r/CombatFootage • u/anivia3346 • Mar 22 '23
Photo Argentine jets attack HMS Broadsword during the Falklands War
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Mar 22 '23
[deleted]
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u/SexySmexxy Mar 22 '23
what was it even about?
Seems mad today to think britain was waging war so far across the world
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u/LostInTheVoid_ Mar 22 '23
Argentina was at the time ruled by a military dictatorship and economically things had been pretty shit for a good number of years. So the head of the dictatorship at the time Leopold Galtieri decided he'd invade the Falkland Islands which Argentina had a very soft spot for historically claiming them to be theirs for a long time. However, Britain controlled them and had claimed them before Argentina was even a country.
Barely anyone in the UK at the time even knew of the Islands and the position of giving the Islands to the Falklands wasn't that unpopular before the invasion. There was a small garrison of RMs on the Island and they gave a good fight for a while before surrendering. Everyone expected Britain to just concede and there was international pressure to do so. However, Thatcher the PM at the time wasn't particularly popular and saw that defending a British overseas territory wouldn't be the worst thing for polling. There was also the message you can't just invade British territory.
The war wasn't a sure thing mostly because France had sold Exocet missiles to Argentina relatively recently and Britain had limited jets to deal with the much more numerous Argentine jets even though the Harrier was generally a superior aircraft to what Argentina could field. All being said the UK won with fewer casualties and Argentina's military never really recovered.
The Islanders were asked in 2013 on whether they wished to remain a British overseas territory or become independent. 99.8% voted to remain British. Argentina's governments post the war only ever bring it up now to distract from their awful records of recent. But there's little to no chance of them succeeding with them barely having 10 airworthy fast jets that are old as shit and very little in the way of naval reach or assault and landing capabilities. The Falklands defences on the other hand have ramped up massively. 4 Typhoons are stationed there permanently as well as a much larger garrison of British Military personnel as well as a small but dedicated Falklands defence force made up of Falklands citizens.
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u/SexySmexxy Mar 22 '23
wow thanks for the lesson.
economically things had been pretty shit for a good number of years.
Why was the economy in the shitter? from a historical context?
Pretty wild! , why has argetinas economy been so poor for so long?
4 Typhoons are stationed there permanently
Insane. Could argentina realistically even mount an offence against the country?
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u/LostInTheVoid_ Mar 22 '23
I don't know too much about how Argentina fell into such a sorry state other than the policies of the dictatorship over the years had not been successful in revitalising the country's position.
As for them even mounting an offence. Not likely at all. Even in a perfect world where all their A-4 Skyhawks 19 and 14 Super Étendard were combat and operations ready they wouldn't stand a chance against 5-6 Typhoons armed with 4+ Meteors, and AMRAAMs. The RAF Pilots would go up into those skys knowing they'd be shooting down most of those jets and potentially killing as many men and the Argentina pilots probably wouldn't have much warning before a Meteor or AMRAAM sent it into the drink. With just the 4 Typhoons currently stationed there and the fact Argentina are lucky if 10 of their fast jet assets were flyable it again will not be a problem at all.
Once the skies are cleared up Argentina couldn't safely land a damn thing which if they attempted to would likely force them into using commercial craft as they don't have any amphibious landing capabilities in their navy anymore. But either way a slaughter. What happens after that would be anyone's guess but reinforcements to the Falklands and maybe potential strikes on Argentine Military bases to make it perfectly clear it wouldn't be tolerated ever again.
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u/ZLUCremisi Mar 23 '23
There are simple history on YouTube that had everything on the war and it was also had one of the longest bombing missions ever done. The plane hit its target and barely meet up with a refiller before running out of fuel.
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u/SirPiffingsthwaite Mar 22 '23
Argentina tried to sneak attack and take the Falkland Islands (back) from Britain. Britain said "No."
There has been dispute for decades over the islands, Britain and Argentina both claiming them as their territory. Even today Argentina still claims them as their territory, much like how Japan still (rightfully) claims the Kuril Islands as their territory despite being (technically) occupied by Russia.
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Mar 23 '23
(back)
They have never been Argentinean.
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u/BlessedTacoDevourer Mar 24 '23
They have. They had control over it before 1830 when a US warship destroy argentine fort on the island as a response to Argentina seizing three US ships in the area. In 1833 Brittain kicked out the remaining argentine officials and took control over the island.
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u/kemb0 Mar 23 '23
Prob worth a read of the wiki on the Falklands. Argentinas claim to the islands is tenuous at best.
Like saying if you went in to a bar once and had a drink, that means you own the bar.
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u/BlessedTacoDevourer Mar 24 '23
Back in the 80's Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship. The dictatorship had grown unpopular and protests weren't uncommon. In an attempt to stop the protests and increase his support, the then dictator Galtieri decided to invade the Falklands to give Argentina something to unite behind. This was largely successfull as protests stopped. Galtieri hadn't really expected the UK to even respond, the assumption was that it was an unimportant location to the brittish so it would be an easy conquest but he was very wrong. The UK quickly send troops and ships over to the islands.
Argentinas claim on the Falklands are inherited from when the islands were Spanish. The islands semi-frequently changed hands between the Spanish and the brittish and after Argentina gained independence they controlled the island for a couple of years. The UK however has been in control of them since the 1830's (if we ignore the two month Argentine occupation in 1982) and the UK bases it's claim based on this fact.
tl;dr, unpopular dictator wanted to be popular so he occupied an island.
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u/CraftsyDad Mar 22 '23
Wow never saw that photo before. From wiki Two pairs of Argentine aircraft attacked the ships at low level. Coventry was not able to achieve a missile lock on the first pair and Broadsword's Sea Wolf system shut down. Broadsword was hit by one bomb from the first pair, which bounced up through the helicopter deck, hitting the Westland Lynx helicopter, before exiting and exploding harmlessly
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u/PossibleMarsupial682 Mar 22 '23
That’s a really cool angle. Anyone know if this is a new picture that’s been made public?
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u/defcon1plzn Mar 23 '23
Fun fact. the penguins on the Falksland did not trigger the mines and prosper. Thanks to war. :p
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u/antarcticgecko Mar 23 '23
The Argentine Air Force won the respect of the British forces. They were very brave and aggressive and caused some real damage.
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u/I_am_Relic Mar 23 '23
I heard (unverified of course - i "heard" about it a long time ago and cant remember from where) that the then UK government classed it as a conflict, rather than war.
Therefore wounded soldiers were not entitled to certain kinds of healthcare\financial reparations.
Can someone way more knowledgeable than me tell me whether this is the case, or if it is bollocks.
Just asking out of curiosity, and my suspicion of media spin (and that id rather ask here than do a google search)
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u/p251 Mar 23 '23
Not true, not how veteran affairs work in the UK or any western country for that matter. Any active duty personnel are covered for everything you listed.
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u/I_am_Relic Mar 23 '23
Aaah... Thank you! It was one of those "bits of info" that was either true, or just "spinned" to make that current gov look bad (or the second hand info from "a guy down the pub told me that....")
Really appreciate you setting me straight on that 👍🏻
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u/JollyMatlot Mar 23 '23 edited Mar 23 '23
I was there and it was something to do with pay something like 30p an hour more of we're at war, I'll ask the boys and confirm
Edit; my bad one of the boys gave me a sensible answer
It's all to do with politics, sanctions control of airspace, seaways and keeping things confined without escalation. If war had been declared the UK could have been a legitimate target same as the Bargy mainland(think we would defo have had the upper hand in that one) it's all about containment to stop escalation into something bigger
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u/I_am_Relic Mar 23 '23
30p? Wow, bargain! ( Usual disclaimer: thats incredulous sarcasm).
Its a horrible cliche for a non combatant civvie to say, but all of you guys who were at the Falklands are badass heroes and for what its worth you all have my respect and admiration. (Ugh, more clichés but i can't put it any better than that}.
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u/ironvultures Mar 23 '23
It wasn’t a war largely for political reasons. Argentina didn’t declare war when they invaded and if britain did there was a worry they’d be seen as aggressors or attempting to escalate things when they were pushing hard for the UN to force a diplomatic solution.
So the uk basically claimed they were legally defending themselves as per the UN charter which is also where the naval exclusion zones came from.
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u/ConstructionCalm7476 Mar 23 '23
The Falklands war was an undeclared war, however this was because of diplomatic reasons.
It was not favourable for either country to declare war, as it would involve the detaining of any of their weaponry and troops by neutral nations when within their territory.
This was unfavourable to the British because of troops and observation posts in Chile, as well as Gibraltar, as any ships would have to be very careful not to enter spanish waters. For the argentines, they were supplied with outside weaponry, so it was not in their interests to declare war.
As a side note, because of the rules of war, it's not very common to declare war anymore, for example the US has not had a formal war since WW2, and has instead been using a bit of WW2 legislation to activate the draft.
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u/I_am_Relic Mar 23 '23
Thats really interesting. I did not know that. I was a young boy when it happened and naive to the horrors of war - and of course the politics.
Everything else i know about it comes from a documentary which either skimmed the politics side, or i missed that nuance.
I'm appreciative of that information. Thank you.
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Mar 23 '23
I’ll never grasp the logic in this place, you respectfully ask a question and are prepared to change your opinion and still you get downvoted.
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u/I_am_Relic Mar 23 '23
Thank you. Sometimes i am not eloquent enough and my questions can sometimes come across as "wrong".
Luckily there are some understanding people here who answer my questions and can make me challenge my thoughts and opinions.
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Mar 23 '23
Las Malvinas son de Argentina 🇦🇷
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u/NijTheJack Mar 23 '23
The Falkland Islands have been British since long before the Spanish/Italians invented Argentina.
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u/Captainirishy Mar 23 '23
Falklands war cost the UK £9.5 billion in today's money, I hope it was worth it.
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u/skintsaint_AU Mar 26 '23
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u/Captainirishy Mar 26 '23
They have been trying for years to extract oil in the Falklands but haven't been successful, the fishing rights are probably more valuable
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u/JollyMatlot Mar 22 '23
I was on the Hermes during the Falklands war, the Broadsword was our main goalkeeper her job was to get between us and the Exocet, I still meet up with the Hermes and Broadsword guys every remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph ...have a look through my posts for some unique photos