British air services in the Falklands War

800 NAS Sea Harrier FRS1 in low-visibility paint scheme. This is a list of the units, aircraft and casualties of the British air services in the Falklands War. The numbers in bold are the number of aircraft used in the war, the numbers in brackets are the number of lost aircraft. For a list of air forces from Argentina, see Argentine air forces in the Falklands War.

Units

=Army Air Corps=

* No. 656 Squadron Army Air Corps - (Gazelle AH.1, Scout AH.1) 6 (1), 6

Royal Marines

* 3 CDO Brigade Air Squadron - (Gazelle AH.1, Scout AH.1) 9 (2), 6 (1)

Fleet Air Arm

Royal Air Force

All four engined "heavies" operated from Wideawake Airfield, Ascension Island, but flew in the war zone.

* No. 1(F) Squadron - (Harrier GR.3) 10 (4) "(HMS Hermes & Port San Carlos)"
* No. 18 Squadron - (Chinook HC.1) 4 (3) "+1 at Wideawake"
* No. 29 Squadron - (Phantom FGR.2) 3; "only at Wideawake"
* No. 39 Squadron - (Canberra PR.9) 2; "Clandestine operations from Chile"
* No. 42 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.2) _{13 MR.2 from all squadrons}
* No. 44 Squadron - (Vulcan B.2) 2
* No. 47 Squadron - (Hercules C.1)
* No. 50 Squadron - (Vulcan B.2) 1
* No. 51 Squadron - (Nimrod R.1) 3
* No. 55 Squadron - (Victor K.2) _{20 Victor K.2 from both squadrons}
* No. 57 Squadron - (Victor K.2)
* No. 70 Squadron - (Hercules C.1)
* No. 101 Squadron - (Vulcan B.2) 1
* No. 120 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.2)
* No. 201 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.2)
* No. 202 Squadron - (Sea King HAR.3) 1 "only at Wideawake"
* No. 206 Squadron - (Nimrod MR.2)

Armament

* L44A1 GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun)
* 30 mm ADEN Cannon with 120-130 rounds "Sea Harrier, Harrier GR.3"
* AIM-9D/G Sidewinder Air-to-air missile (AAM) "F-4 at Wideawake"
* AIM-9L Sidewinder AAM "Sea Harrier, Harrier GR.3"
* AGM-45 Shrike Air-to-Surface Anti-radiation missile (ARM) "Vulcan"
* BAe Sea Skua Air-to-Surface anti-ship missile "Lynx"
* Aerospatiale AS.12 Air-to-Surface missile "Wasp"
* Paveway II Laser-guided bomb (LGB), 454 kg "Harrier GR.3"
* BL755 Cluster bomb with 147 bomblets "Sea Harrier"
* 1,000 lb General Purpose Bomb "Sea Harrier, Harrier GR.3 & Vulcan"
* SNEB Rocket pods "Harrier GR.3"
* Mk. 46 Torpedo
* Mk. 11 Depth charge

Air Campaign

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Sea Harrier FRS.1
1,435 sorties [ [http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/air-war.htm Falklands Air War ] ] , 20 (+3) kills, 6 lost.
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Harrier GR.3
126 sorties, 4 lost.
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Vulcan B.2
5 sorties: 1., 3. May and 12. June; 21x1,000 lbs bombs - 31. May and 3. June; 4 ["armed with four Shrikes for another attack against the Falklands." page 67 in Peter R. March: The Vulcan Story, 2006, Sutton Publishing/'Vulcan to the Sky' trust, ISBN 0-7509-4399-8 ] xAGM-45 Shrike. 13. and 28. May sorties aborted.
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Victor K.2
375 sorties; 14 sorties per Vulcan raid, 12 sorties per extended Nimrod patrol, 6 sorties per Hercules long-range drop, 6 sorties per Harrier GR3 staging (4), 3 radar reconnaissance sorties to South Georgia.
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Nimrod MR.2
111 sorties: maritime patrols, coordinate air refueling, SAR links.
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Hercules C.1
50+ airdrop sorties at Falklands Island, 600+ airbridge sorties UK-Ascension Island

Casualties and aircraft losses

* Human losses:
** 2 Army Air CorpsGazelle shot down by friendly Sea Dart missile from HMS Cardiff on 6 June. All four onboard killed, two from 656 Squadron, Army Air Corps and two from 205 Signal Squadron, Royal Corps of Signals]
** 4 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron Royal Marines
** 17 Fleet Air Arm
* Passengers
** 1 Royal Air Force [http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/brit-aircraftlosses.htm] Probable bird strike to transport helicopter operating between "Intrepid" and "Hermes" on 20 May]
** 18 Special Air Service (Army)
** 3 Royal Corps of Signals (Army)

* Aircraft Lost in the Air:, _{no suffix: "Fleet Air Arm"}
** 2 Sea Harrier FRS.1 (hit by ground fire during 4 May attack on Goose Green and by Roland missile during 1 June attack on Port Stanley)Ethell, Jeffrey and Price, Alfred "Air War South Atlantic" Macmillan Publishing Company (1983) pp.248-251 ISBN 0-02-536300-X]
** 3 Westland Gazelle AH.1 "Army" and "Royal Marines" [http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/brit-aircraftlosses.htm] (2 Gazelles shot down by Argentine army forces small arms leaving San Carlos area on 21 May) ]
** 3 Harrier GR.3 "RAF" (hit by ground fire attacking Port Stanley on 21 May, 27 May, and 30 May)
** 1 Scout AH.1 "Royal Marines" (shot down by Pucara at Goose Green on 28 May)

* Flying accidents in the war zone
** 2 Westland Wessex HU.5 (crashed on in bad weather on Fortune Glacier 22 April)
** 2 Westland Sea King HC.4 (1 lost operational accident 23 April)
** 4 Sea Harrier FRS.1 (two 801 Sqn CAP collided over the task force on 6 May - one 800 Sqn crashed during takeoff from "Hermes" on 24 May - one 801 Sqn slid off deck in bad weather on 29 May)
** 2 Westland Sea King HAS.5 (ditched on 12 May & 17 May)
** 1 Harrier GR.3 "RAF" (landing accident on 8 June)

* Lost onboard a ship
** 3 Westland Lynx HAS.2 (aboard "Ardent" on 21 May and aboard "Coventry" and "Atlantic Conveyer" on 25 May)
** 3 Chinook HC.1 "RAF" 25 May aboard "Atlantic Conveyor"]
** 6 Westland Wessex HU.5
** 1 Westland Wessex HAS.3 (when "Glamorgan" hit by Exocet on 12 June)

* Self-destruct in Chile
** 1 Westland Sea King HC.4 (on 20 May)

References

External links

* [http://www.naval-history.net/F63braircraftlost.htm British site about British Aircraft lost]
* [http://britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/brit-aircraftlosses.htm Britains Small Wars.com] :
* [http://www.fuerzaaerea.mil.ar/conflicto/index_conflicto.html Argentine Air Force (FAA) official site about the Malvinas/Falkland Air War]

* [http://www.naval-history.net/F20faa.htm Fleet Air Arm] - [http://www.naval-history.net/F25raf.htm RAF Role and Operations]