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

OPERATIONS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND THE PERSIAN GULF
Figure 73. Bofors 40 mm shipboard. In addition to numerous SAMs, the
Royal Navy retained guns to protect against air strikes. This Bofors 40
mm L/60 and crew are aboard either the HMS Fearless or HMS Intrepid
during the Falklands War. (Reprinted from Imperial War Museum.)
aircraft. The Blowpipe, like the SA-7 and the American Redeye
and Stinger, is operated by one man; but, unlike the heatseeking
Soviet and American devices, Blowpipe is optically
guided. It proved it could do the job, both ashore and afloat.
One detachment aboard a Royal Fleet auxiliary fired six missiles
and claimed three aircraft destroyed. The Argentines also
used the Blowpipe and claimed hits on one Harrier and two
helicopters. In addition, the British used the lighter-weight
Stinger but fired only four missiles for one kill. (However, there
is some controversy about that particular claim.) 37
The British initially credited the Rapier, their other groundbased
SAM, with 13 kills, later raised to 20 (fig. 74). Just as
the Roland kills are hotly disputed by the British, so are the
Rapier kills by those who have seen Argentine documents and
talked to Argentine pilots. (Perhaps this argument has more to
do with future sales of these weapons than with history.) Authors
using Argentine sources put the Rapier credits at one to
three. While the British stated that the campaign validates the
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