Charlie, thanks! I concur (she is really something isn´t she?).
Mr. Glider, how´s the health? Hope much better.
But what do you people think (Charlie, Glider), to what extent could be true that if in the event of a new military clash between Argentina and England around the Malvinas, then Great Britain would not be in a position to assemble a similar type of task force?
Not a Malvinas expert at all, but what i do know is that the Argentinian Air Force proved a very very tough and capable enemy. Even if they made significant mistakes during the battle, i do not think the Brits ever came close to expect the losses they had to swallow at the hands of the brave argentinian pilots.
Someone told me he saw a History Channel anniversary special about the Falklands war where the British commander of the Task Force stated something like "we were on the verge of collapse, but to our luck the commander of the Argentinian army units on the Falklands did collapse first..."
So if the words of the British commander made an accurate description of the overall situation, then what could happen if the British would not be capable to assemble a "decent" task force in the future?
Its a good question and to be honest until the new Carriers are in service with the F35, then the UK will have to depend on the forces in situ. They would no doubt put up a fight, but it would only have one result. Once the carriers are in place, then it becomes a different ball game.
There is also no doubt that the Argentine air forces of all arms performed better than anyone expected but the losses were less than the UK allowed for.
Re the comment that the UK forces were on the verge of collapse, I cannot argue with a senior officer in the field at the time.
I suspect the problem had more to do with the equipment, as opposed to the men collapsing. For example it should be remembered that literally every Sea Harrier we had, was in the front line. There were no reserves, non in support, none even in the UK and every one lost, was one less to fight with. Those in the front line had been operating in particually difficult battle conditions with only the spares and support available on the carriers, thousands of miles from home for weeks. Urgent spares were air dropped to the fleet by Hercules but there are only certain things that can be delivered in this manner. Sooner or later they were going to start breaking down. Their reliability was well beyond what anyone could expect but there is always a limit.
This also applied to all the heavy equipment and other helicopters that were being worked so hard and the single Chinook is well known. Another example were the Wessex helicopters on the Atlantic Conveyor, some of which were rebuit machines from hanger queens, this wasn't common knowledge.
It was without doubt, a close run thing.
Re health, thanks for your concern. I was cleared last week and am now in remission with 3 monthly checks.
