The UK Military operations of the Falkland war
In 2nd April1982 the Argentinean marines landed on the east shores of the Falkland Island. A massive Argentinean force invaded the Falkland Islands. Argentina was also having military tension with the neighbour Chile over another group of Islands. The Southern part of Argentina housed the most well trained troops that could be deployed to reinforce the defence in Falkland Islands. This action would render the boarder undefended with Chile. The Argentineans had long held claims of ownership of these Islands in terms of proximity of the territory and the history and geography of the region. The Argentinean military regime did not expect a British retaliation by any means but they were quite mistaken and the troops were ordered from the North and Central parts of the country to face the dispatched British forces. These Argentine troops were lacking training they were ill equipped and completely unready to confront the enemy. When the Argentinean army invaded the Falkland Islands they captured the small British garrison. The British code name was Corporate for this operation to eradicate the Argentinean occupation over the Falkland Islands. The British troops were highly equipped and well trained when they arrived near the Argentinean forces. British Naval task force engaged in the Argentinean navy and Air force while the land was taken up by an amphibious assault. The retaking of the Island was considered an extremely difficult task When the Argentinean army invaded the Falkland Islands they captured the small British garrison and on 3rd of April 1982 the Governor representing the United Kingdom with seventy royal marines surrendered to the Argentinean army. To strengthen the occupation Argentina took over the South Georgia Islands and the South Sandwich Islands. The British forces retaliated almost instantly and launched a counter invasion by dispatching a Military task force. After a sever confrontation the Argentinean forces surrendered on 14th June 1982.
The Argentineans had long held claims of ownership of these Islands in terms of proximity of the territory along with the history and geography of the region. Argentina was expecting a non-significant reaction from the British therefore the Argentine troops that were deployed in the Falkland were lacking training in that weather they were ill equipped and completely unready to confront the enemy. The British code name was Corporate for this operation to eradicate the Argentinean occupation over the Falkland Islands. The British troops are claimed to be highly equipped and well trained for the situation when they arrived near the Falkland Islands to confront the Argentinean forces. British Naval task force engaged in the Argentinean navy and Air force while the land was to be taken up by an amphibious assault. The retaking of the Island was considered to be an extremely difficult task. The main reason being the lack of air cover and according to the US Navy the counter invasion was considered to be a Military Impossibility.
If we study the demography of these Islands we find that these Islands do not have good weather. The economy and the social life were very limited around the time of the war. It was not a significant tourist attraction. Majority of people did not even heard about this group of Islands and not even about their locations. The piece of territory captured the medias attention and came under spot light when this war occurred. Many critics say that this war was fought to attain political objectives rather than to serve a National cause. It was a risky campaign by all means but even when the territory has been attained back by the British forces but it remains a matter of dispute between the two countries.
When one studies the history of these Islands and this war taking place, one can easily arrive at the following typical questions. Some of these questions are of political nature but they have a profound influence over the operational aspects of the war and the measures that were taken place to provide for any later operations to defend or strengthen the position of Military presence of UK in the region. The British forces jointly executed the operation Corporate and did not require any help from her allies.
How much the Island was important to any or both rival countries
How did the Margret Thatcher benefit from this war
What was the Argentinean political background of this war
Was the British military more powerful than the Junta
If the British forces were not more powerful than Junta, how close the British forces were to defeat
Organizational Culture
The war had a profound effect on the culture of all three armed forces of Britain namely the Air force, the Army and the Navy. It was a war that Britain won and the media in the country off course portrayed an image of Britain that suited the nationalism and patriotism with writers, movie makers, singers, poets and gamming software developers did enrich the culture of the British nation. Along these lines the British military soldiers definitely felt proud and many of them were decorated and awarded in one way or another. Many of them were promoted boasting their morale and patriotism. The men found new confidence in their military and political leadership. For those who died they were also celebrated as heroes with commemorations enriching the British Military culture and heritage. This war also influenced the Military organizational culture by pointing out the weaknesses and strengths of the British forces when they confronted a military like Argentina on a very brief notice. This war also led to update Military equipment to further strengthen the defence requirement and making it possible to achieve further Military objectives as being part of NATO. This war also practically revealed the capability of the British forces campaigning on their own. This determination of objectives to attain a future possible military goal also played an important role is shaping up the culture of the British armed forces.
This war created a debate on many levels and on several grounds to understand the defence requirements of the Island UK. The British forces also benefited by the increments in the defence spending. This also in a way benefited the culture of the British armed forces.
The Interoperational responsibility of the British Air force, Navy and Army
(Pre-conflict defence Planning)
There was some rising tension between the two countries when activity was also pointed out by many during 19th March 1982 as some of the Argentinean scrap metal workers landed on the South Georgia Island and a Her Majestys Ships (HMS) had to be dispatched against this action and after 29th March 1982 this lead to war between UK and Argentina.
The British government was unaware of the fact that such an invasion is possible. It is known that there were such decision that the UK will soon sell out its most powerful battle ships and the Royal Navy will be reduced only to just a coastal guard service. As soon as this conflict arise these decisions were reverted to enhance the defence. The Falkland Island dispute between Argentina and Britain was there since the 1960s.
The British Foreign Secretary suggested the dispatched of a nuclear submarine (SSN) but the First Sea Lord insisted that a small balanced task force of SSN was enough with two frigates and logistic shipping. It is believed that there were many command and contingency factors which were not revealed. In the shade of these facts the command and control had to take action quite earlier along with diplomatic efforts.
Many experts indicated that this dispute will become a crisis when Argentina took the decision to invade on 26th March 1982. On that Wednesday evening Mrs Thatcher held a meeting with the John Nott, ministers and other government officials which laid stress on the ongoing problems and dangers of sending a task force to liberate the Falkland Islands. As the Admiral Leach entered in the picture it was decided that a full task force should be dispatched to the South Atlantic. As Admiral Leachs professional judgment he suggested to the Prime Minster and emphasized on the fact that the solution to this crisis was to send a task force immediately which came out to be a wise decision. The task force that had been put together consisted of five main groups. The five commanders belonging to each group reported back to leach. The task force consisted of the following Task Groups.
(1)Carrier Battle Task Group
(2)Amphibious Task Group
(3)Landing Force task Group
(4)South Georgia Task Group
(5)Submarine Task Group
The plan was to retake the Falkland Island and the South Georgia Island in two separate missions.
As indicated before the British government decided to have significant reductions in its Navy fleet and many of the greatest weapons of the Royal Navy had to be sold to reduce cost but this situation turned everything around. At the same time as the Argentinean military high command was plotting a plan against the British territory the air force was expecting a full supply of Exocet missiles.
The Argentinean leadership was planning to take over the disputed Island and force Britain into negotiation. In any warfare the timing is of crucial nature. The secrets of the war have been revealed quite later on by the intelligence officials of Argentina. It has been pointed out that the Argentineans had planned the invasion much later than it had occurred.
Many experts speculate that if that had happened the outcome had been drastically different and against the favours of the British. Britain could have failed even if the war had prolonged for say two weeks.
It has been said by the high command officials of the Argentinean that received information that a British nuclear submarine had been dispatched and were heading towards the Falkland Islands. It was a very big rumour as British officers deny this now. You cannot see the submarines and you do not know where they are and you have to rely on assumptions as stated by one of the British officials of that time.
It was a huge misinterpretation of intelligence on the side of Argentina to act fast and capture Malvinas few months earlier. This fact has extreme weight for the British winning the war against Argentina and restoring the British government to the Island.
Leach pointed out that it was dangerously difficult but not impossible since the Argentinean army was quite powerful with the government in their hands. The Marshall law in Argentina was a huge adverse factor for the British task force and the command and control behind them but at the same time the fact that Argentina was in a dispute with Chile was a very big positive that fell into the favour of the British retaliation even if the group of disputed territory had less proximity with the British.
On the day of 1-2 April 1982 almost parallel to the invasion Leach gave a green signal to Fieldhouse to prepare the task force effectively executing the orders of Margret Thatcher. The first unit started its sail on Monday 5 April towards the South Atlantic. The British Prime Minister also organized a War Cabinet to receive advice and consultancy as to facilitate the decision making capacity rendered such a body to be inevitable for the Prime Minister. The full cabinet was also there to give progress reports as the state developments took place. During the Falkland War a very important factor came in the front from the operational point of view. Any organization that is required to function efficiently needs to be in a state of harmony and coherence, even if it is an organization of troops the most important factor is smooth communication. In the Falkland war the difference of terms usage caused confusion among the Royal Navy and the Royal Air force. UK invested heavily in its war machine prepared against Argentine. It was said that UK used every tool in the kit bag to get the Falkland Islands back.
Post-conflict defence planning
The year the war took place, it was announced by the officials that the weapons lost in the Falkland war would be replaced, such as aircrafts and sea vessels. After the war took place certain experts in their publications speculated that the amount of measures taken in the defence budgets are not enough for the growing threat of Russian forces in those days.
The unexpected and sudden invasion of the Falklands was a very persuasive factor that led to post conflict and post war policy changes of Britain.
The lessons that were learnt from the war of Falkland Islands lead to the measures that had to be taken against threats from Russia and other potential enemies of Britain and her allied countries. At the same time it was announced that the defence budget would be increased beyond 3 percent. It was also pointed out that the garrison that was destroyed during the war also had to be replaced and its defence would be reinforced to a huge extent. The defence policy and measures that were being taken was not going to be extremely drastic had the Argentinean invasion not taken place. The Thatcher government was facing difficult challenges and the financial short fall was around. This war in the South Atlantic made things politically easy for the government to increase defence spending and it paved the way for Margret Thatcher to be re-elected as Prime Minister for the second time. The pressure on the British treasury was mounting but the Thatcher government was able to convince the treasury to increase the defence spending as the war compensations were absolutely necessary. The Prime Minster later on appointed Michael Heseltine for some defence reductions and concerns started to build up in relation to the defence requirement. It became immensely necessary to increase the defensive and offensive capabilities of the Royal armed forces to meet with future threats. The war also facilitated in the change of foreign policy for defence agreements for the countries like Australia. The British government wanted to plug all the loop holes in its defence hopping to mitigate any further threats. The amphibious force played a major part in winning the war against Argentinean forces and the role of this force was announced to be kept in continuation in 1986. In short this war persuaded the British government to be more vigilant over the UKs defence needs and requirements.
It has been said that Margret Thatcher had benefitted greatly from the Falkland factor and the defence budget also flourished but as a few years passed by other major spending departments along with the Treasury and White Hall was getting concerned with the lavishness being offered to the defence. The reviews started to target more and more to the Defence spending and there were high concerns. It seemed like the magic of Falkland war was wearing off and the complexities of budget reallocation were increasing. In other words the Falkland war factor alone was not good enough to invest in British sea war machines. A shift in policy was eminently taking place in the financial infrastructure of United Kingdom.
The political position of the armed forces in general and the Navy in the aftermath of the Falkland war dramatically improved with Margret Thatcher forming close ties with the task force commander Sir John Fieldhouse as the Navy was a shining star in the afterglow of the war. The war victory gave a very firm base to the political ground of the country affirming good relations to be formed in between the politicians and the leaders of the armed forces contributing heavily to political stability, the institutional strength and boosting the moral of confidence British nation.
In order to control post war cost a study was carried out in 1983 by CDS Field marshal Bramall. His post war study had links with the Falkland war. He claimed on the basis of his study that the NATO forces deployed in the United Kingdom should have out-of-area emphasis in order to have flexibility in terms of protecting the interest of the Atlantic Alliance. It was claimed that the threats to United Kingdom and her allies were greater outside than inside Europe particularly insisting on the oil reserves in the Middle East. The study by Bramall consisted of two papers one on NATO and the other on out-of-area operations but this policy was never announced to become an official policy. This study was based on these two options to determining a balance in utilization and the allocation of the Royal armed forces. As these studies were being discussed there was some other school of thought that was flourishing with emphasis on functionalism and centralised control of the armed forces. This thought was the approached of one of the political figures in power at that time the secretary of state Heseltine. The implementation of this policy was expected to control costs making the life little better for those people who were making decisions of cost allocations of the budget. This approach according to some had an interesting suggestions to rule out the out-of-area policy indicating that there are no eminent military threats and crisis that would endanger the UKs global interests. This thinking was soon to be change when the Heseltine and Margret Thatcher had a major disagreement over this issue and the Sectary of state stormed out of the office of the Prime minister and was soon replaced by George Younger in 1986. Sir John Field house became the new Secretary of Defence with a lot of out-of-area experience.
Component Capabilities
In this passage each component of the forces (relating to Air, sea and ground) and there elements are discussed of the two forces in confrontation. The British counter invasion as it was called was based around some four aircraft carriers and six ships that carried logistics as the navy was dispatched with other vessels carrying amphibious forces and other military equipment. Both the Argentinean military and the British military were accepted to be of equal capabilities. There were certain factors that have been indicated by some historians, scholars and the war analysts that point to the fact that the Argentineans were at a hairs breadth to winning the war. It is believed that the overall capabilities of the two forces facing each other the only difference was the British forces were much more organized and well prepared.
It was known that there were only four air fields on the bone of contention between the two countries. The longest and most paved one was at Stanley but all these runways, including the runway at Stanley were extremely unsuitable for taking off for Air Force jets. The Argentineans were not able to establish a fully operational Airbase on the Island this was a significant setback to the air combat capability of the Argentinean Air force. This fact itself compelled the Argentina to launch most of the attacks from the mainland 500 kilometres away from the war zone. On the other hand the Air jets of the British armed forces were extremely capable of taking off and landing on the air craft carrier. The British were able to conserve fuel for their aircrafts and make effective strikes. This was an enormous advantage and became the axis factor for the British to prevail in the war.
Daggers in the Argentine Air Force did some damage to Ships and were able to come back effectively boosting the morale of Argentinean pilots. When two Mirage III were shot down of the Argentinean Air Force compelled the Air force commanders to separate the Daggers and A-4 Sky-Hawks for striking purposes realizing the offensive capability of the aircrafts against the Royal forces. Stanley was defended as the strong hold by Argentine until the end of the war.
As the war progressed in this region, even after Black Buck, provided with ammunition and medical supplies during night flights as the relief operations continued. The wounded were also air lifted and replaced as this particular position was reinforced with powerful anti aircraft weapons. The resistance of the Argentinean defences continued until the last day of the Falkland war for Port Stanley.
As the battles of the Falkland Island was being fought in the Air and Land a very important development occurred in the two British task forces which included Ships and submarines encountered an Argentinean fleet. Both of the forces encountered each other and engaged in battle as they were operating in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands. A big blow to Argentinean navy occurred when HMS conquer sank Belgarano killing three hundred and twenty seamen onboard and seven hundred crew members were rescued despite the chill cold waters and bad weather. These survivors were taken in as Prisoners of War (POW). This was a very big chunk of achievement for the British sea forces because it nearly comprised of half of the loss of lives in all of the Argentinean deaths in the Falkland war. The one most important capability of submarine is that you cannot see them and you do not know where they are so the enemy has to rely upon assumptions. The damage to the Argentinean Navy was so immense that they had to turn back their sea battle ships although the Argentinean Navy was still quite capable of facing the British advancements. This incident also played a crucial role in the establishment of British Naval superiority around the seas of Falkland Islands.
The Argentinean cause suffered a huge blow and a set back as they width drew their Naval war machine which included a submarine, two escorted destroyers and a battle group centred on an aircraft carrier away from the British shelling.
One of the most deadly weapons that the Argentineans had was a huge threat to the Royal Navy battle vessels were the anti ship missiles that were launched from Argentinean fighter jets. Sheffield was hit by an Exocet missile. These missiles were a major threat to the British War ships. It was intercepted by the Argentinean forces and in this incident killed 20 crew members and severely injuring 24 others. The ship was evacuated and continued to burn for the next six days.
The Exocet missiles were highly capable of destroying sea ships one hit on target but there was one thing that favoured British forces and that was the Argentinean did not had a very huge stock of these weapons. If there had been more Exocet missiles the Royal Navy would have fallen victim in the hands of Argentinean Air force.
This incident started to pose threat that was becoming an infliction to the British War resources by the Exocet and Extendard missiles. The capability of the Royal Military was put on to the test and the concern related with missiles created room for the birth of Mikado. This involved heavy numbers of SAS members.
Their mission was to destroy these missiles and the equipment which operated those weapons. SAS was also assigned the task killing pilots in their residences. The plans of these operations were never executed as the SAS (Special Air Service) had the skills, training and capability to carry out this operation, the SAS officials termed them with suicide.
The regions of the mainland where these operations were expected to be carried out were heavily defended with Argentinean troops making the penetration even more difficult. Many of the forces which were actively defending those territories were well equipped and were trained by British forces in the pre war era. After the war the military officials of Argentina solemnly admitted that they were expecting some sort of a SAS operation from the British side which never happened.
The bad weather in a battle field is a factor that puts Air force machines at direct risk dramatically cutting down their capability to function and operate. Sometimes the weather was so harsh that plans of attack have to be rescheduled or abandoned.
The joint operation
The British armed forces were directed toward the South Georgia Island and it was a plan to capture that part of Falkland Island as the initial task. There is some evidence that it was a decision from the Military tactical point of view or from the perspective of the Military operations.
The joint operation of the British forces had a key value in the attack on the Falkland Islands. The reason being that neither force namely Army, Navy or the Air force could liberate the Falkland Islands alone. It was a joint operation which had to be coordinated in a way that would induce a maximum offensive and defensive resultant force against the enemy. There were some inefficiency that resulted in the joint warfare but the outcome of the war at least reached its target. The combat that was decisive was mainly fought in the air, the action on the ground was of a secondary nature. If the British Navy forces were not able to deter the Argentinean air attack against its fleets the chances of British forces landing on the Falkland Island were very close to impossible. An exceptional coordination had to be preserved, during the attack, between the three British forces to win the war.
It is quite obvious from modern warfare history that the wars are mainly fought in Air and the quality and performance of air force of two rival countries can make a difference in winning and losing. However it has to be coordinated with the troops on the ground to capture the land. As the Falkland war was over an Island it required a huge involvement of the Naval forces to launch an amphibious assault to carry and land the troops on the disputed territory once the jets from the Air force and the Navy paved out the path and did considerable damage to the ground installation.
Stanley was the capital of the Falkland Islands and on May 1 the Royal air force launched operations Black Buck. The target was enemy radars. Once that operation was effectively executed it was going to take away the eyes of the enemy gazing towards the sky by destroying an important radar installation and establishing the domination of the Royal Air force on the Falkland skies making it extremely difficult for the enemy to survive against heavy British raids.
One most important factor that was of great value in the joint operation was the timing. When the counter invasion was initiated till its end, the time was to play a central role. When the dispatch of the Royal navy was executed it was well understood by lead British commanders. At the same time the air combat had to be tightly coordinated with the amphibious attack. At the same time the Royal Navy had to place its ship at a safe distance from the enemy aircrafts and at the same time the vessels had to be closely guarded. This was an upmost crucial effort that required a precisely coordinated timing.
Another factor that was highly effective in the outcome of the war was deployment of the troops and resources. The southern Argentinean boarder was heavily defended against Chile because of a dispute over another group of Islands. Therefore they could not risk sending their highly trained troops. On the contrary the troops that were on board the Royal navy ships inclusively amphibians and paratroopers were highly trained that were participating in the war. All these men working in synchronization belonging to all the three forces Army, Navy and the Air force facilitated the outcome of the joint operation even if they were some communicational discrepancies that were later reported. Many critics of the war believed that if the Argentinean forces were able to establish a full fledge base preferably on Port Stanley it could have been one of the key factors for the Argentina to do significant damage to the British fleets. The Argentine pilots were top ranked in the South America and the Air force was also well equipped and well balanced. They were quite capable of defeating the UK with a well planned and coordinated effort in conjunction with all the forces jointly but this did not happen. The reason was being that they were not able to properly allocate their troops and military resources.
As these air battles were taking place there was another confrontation taking place in the sea. Belgrade, a massive Argentinean ship was sunk by a British submarine firing a World War II torpedo. Once the British commanders had made sure that the Operations in the Air and Seas near the disputed group of Islands had cashed in enough success, they will launch the amphibious attack to eradicate and evict the remnant soldiers of the Argentinean army.
This strategy was the main reason that allowed great measures to be taken to facilitate coordination between the three forces to have an effective outcome of this joint operation.
To many experts and historic analysts this war was useless. One prominent Argentinean writer stated about the Falkland War between Great Britain and Argentina as Two bald men fighting over a comb... This means that the group of Islands both of the countries were fighting for had little or no value for them.
However the Falkland Islands or the Malvinas as Argentineans call it remain a bone of contention in between the two countries up till this day. The Argentineans still claim that Malvinas belong to them without a speck of doubt. This claim is a part of their constitution. At various places in Argentina monuments have been erected in the memory of those who died in this war.
It is said that a Lion is a dangerous animal but when it becomes bloody injured it becomes even more dangerous. The Argentineans are still obsessed with these islands and this South American country is still a great threat to the British presence on the Falkland Islands. The post war compensation did allow the British budget to fit in the necessary requirements for the defence of this territory. The national differences and socio-political opposition can create a friction that may lead to another war.
The Malvinas or the Falkland Islands in inhabited by almost 3000 of UKs citizen. The British government has invested quite a lot in the economical growth improving the standard of living of the people dwelling in Falkland Islands.
The two armies were well equipped and had equal resource capability when they confronted each other. If the statistics of this war is studied with respect to different battles that took place or from an overall perspective of the war we see that the casualties of Argentinean soldiers are consistently more than the casualties of the soldiers of UK.
The reason for this can be justified by this hypothesis that the troops of UK were well trained and well equipped and the planning was outstanding in most of the battles. This is all but partially true. The forces belonging to both sided were considered to be equal from many different points of view but this was not the case. This fact is well known that Argentina had to take care of Chile on another group of Islands and could not afford the risk of leaving that southern border undefended. It was well known that the soldiers deployed on the southern side of Argentina were well equipped, well trained and highly professional. If those soldiers had been appointed the situation could have been very different. Even than it has been claimed by many war analysts that Britain had a narrow escape in the operations of the war and if the war had persisted for more than two weeks the outcome of the war could have been drastically different. Lord Craig, claimed that Six better fuses and we would have lost. He pointed to the technical failure that the Argentinean Air Force was facing due to a technical disability of the fuses fitted in the missiles which made them retarded in terms of effective explosion. Many missiles did not go off due to bad fusses. This problem was fixed later on during the war but its better to say that lightening does not strike at the same place twice.
UK developed a VTOL Harrier after the war in the South Atlantic was over. This was also a result of post war efforts which only occurred as a result and spotting the weaknesses after analysis and plugging the loop holes in the British war machine. This war also paved the way for Britain to focus on the fifth pillar of its military policy called the out-of area policy as the need was there. The requirements of NATO and the out-of-area could also be fulfilled due to studies and experience that was gained understood in the after maths of the Falkland war.
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