<ul class="summary-list"><li>In April 1982, <keyword id="11935753" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="argentina" source="Orion">Argentina</keyword> seized the <keyword id="11894874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falkland-islands" source="Orion">Falkland Islands</keyword> from the UK, starting a war in the Atlantic.</li><li><keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword> ships steamed south to recapture the islands, and the Argentine navy sailed to meet them.</li></ul><p>Just before 3 a.m. on May 2, 1982, the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano was hit by two torpedoes fired by a British nuclear-powered attack submarine, HMS Conqueror.</p><p>The cruiser's electrical system was damaged and it was unable to send a distress signal. Within 45 minutes it sank to the bottom of the South Atlantic, taking 323 of its crew members with it.</p><p>At the time, Britain was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-learns-lessons-about-seizing-taiwan-from-the-falklands-war-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at war</a> with Argentina. That April, Argentina had seized the Falklands Islands, prompting the British to send a naval task force to retake the islands it had controlled since 1833.</p><div type="image" title="Sea Harrier jump jets on British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1295" width="2000" msid="92047713" hostid="261"></div><p>The sinking of the Belgrano was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2-submarines-sunk-warships-in-combat-since-world-war-ii-2021-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only the second time since World War II</a> in which a submarine sank an enemy warship, and it is one of the war's best-remembered moments.</p><p>While the Conqueror was firing on the Belgrano, another major naval encounter was unfolding a few hundred miles to the north. Argentina's only <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword>, <keyword id="14131092" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ara-veinticinco-de-mayo" source="Orion">ARA Veinticinco de Mayo</keyword>, was trying to find the British aircraft carriers accompanying the incoming task force.</p><p>The Argentines were unaware they were being <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Carrier-Risk-Argentinean-Anti-Submarine-Operations/dp/1911628704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hunted</a> by two more British nuclear-powered attack subs.</p><h2>An old carrier</h2><div type="image" title="Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="480" width="850" msid="92047714" hostid="261"></div><p>Named after the date of Argentina's 1810 revolution, Veinticinco de Mayo was a Colossus-class fleet carrier built by the British and commissioned into service in 1945 as HMS Venerable.</p><p>It served with the British Pacific Fleet until 1947 and was sold to the Netherlands in 1948. In the 1950s, it was refitted with an angled deck and a steam catapult. After a mostly uneventful tenure with the Dutch navy, the carrier was knocked out of service by a boiler-room fire in 1968.</p><p>It was then sold to Argentina, which repaired and upgraded the carrier, commissioning it as the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo in 1969. At 630 feet long and 80 feet wide, it could carry up to 24 aircraft and had a crew of 1,300.</p><p>Veinticinco de Mayo supported the Argentine invasion of the Falklands on April 2, 1982, with an air wing of eight A-4Q Skyhawk combat aircraft, four S-2E Tracker anti-submarine aircraft, and two SH-3 Sea King helicopters.</p><div type="image" title="Falkland Islands map" height="1070" width="1427" msid="92062509" hostid="261"></div><p>Shortly after Britain announced its intention to retake the Falklands, Argentina's navy made plans to intercept the Royal Navy as it arrived in the South Atlantic.</p><p>Argentine ships were deployed in a pincer movement, swinging 200 miles to the north and south of the Falklands.</p><p>Veinticinco de Mayo, along with the Type 42 destroyers Hércules and Santísima Trinidad (also built in Britain) and the Gearing-class destroyer Comodoro Py, formed the northern part of the pincer. <keyword id="14131091" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ara-general-belgrano" source="Orion">ARA General Belgrano</keyword> and its two escorts formed the southern one.</p><p>A third Argentine task force of three Drummond-class corvettes, armed with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/15/exocet-missile-how-sinking-hms-sheffield-made-famous" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exocet</a> anti-ship missiles, was also operating in the north, though farther away from Veinticinco de Mayo and its escorts.</p><p>On the night of May 1, aircraft from Veinticinco de Mayo detected the British fleet and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falklands-war-almost-had-first-aircraft-carrier-battle-since-wwii-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prepared for an attack</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Royal Navy crewmen aboard aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1278" width="2000" msid="92047716" hostid="261"></div><p>The most important targets were the two British carriers leading the flotilla, HMS Invincible and <keyword id="13638258" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-hermes" source="Orion">HMS Hermes</keyword>, which carried about 20 Sea Harrier jump jets that were critical to the British operation.</p><p>But Veinticinco de Mayo's Skyhawks were unable to attack. When fully loaded with fuel and weapons, they needed wind to launch from the carrier, and there would not be any wind for at least 12 hours — a rarity in that part of the Atlantic.</p><p>The Argentines couldn't afford to wait and called off their attack. At midnight, a British Sea Harrier found Veinticinco de Mayo and its escorts. A few hours later, the Belgrano was sunk.</p><p>With the sinking of the Belgrano, Argentine commanders realized just how vulnerable their ships were — especially their carrier. They ordered their ships back to port. Unbeknownst to them, the British were already in pursuit.</p><h2>9 days of high-seas cat and mouse</h2><div type="image" title="Royal Navy submarine HMS Conqueror" height="1332" width="2000" msid="92047718" hostid="261"></div><p>The British made it a top priority to knock Argentina's navy, especially Veinticinco de Mayo, out of the fight. Three nuclear-powered attack submarines of Task Force 324 were tracking the Argentines as the rest of the British fleet sailed south.</p><p>The task force consisted of HMS Conqueror, a Churchill-class attack sub, which was assigned to patrol south of the Falklands, and the Swiftsure-class attack subs Splendid and Spartan, which were assigned the northwest and northeast sectors, respectively.</p><p>The British, now aware of Veinticinco de Mayo's location, sent HMS Splendid after it, starting a nine-day chase.</p><p>Because of its lingering boiler problems, Veinticinco de Mayo was slower than the sub's top speed, but the carrier's zig-zag course through shallower waters forced the Splendid to slow down.</p><p>The Argentine ships also kicked their anti-submarine operations into high gear.</p><div type="image" title="S-2 Tracker Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92047719" hostid="261"></div><p>The carrier's escorts took up position 5 miles off its port, bow, and starboard. The four S-2E Trackers flew six-hour missions, flying as far as 100 miles from the carrier to drop sonobuoys and use their surface-search radars. They also used electromagnetic sensors to listen for radio signals going to or from the Splendid.</p><p>The two Sea King helicopters patrolled closer to the carrier, using dipping sonars that could detect submarines within 3 miles.</p><p>When the Argentines detected what they thought was a sub, they attacked with Mark 44 torpedoes or Mk 54 depth charges dropped from the Trackers.</p><p>Despite the Argentine defenses, Splendid closed in. On May 3, it was close enough to make visual contact with Veinticinco de Mayo's escorts. A day later, though it had to dive deep to avoid the Trackers, its sonar had acquired the carrier and its escorts.</p><p>By the time Splendid was within torpedo range, however, the carrier and its escorts had entered Argentine waters and continued sailing north.</p><div type="image" title="Argentina A-4 Skyhawk Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92047720" hostid="261"></div><p>The British wanted to portray their actions as purely defensive and decided not to attack Argentine forces in their own waters. Splendid broke off its pursuit and headed south, leaving the job of tracking the carrier to HMS Spartan.</p><p>On May 5, one of Veinticinco de Mayo's Trackers detected signs of a submarine. Numerous Mark 44s were fired but made no hits. Neither Splendid nor Spartan was in the area at the time, suggesting the Argentines had misidentified the contact or had instead detected a US, Soviet, or Chilean sub.</p><p>The hunt for Veinticinco de Mayo finally ended May 9, when the carrier entered the port of Viedma. It never sortied again during the war, but its Skyhawks, flying from land, helped sink the British frigate Ardent.</p><p>The naval clashes of the <keyword id="11894875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falklands-war" source="Orion">Falklands War</keyword> were a glimpse at modern high-seas warfare and its toll.</p><p>Two days after Belgrano was sunk, the British destroyer Sheffield was sunk by an Exocet missile, becoming the first Royal Navy ship <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falklands-war-still-has-military-lessons-for-china-other-countries-2022-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sunk in combat since World War II</a>. While the main carriers escaped unscathed, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-used-impromptu-aircraft-carriers-to-recapture-falklands-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a freighter the British converted to carry aircraft</a> was sunk, also by Argentine anti-ship missiles.</p>

A high-seas chase in the South Atlantic 40 years ago almost ended with the first aircraft carrier sunk in combat since World War II

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> surprised the world by sinking Russian missile cruiser <keyword id="13621610" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="moskva" source="Orion">Moskva</keyword> in the Black Sea this spring.</li><li>The attack showed how modern warships are susceptible to well-planned attacks with modern weapons.</li></ul><p>In late April, Ukraine surprised <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword> and the world by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-ships-head-south-as-flagship-moskva-battles-extensive-fire-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sinking Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva</a> with what one official <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/14/russia-moskva-ship-ukraine-black-sea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> were two well-placed anti-ship missiles.</p><p>Russia's navy has mostly dominated the waters around Ukraine during the war, so Ukraine sinking the Moskva — the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/surprising-russian-navy-losses-against-ukraine-century-after-tsushima-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet</a> — was unexpected and highlighted the potency of anti-ship missiles even against well-defended ships.</p><p>The way Moskva was sunk is also a reminder of the deadly lessons learned in another major war 40 years ago.</p><h2>The Moskva</h2><div type="image" title="Russian missile cruiser Moskva in the Mediterranean Sea" height="4000" width="5333" msid="92710668" hostid="261" sizebytes="810208"></div><p>A Slava-class guided-missile cruiser, the Moskva was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-cruisers-compared-to-russia-china-korea-cruisers-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">designed to take out US aircraft carriers</a> and was outfitted with the weapons to do so.</p><p>It could carry 16 P-500 anti-ship missiles, 104 S-300F anti-aircraft missiles, 40 9K33 air-defense missiles, two 130mm cannons, anti-submarine mortars, torpedoes, and six <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/phalanx-close-in-weapon-system-navy-ships-last-missiles-defense-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">close-in weapon systems</a>. Because of its armament and size — more than 600 feet long and displacing over 11,000 tons — Moskva would difficult to sink.</p><p>On the night of April 13, the Ukrainian military launched two Neptune anti-ship missiles that flew about 50 feet above the water on their way to Moskva. As they neared the warship, they dropped to just above the surface to avoid the ship's missile defenses.</p><p>The Ukrainians had to aim their Neptunes very well, but after their impact, cascading explosions fueled by Moskva's munitions, as well as what was likely its crew's poor training and leadership, helped doom the Russian ship.</p><div type="image" title="Bayraktar TB2 drone" height="3381" width="4508" msid="92710669" hostid="261" sizebytes="1420364"></div><p>Ukraine's military reportedly used a Bayraktar TB2 drone to track Moskva's movements and to distract its crew and sensors from the incoming missiles. The Moskva's sinking is in many regards a reflection of a new age in naval warfare, as the use of a drone to track and distract a large enemy surface ship, making it more vulnerable to attack, is a first.</p><p>Since the Moskva was sunk, Russia's navy has largely lost its freedom of movement along Ukraine's coast. Kyiv says its anti-ship missiles have wreaked havoc on Russian warships, sinking 14 small and large vessels as of June.</p><p>Surface combatants are by no means obsolete. Aircraft carriers, destroyers, cruisers, and frigates are still highly useful and can fill many roles, ranging from force projection and deterrence to long-range attack and area defense.</p><p>But new weapons on display in Ukraine add to the threats that have long challenged surface ships' ability to survive in modern warfare, as illustrated in the naval clashes of the <keyword id="11894875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falklands-war" source="Orion">Falklands War</keyword>.</p><h2>ARA General Belgrano and <keyword id="14386301" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-sheffield" source="Orion">HMS Sheffield</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="Argentina navy General Belgrano Falklands War" height="1314" width="2000" msid="92710670" hostid="261" sizebytes="126242"></div><p>Two incidents during the Falklands War in 1982 highlighted the enduring danger that surface ships faced from air and undersea threats.</p><p>On May 2, 1982, after days of hunting, British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror launched three Mark 8 torpedoes at Argentine light cruiser ARA General Belgrano. Within minutes, the Argentine warship was sinking, taking 323 of its 1,100 crew with it.</p><p>Belgrano was only the second surface warship to be sunk by a submarine since World War II, and it showed the danger that subs pose to surface combatants.</p><p>Days later, Argentina struck back. On May 4, Argentine jets attacked HMS Sheffield, a Type 42 guided-missile destroyer, launching two <a href="https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/exocet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AM39 Exocet</a> anti-ship cruise missiles and scoring one hit.</p><p>Residual fuel from missile triggered a blaze in the ship, eventually igniting Sheffield's fuel tank and destroying most of the forward part of the vessel. The destroyer sank on May 10, as it was being towed by another British ship. Of the 268 crew, 20 were killed and dozens more injured.</p><div type="image" title="British Royal Navy HMS Sheffield Falklands War" height="1358" width="2000" msid="92710671" hostid="261" sizebytes="179152"></div><p>HMS Sheffield was one of four ships that the British would lose to Argentine air attacks. Argentine aircraft struck three Royal Navy vessels with Exocets, sinking each and killing 46 British sailors.</p><p>Guided missiles were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nazi-attack-on-warships-introduced-world-to-precision-guided-weapons-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first used to sink ships during World War II</a>, and the Falklands War showed the enduring danger they posed, even to advanced warships. Following the war, the US Navy tested Exocets against its own defenses, which downed all but one of the dozen missiles fired at US ships, according to John Lehman, the secretary of the Navy at the time.</p><p>"The cruise missile is nothing new for naval forces. It's clear the Russians either never learned the lessons, more probably, or forgot them all, because almost every lesson that came out of World War II and subsequent wars was ignored in the Moskva," Lehman <a href="https://www.csis.org/events/falklands-40" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> at a think-tank audience in April.</p><p>"The worry is that US and Western and NATO navies have forgotten what they should be remembering in training and in equipment and in materiel and in ship design. All of those things are important in naval warfare," Lehman said.</p><p><em>Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.</em></p>

The sinking of Russia's Black Sea Fleet flagship highlights deadly lessons learned in another war 40 years ago

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Forty years ago, the <keyword id="11897975" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uk" source="Orion">UK</keyword> and <keyword id="11935753" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="argentina" source="Orion">Argentina</keyword> went to war over the <keyword id="11894874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falkland-islands" source="Orion">Falkland Islands</keyword>.</li><li>The <keyword id="11894875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falklands-war" source="Orion">Falklands War</keyword> involved major operations by air, sea, and ground forces.</li></ul><p>In April 1982, Argentine commandos landed on the Falkland Islands, a remote, rugged archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean.</p><p>The Falklands were British territory that Argentina claimed, and the invasion came after years of tension between the British government and Argentina's ruling military junta.</p><p>Once on the ground, the Argentine special operators went straight to the British governor's house, the headquarters of the local government. The small garrison of Royal Marine Commandos barricaded itself there but surrendered after a short, fierce firefight.</p><p>Photos of captured British troops — marching with their arms up or laying flat on their bellies — were soon circulating around the world as Argentines celebrated in the streets, compounding the British sense of humiliation.</p><p>British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, facing her own domestic challenges, vowed a strong response. The clash that followed would be one of the biggest but least-remembered conflicts between major forces in the second half of the 20th century.</p><h2>A conflict of 'firsts'</h2><div type="image" title="Argentina navy General Belgrano Falklands War" height="1314" width="2000" msid="91454652" hostid="261"></div><p>The Falklands, only 300 miles from mainland Argentina, have been a sore point between Argentina and the UK for centuries. Argentina has disputed British control of the islands since British settlers colonized them in the 1800s.</p><p>In many ways, the Falklands War was a conflict of "firsts." Both sides had competent militaries with strong air, naval, and ground forces, making it the first major conventional combined-arms conflict since World War II.</p><p>On the afternoon of May 2, the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror launched three Mark 8 torpedoes at ARA General Belgrano, an Argentine light cruiser. Two torpedoes found their target, sinking the warship and killing 323 of its 1,100-member crew.</p><p>Conqueror became <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2-submarines-sunk-warships-in-combat-since-world-war-ii-2021-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only the second submarine to sink a warship</a> in combat since World War II — a distinction it still holds.</p><p>As the British armada approached the islands in spring 1982, the famed British Special Air Service conducted <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sas-revisited-wwii-roots-in-daring-raid-during-falklands-war-2021-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its largest commando raid since the end of World War II</a>.</p><div type="image" title="British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes Harrier Sea King" height="1322" width="2000" msid="91454653" hostid="261"></div><p>On the night of May 14, an SAS squadron of about 45 troops assaulted the Argentine airbase at Pebble Island. Argentine attack aircraft based there could threaten the British invasion force en route to the Falklands.</p><p>The raid was successful. The SAS operators destroyed all 11 aircraft at the airbase and knocked out a radar station without suffering any serious casualties. A few days later, however, 18 SAS troopers, some of whom had been at Pebble Island, were killed when a Sea King helicopter crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a routine flight between ships.</p><p>The war almost saw another first at sea.</p><p>The two navies' aircraft carriers nearly engaged in what would have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falklands-war-almost-had-first-aircraft-carrier-battle-since-wwii-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the first aircraft carrier battle since World War II</a>. Only weather prevented Argentina's ARA Veinticinco de Mayo and the UK's HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes from clashing in the South Atlantic.</p><p>Both navies maintained a strong concern about the other's anti-ship weapons throughout the war. Argentine missiles <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-used-impromptu-aircraft-carriers-to-recapture-falklands-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed one of the container ships</a> that the British converted into an aircraft carrier and the destroyer HMS Sheffield, the first Royal Navy warship sunk since World War II.</p><h2>Instructive to this day</h2><div type="image" title="Argentina armored car wreck in Falklands" height="1333" width="2000" msid="91454654" hostid="261"></div><p>Chinese military planners have studied the Falklands War with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-learns-lessons-about-seizing-taiwan-from-the-falklands-war-2021-4" target="_top">an eye toward potential similarities to a conflict with Taiwan</a>, especially if the US comes to <keyword id="12048018" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="taiwan" source="Orion">Taiwan</keyword>'s defense. Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province and has vowed to absorb it, by force if necessary.</p><p>The Falklands and Taiwan are both relatively small and isolated. The UK is more than 8,000 miles from the Falklands. Taiwan is 1,700 miles from Guam, the US military's main hub in the Western Pacific, and about 5,100 miles from Pearl Harbor, the US Navy's home base in the Pacific.</p><p>Judging from Chinese military journals, <keyword id="11892748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="china" source="Orion">China</keyword>'s People's Liberation Army <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/invasions-of-grenada-falklands-influence-china-thinking-about-taiwan-2022-3" target="_top">is</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/invasions-of-grenada-falklands-influence-china-thinking-about-taiwan-2022-3" target="_top"> paying particular attention to the role British special operators played</a> in the Falklands.</p><div type="image" title="Argentina veterans Dagger fighter jet Malvinas Falklands" height="1333" width="2000" msid="91454657" hostid="261"></div><p>The SAS and their naval brethren, the Special Boat Service, were crucial to the British victory.</p><p>The two units conducted direct-action operations, carried out special reconnaissance, coordinated long-range fires, and undertook unconventional-warfare missions — all of which enabled conventional British forces to defeat the Argentines and retake the Falklands.</p><p>The Chinese military might wish to replicate that British success, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-special-operations-forces-are-taiwan-real-problem-not-warships-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using special-operations forces to undermine Taiwan's defenses</a> and open a path for conventional Chinese forces.</p><p>The Falklands War was one of the 20th century's most complex conflicts, but it has largely slipped from memory. Forty years on, however, it still informs the doctrine and planning of militaries around the world.</p><p><em>Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.</em></p>

One of the 20th century's least-known major wars still has lessons for militaries 40 years later

<ul class="summary-list"><li>After Argentina captured the <keyword id="11894874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falkland-islands" source="Orion">Falkland Islands</keyword> in 1982, the British navy sailed south to retake them.</li><li>The <keyword id="11894875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falklands-war" source="Orion">Falklands War</keyword> was one of the largest conflicts since World War II and featured major operations.</li></ul><p>In 1982, after years of simmering tensions, Argentina and the UK went to war over a small island chain in the South Atlantic.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/falklands-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Falklands War</a> was one of the largest conflicts since World War II and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sas-revisited-wwii-roots-in-daring-raid-during-falklands-war-2021-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">featured major operations</a>. British special operators <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-daring-british-sas-mission-during-falklands-war-went-wrong-2021-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raided deep inside Argentina</a>, submarines and aircraft attacked and sank warships, and infantry fought hand-to-hand for strategically located hills.</p><p>The Falklands War is also notable for a near-miss: The war almost had the first <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword> clash since World War II.</p><h2>A war long coming</h2><div type="image" title="Sea Harrier jump jets on British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1295" width="2000" msid="88169820" hostid="261"></div><p>Located almost 8,000 miles south of the UK but only 300 miles east of Argentina, the Falkland Islands were a point of contention between the two nations ever since the British colonized them in the 19th century.</p><p>Argentina's junta ordered the invasion in spring 1982, partly to distract the Argentine public from the country's deepening socioeconomic problems and the junta's own abuses. Argentine leaders didn't think the British would go to war over a small group of islands where a few thousand people tended to a sheep-driven economy.</p><p>But British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-falklands-gamble" target="_top">facing</a> her own domestic struggles, responded forcefully to the crisis, galvanizing the British people.</p><p>A task force of over British 100 ships sailed to war in the remote South Atlantic, and the Argentines prepared to intercept them before they arrived.</p><h2>The <keyword id="12500522" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carriers" source="Orion">aircraft carriers</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="Royal Navy crewmen aboard aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1278" width="2000" msid="88169821" hostid="261"></div><p>The Falkland War found the British military in a bad state. Every service branch had been gradually downsizing since the end of World War II.</p><p>While reductions to the wartime military were essential for the British economy, deep cuts by successive Labor and Tory governments left the <keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword> only able to provide two small aircraft carriers — HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible — to protect the British task force.</p><p>The two carriers could only carry about 20 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pepsi-legal-battle-with-college-student-over-harrier-jet-2021-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sea Harrier fighter jets</a>, short-take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) aircraft that didn't need a "regular" flattop to operate. The two carriers had distinctive ski-jump ramps on their bows to aid the Harriers during takeoff.</p><div type="image" title="ARA Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="1116" width="2000" msid="88169824" hostid="261"></div><p>British also converted <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-used-impromptu-aircraft-carriers-to-recapture-falklands-2021-9" target="_top">transport and cargo ships into aircraft carriers</a>. The converted ships were mainly meant to deliver aircraft to the true carriers, but they could also launch Sea Harriers and helicopters.</p><p>The Argentines weren't in much better shape. Their navy could only field one second-hand aircraft carrier, the 40-year-old ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, which was first commissioned into the Royal Navy. It was later sold to the Dutch, in whose service it suffered a fire that damaged its boilers, before finding its way to Argentina.</p><p>These forces almost clashed in what would have been the most significant naval battle since World War II.</p><h2>A near-run thing</h2><div type="image" title="Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="480" width="850" msid="88169825" hostid="261"></div><p>On May 1, 1982, as the British task force was approaching the Falklands, the Argentines prepared to strike, massing an armada of one cruiser, five destroyers, three corvettes, and the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo. Dozens of land-based aircraft would provide air cover.</p><p>The plan was to launch eight A-4Q Skyhawks from the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo to strike the British aircraft carriers, allowing other warships to get within range to launch their deadly Exocet anti-ship missiles against the slow-sailing transport ships carrying the British troops.</p><p>The Argentine ships spotted the British ships on May 1. Argentinian pilots prepared to take off from ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, but <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/40-years-ago-calm-winds-stopped-british-and-argentinian-navies-fighting-death-178315" target="_top">the weather</a> had other plans.</p><p>Aircraft carriers have always used the wind to help launch aircraft. Modern-day carriers still conduct flight operations while sailing into the wind.</p><div type="image" title="Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1597" width="2000" msid="88169828" hostid="261"></div><p>The ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was an older carrier with a relatively small flight deck and limited speed due to its earlier boiler damage. That made it even more dependent on wind to launch aircraft. The A-4Q Skyhawks' heavy bomb loads only deepened their need for wind.</p><p>The forecast on that day predicted there wouldn't be sufficient wind to launch aircraft for at least 12 hours. The Argentine carrier didn't have that much time. On the evening of May 1, British aircraft — guided by US-provided intelligence — spotted the Argentine ships.</p><p>The Argentines wouldn't put their sole carrier at risk, and the Veinticinco de Mayo retreated. British forces <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvvLxC1rvrQ&amp;ab_channel=MarkFeltonProductions" target="_top">pursued</a> but were unable to catch the carrier before it reached safer waters.</p><p>Each side's window of opportunity to strike the other's carriers had closed, and the largest aircraft carrier clash since World War II was prevented.</p><div type="image" title="Sea Harrier approaches the container ship and aircraft carrier Atlantic Conveyor" height="1590" width="2000" msid="88169829" hostid="261"></div><p>The war did see major losses at sea.</p><p>On May 2, after following ARA General Belgrano for days, British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror sunk the Argentine cruiser, killing more than 300 sailors in what became one of the war's most controversial actions.</p><p>One of the converted flattops was also sunk. Atlantic Conveyor was struck by at least one air-launched Exocet anti-ship missile on May 25, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-used-impromptu-aircraft-carriers-to-recapture-falklands-2021-9" target="_top">igniting ammunition and fuel stores</a>. Several crew members were killed, and the ship was left unusable. It sunk three days later.</p><p><em>Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.</em></p>

A 1982 war in the remote South Atlantic almost sparked the first aircraft-carrier clash since World War II

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In April 1982, <keyword id="5927" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Argentina">Argentina</keyword> invaded the <keyword id="211825" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Falkland-Islands">Falkland Islands</keyword>, which were the subject of a long-running dispute with <keyword id="11101" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Britain">Britain</keyword>.</li><li>The British sent a force to retake the islands in what remains the most recent war involving large air, land, and naval battles.</li><li><keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> has closely studied that war, looking for lessons to apply in a future conflict over <keyword id="46274" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Taiwan">Taiwan</keyword>.</li></ul><p>Early on April 2, 1982, hundreds of Argentine troops landed on the Falkland Islands, known to Argentina as the Islas Malvinas.</p><p>The islands were a small British overseas territory some 400 miles east of Argentina and 8,000 miles south of Britain. Despite their small size and sparse population, the islands were the subject of a long-running dispute between Britain and Argentina.</p><p>The small British garrison surrendered by the afternoon on April 2, after several intense firefights. It was a badly needed victory for Argentina's military junta, which hoped to distract from its oppressive governance and other domestic issues.</p><div type="image" title="British troops soldiers Argentina Falklands War prisoners" height="1325" width="2000" msid="81990700" hostid="261"></div><p>The junta believed that Britain, facing its own domestic problems, wouldn't put up a fight from so far away.</p><p>They were sorely mistaken. Over the next 74 days, Britain sent 15,000 troops - aboard warships, logistics vessels, and even cruise liners - to retake the islands.</p><p>The <keyword id="994680" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Falklands-War">Falklands War</keyword> would see many military firsts, and 39 years later, it remains the most recent war between two states involving large air, land, and naval battles.</p><p>Because of this, Chinese military planners have studied it extensively, seeing a number of parallels between the Falklands War and a potential war over Taiwan.</p><h2>A war of firsts</h2><div type="image" title="British soldiers troops Bren gun Queen Elizabeth 2 Falklands War" height="1374" width="2000" msid="81990703" hostid="261"></div><p>The war began in earnest on May 1, 1982, after negotiations over control of the islands broke down. The first shots were fired in the air by Argentine aircraft attempting to intercept the Royal Navy task force sent to secure the area for the invasion force.</p><p>Harrier jump jets, facing aerial combat for the first time, and their pilots proved to be excellent dogfighters. The British jets, armed with the new AIM-9L variant of the Sidewinder air-to-air missile, downed four Argentine jets on the first day alone. It was the first large-scale deployment of the new Sidewinder.</p><p>Throughout the war, British Harriers would shoot down 21 Argentine aircraft without losing any jets to enemy aircraft, though 10 were lost to ground-based anti-aircraft systems and accidents.</p><p>Harriers and Vulcan strategic bombers - the latter <a href="https://vulcantothesky.org/articles/falklands-war-1982-operation-black-buck/" target="_top">flying</a> from thousands of miles away - also began bombarding Argentine positions the same day.</p><div type="image" title="Argentina navy General Belgrano Falklands War" height="1314" width="2000" msid="81990706" hostid="261"></div><p>Meanwhile, the Argentine Navy attempted to catch the British task force in a pincer maneuver. In the north, Argentina's sole carrier, the Veinticinco de Mayo, was <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/tragedy-averted-1982-two-aircraft-carriers-nearly-went-war-62622" target="_top">prepared to attack</a> with its aircraft, but they couldn't take off due to weather conditions.</p><p>A day later in the south, Argentine cruiser General Belgrano and two Argentine destroyers were attacked by HMS Conqueror, a British nuclear-powered attack submarine. Belgrano was hit by two torpedoes and sank within 45 minutes, killing 323 crew members.</p><p>It was the first and so far only time a nuclear-powered submarine has sunk an enemy warship. Horrified at the prospect of losing more vessels - especially its carrier - the Argentine Navy ordered all its ships back to home waters.</p><p>Indeed, two more nuclear-powered subs, HMS Splendid and HMS Spartan, were chasing the carrier and <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-aircraft-carrier-and-submarine-hunted-each-other-during-falklands-war-63657" target="_top">almost managed to attack</a> before it slipped away.</p><p>The British also took casualties. On May 4, the destroyer HMS Sheffield was hit by an <a href="https://www.seaforces.org/wpnsys/SURFACE/MM38-Exocet-SSM.htm" target="_top">Exocet</a> anti-ship missile fired by an Argentine Navy Super Étendard fighter jet - the first time the advanced missile was used in combat - killing 20 sailors and injuring 26.</p><div type="image" title="British Royal Navy HMS Sheffield Falklands War" height="1358" width="2000" msid="81990709" hostid="261"></div><p>As the Royal Navy unloaded the invasion force, it was repeatedly attacked by Argentine aircraft. In total, four British warships, a landing ship, and a container ship were sunk. At least 12 other ships were damaged.</p><p>The single largest British loss of life came in an air attack on the landing ship Sir Galahad, which killed 48 sailors and wounded 115.</p><p>Once ashore, the British fought multiple battles in freezing conditions across the islands' barren, windswept landscape. Combat was particularly hard in the mountains and hills, where the Argentines were dug in.</p><p>But the British steadily advanced. On June 14, the surrounded Argentines surrendered.</p><p>The British had lost 255 troops, with over 700 wounded. Argentina had been thoroughly beaten: 649 of its troops had been killed and some 1,600 wounded. More than 11,000 Argentine troops were taken prisoner. Argentina also lost a cruiser, a submarine, and about 100 aircraft.</p><h2>Lessons for China</h2><div type="image" title="British Royal Navy Falklands War" height="1282" width="2000" msid="81990710" hostid="261"></div><p>China's military wasn't involved in the Falklands in any way, but its analysts have <a href="https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/142555/pub1090.pdf" target="_top">studied</a> the conflict extensively, largely because of the many similarities likely to be seen in a conflict over Taiwan.</p><p>In that scenario, China, like Argentina, would invade islands off its coast and then fend off a relief force - most likely from the US, which, like the British, would need to travel thousands of miles.</p><p>Vice Adm. Ding Yiping, a former deputy commander and chief of staff of the Chinese navy, wrote in 2000 that "for the future of military theory, development of military units and of military equipment, [the Falklands/Malvinas] war produced a deep influence."</p><p>The Chinese have identified where Argentine forces made mistakes and worked to ensure they would not repeat them.</p><p>Among the main Chinese conclusions was that Argentina seriously underestimated Britain's will and ability to fight while overestimating their own, that long British supply lines were a vulnerability, and that air superiority is of paramount importance.</p><div type="image" title="British Royal Navy helicopter Marines Falklands War" height="1353" width="2000" msid="81990713" hostid="261"></div><p>Argentina didn't deploy its best troops in the Falklands out of concern about threats to the mainland, nor did it deploy tanks, though 10 AML-90 Panhard armored cars were sent to the islands. Argentina also didn't have a domestic arms industry able to produce weapons needed to fight the British, like the air-launched Exocets, of which Argentina had only five.</p><p>The massive British logistical network was able to operate largely uninterrupted because of inferior Argentine air and naval power. After Argentina's surface fleet was ordered home, the Navy relied on its last remaining submarine, ARA San Luis, <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a279554.pdf" target="_top">to conduct attacks</a>, all of which failed.</p><p>The lessons of the Falklands War can be seen in the Chinese military's meteoric rise over the last two decades.</p><p>Unlike Argentina, China produces its own weaponry and emphasizes anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities. China's <a href="https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/china/" target="_top">ballistic-missile arsenal</a>, central to its A2/AD capabilities, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-pentagon-maps-show-chinas-increasing-military-power-and-reach-2020-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is one of the largest and most diverse in the world</a>.</p><p>China's Navy, now the largest in the world, is "largely composed of modern multi-role platforms featuring advanced anti-ship, anti-air, and anti-submarine weapons and sensors," according to a <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2020/Sep/01/2002488689/-1/-1/1/2020-DOD-CHINA-MILITARY-POWER-REPORT-FINAL.PDF" target="_top">2020 Pentagon report</a>.</p><p>Among China's ships are two aircraft carriers, 32 destroyers, 49 frigates, and 49 corvettes. China's <a href="https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/china-submarine-capabilities/" target="_top">submarine force</a> also gives it capabilities that Argentina lacked.</p><div type="image" title="Argentina troops soldiers prisoners Falklands War" height="1265" width="2000" msid="81990715" hostid="261"></div><p>While the San Luis' attacks were unsuccessful, they did force the British military to remain on the defensive and expend most of its available anti-submarine weapons.</p><p>Argentina only had two operational submarines in 1982. China now has 60, including 10 nuclear-powered attack and ballistic-missile submarines.</p><p>China's Air Force and Navy together are the largest aviation forces in the region, with 850 fighters and bombers in the Eastern and Southern theaters alone. Particularly worrying are China's <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2021/04/01/taiwan-is-deploying-defenses-against-chinas-stealth-fighters-how-many-of-the-planes-do-air-defenders-need-to-shoot-down/?sh=33280da572c5" target="_top">J-20 stealth fighters</a> and <a href="https://www.defenseworld.net/news/27545/Chinese_Navy_Debuts_Latest_Long_Ranger_Bomber_H_6J_in_South_China_Sea_Drill" target="_top">H-6J bombers</a>, the latter of which can each carry seven supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles as far as the second island chain.</p><p>Finally, the Chinese have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-chinas-marine-corps-compares-to-japans-amphibious-force-2020-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invested heavily in their marine corps</a>, dramatically increasing its size and armament, including building <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3119972/chinas-third-type-075-amphibious-assault-ship-takes-step-closer" target="_top">amphibious assault ships</a> and <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/type-071-landing-platform-dock-lpd/" target="_top">landing platform docks</a>.</p><p>Of the many conflicts Chinese military officials have studied, perhaps none are as comprehensive as the Falklands War. It remains a practical example of what a modern full-scale war in the air, on land, and at sea could look like.</p>

You Searched For "ara general belgrano" and got 5 results

A high-seas chase in the South Atlantic 40 years ago almost ended with the first aircraft carrier sunk in combat since World War II

Benjamin Brimelow

The sinking of Russia's Black Sea Fleet flagship highlights deadly lessons learned in another war 40 years ago

Stavros Atlamazoglou

One of the 20th century's least-known major wars still has lessons for militaries 40 years later

Stavros Atlamazoglou

A 1982 war in the remote South Atlantic almost sparked the first aircraft-carrier clash since World War II

Stavros Atlamazoglou

A war in South America 39 years ago is still teaching China lessons about how to seize Taiwan

Benjamin Brimelow