shells. I brought many of each home as souvenirs and still have many of the round shot in my workshop. I use the shot in baby rattles I make as gifts and for sale of my woodturning items. Another story came from local farmers we talked to. When the Argentinian Army spread thousands of land mines all over the place, they left off the metallic rings specified in international agreements that made the mines magnetically detectable. The farmers couldn't leave their homes until authorities cleared the area, so, as one gent described it, "all we could do is sit in our homes and listen to our sheep exploding around us." Was that a War Crime, Argentina? And, finally, we had many naturalist talks onboard ship every week, and one bit of information stuck with me... Why would Argentina want the Falklands, anyway?? Well consider this factoid: The Falklands, (like, coincidentally [?] Vietnam) are connected to the continental mainland by a large 'continental shelf.' As many of you might recall, What is found under many of the world's continental shelves? Yep, oil. I never found that mentioned in any reports or analysis of the Falkland's War or the Vietnam conflict, but it always struck me that there might have been some unmentioned motivations involved in each. Our trip continued to an incredibly memorable tour of the Antarctic Peninsula, Deception Island and several national research outposts near the shores of the Strait. I shot several thousand slides and upon our arrival in Santiago, Chile, a correspondent for National Geographic borrowed a dozen or two of my slides for consideration of publication, but, unfortunately, the War was 'old news' by then, and too late for a spot in any upcoming issue. We winnowed the slide collection down to "the best 200," which created a two-hour slide show of our voyage, which virtually nobody had the stamina to sit through. I still have the slides, but digitizing them is too expensive for me and too time-consuming to do by myself at home. So, in the context of that War, I hope this description is/was of some value or interest to you all.

The sea harriers were able to intercept the argentinian air force as we were using the chilean radar stations, (sea book called my falklands war), there was even a british radar station operating in chile and a nimrod operated from chilean bases. No1 squadron using harriers actually did the first naval flying trials from hms eagle and were the ones who realised they could operate in worse weather than standard carrier aircraft. (809 squadron Roland White)

We never had air superiority over the Falklands, losing those ships proves that fact. The carriers were never close enough and we never had enough aircraft to that

British professionalism was always going to tell against the Argentine military.

The Black Buck raid was meant as a deterrent. It was public knowledge that the Avro Vulcan was meant to drop bombs on the USSR, so by sending the bombers all the way to the Falklands, it might scare the Argentines.

Can you please post the music tracks used in this video and/or the entire 3 part series. Really enjoyed the whole thing, great work!

Great video, thanks. The Rapier ground to air missiles were a great defence for the British too.

The combination of the extremely capable Ferranti Blue Fox pulse doppler radar and the excellent AIM-9L Sidewinder was critical to the success of the Sea Harriers. You need an effective radar as well as an effective missile! Surprised there is no mention of this here.

Very excellent as always. Thank You

The Operations Room channel has an amazing video on the details of Operation Black Buck. Definitely worth a watch.

so glad we recognise Argentinian pilots heroics.

The MI6 operation to monitor outgoing Argentine aircraft from the mainland was key to the UK's air superiority.

One of the British ships (hms glasgow) picked up a signal they knew well, the exocet, but hms sheffield was incommunicado, sending data and unable to receive a warning

The harrier pilots regularly trained against NATO pilots flying high performance fighters like the F-16 or the tornado. One pilot said they were a nightmare in a dogfight because of VIF. Dog fights are always subsonic and the Harriers had the unique ability to move in ways a conventional jet couldn't follow.

I would think that the Argentine advantage in moustaches would have had a greater effect than it actually did.

Harriers never launch vertically from ships as the payload they could lift would be negligible and they would carry less fuel. Vertical flight was only used for landing and, I believe, on occasion from the temporary landing strip built ashore. The other major factor in the Sea Harriers' success was its excellent serviceability. Somewhere around 97% IIRC. Also, the SHARs didn't "refuse" to operate at the Mirage's operational altitude. They could barely get up there, aside from a vertical climb ambush I controlled from HMS HERMES.

I was just finishing airframe and powerplant school and had seen a demonstration of the Vulcan at an airshow in Houston, Tx.

Amazing video. Though I'm sad so little time was spent discussing Operation Black Buck and the Vulcans involved. And I would like to hear the story of a Vulcan that landed in Brazil after completing a Black Buck raid. Especially interested at how the Brazillians thought of the Vulcan and the war itself.

Great video, really interesting, please approach the RAF and request they give the Imperial War Museum Vulcan XM607, the Vulcan Martin Withers and crew flew to Port Stanley on the Black Buck mission as it’s been standing outside, at RAF Waddington, since 1982 and deserves to be properly preserved and kept under cover and out of the weather.

I was 20 when this happened. At the time I bought the data and stats provided. Since that time I have had the enormous pleasure of working with Argentinians. They have all been highly respectable and work without breaks. Love you guys!

I know an Argy POW who said the British when captured treated him better than his regiment.

So ..the RAF asked for the Vulcan back to fight in a war and you guys said 'no'? Wow.

Great video, great series. Shame there is no mention of the SAS and Chilean radar station and the use Nimrods on "Punta Arenas" as they were early warning, that allowed the Harriers to be used for defensive measures.

I had the pleasure to sit in on a talk by the chief engineer of the Harrier program. He outlined just how capable the Vetol systems were and how they allowed unbelievable maneuvers in air to air combat and ground strikes.

Great videos. One point though: since they are part of a series could you add the episode number in the title? It's really hard to find the correct one in the series when the algorythem is not providing it or when not watching them back to back.

I read "Vulcan 607" a few years ago and it makes a great tale of triumph against the odds. However, I followed it with 'Sharkey' Ward's book about the conflict. He was incredibly disparaging about the whole shenanigans, maintaining that Sea Harrier crews were trained and ready to lob 1000lb bombs on the runway by releasing them from low altitude (under Argentine radar) in a parabolic arc, with decent accuracy. Moreover, they could have done this over and over with minimal risk. But the preference always went to RAF over Fleet Air Arm and presumably the extra headline space that the risky and daredevil Vulcan mission would garner.

Very good video and gives the best of the basic information.I must admit that I have read the works of CDR " sharky" ward and his experiences in the air and with the commanding officers ( non of which were flyers and didn't give the fleet air arm anywhere near the respect it deserved. One mention of the training with the best top gun USAF only touched lightly on something that shaped the tactics of the Argentine air force......801 had gone to Germany to face off the USAF aggressor squadron that teaches fighter pilots to be better....at the end of the exercise the little harrier came out on top scoring more kills than the faster better newer more advanced aircraft.This news goes around the world of flying like gossip in the canteen.Sharky also deliberately made statements in interviews like " can't wait to get stuck in" they won't know what hit them " kind of bravado, but, all the time thinking about how outnumbered they were ( basically if they had 6-1 advantage and loose 3 -1 in combat they would suffer heavy losses but would dominate the sky and win the war. As it happens the orders for the Argentine pilots was to get on with your task but abort if you locate a harrier, during CAP cover flights the harrier pilots often thought they had been fired at on seeing the missile exhaust trail,in fact it was the under wing extra fuel tanks being dumped and the exhaust was fuel vapour trails. The other big issue was the blue fox radar system that Sharkys sparks found a way to get the best out of it , but other squadrons didn't trust it and had no interest in learning from 801 boys, so because of the controversy the order to turn them off was issued. Now just step back and think about it.... the Argentinians had been told not to engage the harrier and leave the area directly on detection of the radar, that means they may not have done so many runs on the fleet if the radar was switched on, but because they didn't detect anything ( even if the harrier was flying in the area) they would try to finish the tasks..... just by turning it on could have saved lives and equipment.... it's all speculation but it is well within the bounds of reality. So the great performance against the aggressor squadron and the " live to fight another day" tactics could be a bigger part than first glance..... I'm not very good at explaining the situation so I recommend you read CDR Wards books for a brilliant description of the actual situation on each day. BTW I'm proud to say I served on the old Ark Royal when he was a F4 phantom pilot as well as down south...... good old days when I could go ashore get drunk get filled in and loose my ID card.... and still get back on board. ..

I was at Portsmouth Poly at the time and we had the Harriers fly round the tower block on their way to the carriers, made it a bit more real.

History has shown many times that it is not always about numbers. It's about professional military and planning. Something that Britain has shown to have many times.