Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

OPERATIONS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND THE PERSIAN GULF
Figure 71. Sea Dart launch. The Sea Dart, shown here in a peacetime
launch, equipped both Argentine and British forces. It downed five to
eight Argentine aircraft. (Reprinted from Imperial War Museum.)
main Falkland-based Argentine radar without success, but
the missile did destroy one other radar set. 31 The Argentine air
arms lacked similar weapons. Argentine fire destroyed 22
British aircraft, 13 of which were helicopters destroyed aboard
ships sunk or damaged by air attack. Argentine ground fire
destroyed all but one of the remaining nine, a Scout helicopter
downed by a Pucari. The British flew 2,000 sorties but state
that they lost only five Harriers in combat: one to a Roland
missile, one to small arms, and three to 35 mm antiaircraft fire
(fig. 72). Small arms or Blowpipe missiles accounted for three
Gazelle helicopters. One source claims that the Argentines engaged
two of their own helicopters—not unlikely, as both sides
flew the same kind of machines. 32
The effectiveness of the Argentine air force provided one of
the big surprises of the war, especially considering its limita-
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