Harrier Story by March Peter R;

Author:March, Peter R;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Harrier Story
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2012-05-22T16:00:00+00:00

FALKLANDS COMBAT

The Royal Navy’s introduction of the Sea Harrier came more than ten years after the RAF started operating the Harrier GR1. On 1 April 1980, 800 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) formed at RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, followed by 801 NAS on 26 February 1981. After the commissioning of the brand-new ‘through-deck cruiser’ HMS Invincible, 800 NAS embarked for its first major deployment in September 1980. Also deployed was 801 NAS on the ageing conventional aircraft carrier HMS Hermes.

When Argentine forces invaded the Falklands on 2 April 1982, some Sea Harriers were still lacking their Blue Fox radars, and none of them had clearance to carry BAe Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles. However, the Sea Harrier was operational, albeit with somewhat limited capabilities, in the nick of time for the Falklands conflict. Britain’s Task Force that was hastily sent to the South Atlantic could not have been as effective without it and the outcome might have been very different.

At the same time, despite its relative maturity, the RAF’s Harrier GR3 was only cleared to fire its 30mm Aden cannon and drop 1,000lb (454kg) bombs and BL-755 cluster weapons. It did not have clearance for the new third-generation AIM-9L Side-winder (which had been supplied in haste by the Americans), laser-guided bombs, or Shrike anti-radiation missiles. Nevertheless, in order to provide more air power, No. 1 Squadron flew fourteen Harrier GR3s nonstop (some 4,000 miles) from the UK to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. The Harriers made the trip in nine hours, refueling in mid-air five times.

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