Fall 2006 - Air & Space Power Chronicle - Air Force Link

114 AIR & SPACE POWER JOURNAL FALL 2006means, (2) driving back an invasion by usingpreviously embarked rapid-deployment amphibiousforces, and (3) recapturing the islandsmilitarily. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the threeBritish military branches designed these coursesof action based on the assumption that Argentinawould occupy the islands, thus providingjustification to recapture them militarily, fulfillingthe British goal of establishing theFalkland Fortress and rendering moot furthernegotiations over the islands’ sovereignty.To Great Britain’s advantage, Adm SandyWoodward, commander of Task Force 317,charged with recapturing the islands, knew ofthe contingency plans since 1974 when heserved as assistant director of naval planningin the British Ministry of Defence. 13 The Britishdesigned their plans and combined eachelement in order to reduce the enemy’s combatcapabilities to the minimum. On 2 April1982, when Argentina launched Rosario—theamphibious-landing operation in the Falklands—AdmiralWoodward received orders toimplement Operation Corporate. 14The fast British response astonished the Argentiniansbut did not alter popular opinion.Armed forces senior commanders, however,became deeply concerned about changing thepolitical goal from occupying to negotiate todefending the islands, and on 4 April theyanalyzed the situation at the highest level ofjoint operations. The Argentinian command,aware of Task Force 317’s size and operationalcapabilities (especially its amphibious forcesand likely application of a naval blockade usingnuclear submarines), ordered the largestpossible commitment of the FAA. In additionto performing all the tasks imposed by its doctrine,the air force would serve as Argentina’sonly means of linking the islands to the continentin case of a naval blockade. The broad,vague designation of air operations authorizedthe FAA to perform any mission it couldcarry out. For the ground defense of the islands,Argentina decided to increase the initialcadre of 500 men to 13,000, deployingthem by air during April. After Argentina’slack of a carefully studied defense plan becameevident, its military resorted to quickmeasures, conditioned to the speed with whichthe British forces reacted and the suddenchange in the political goal.Center of GravityClausewitz observes that “one must keep thedominant characteristics of both belligerentsin mind. Out of these characteristics a certaincenter of gravity develops, the hub of all powerand movement, on which everything depends.That is the point against which all our energiesshould be directed.” 15 Both forces hadclearly defined their centers of gravity. GreatBritain selected Port Stanley (briefly renamedPuerto Argentino) because it was the criticalcenter of the Falkland Islands and because theArgentinians had based the military commandresponsible for defending the islands there.British Task Force 317 consisted of 25,000men and a naval component of more than100 vessels. 16 Specifically, the fleet included40 warships: two aircraft carriers, three battlecruisers, nine destroyers, 20 frigates, twolanding craft, and four submarines. The remaining60 vessels were support units: six logisticallanding craft, 20 tankers, 13 cargoships, eight personnel carriers, two specialservicesvessels, three hospital ships, four tugboats,and four adapted fishing boats. Mostof the warships carried very modern and efficientelectronic gear, such as surveillanceradar, missile guidance-control radar, andidentification, friend or foe (IFF) as well aselectronic-countermeasures systems. The fleet’sair-defense weapons included long-range (upto 38 miles) Sea Dart missiles, Sea Wolf missilesfor attacking medium- and low-altitudetargets, Sea Cat missiles, and 20 mm and 40mm antiaircraft guns.As for British aviation, the Royal Navy’sFRS.1 Sea Harrier and the Royal Air Force’sHarrier GR3 served as the main combat aircraft,both featuring six weapon pods. The inboardpods carried 30 mm guns, the two intermediateones contained fuel tanks or bombs,and the outboard pods carried third-generationinfrared AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles with 90-to 120-degree fields of vision and an effectiverange of six miles. In addition to deploying