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Harried Argentineans by Stan Stokes.
On May 1, 1982 two Royal Navy British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS1s, piloted by F/Lt. Paul Barton and Lt. Steve Thomas encountered two Argentinean Mirage III fighters near the Falkland Islands. The Mirage fighters were piloted by Capt. Garcia Cuerva and Lt. Carlos Perona. The two jets approached the airspace around Task Force 317, which was sailing to the Falklands to retake them from occupying Argentine forces. Sea Harriers were launched to intercept the Mirage fighters. The Mirages fired first at about five miles distance, but their missiles failed to lock on to their targets. Turning to the left the Mirage jets soon found the two Harriers on their tails. Barton fell in behind Perona and Thomas took a bead on the jet flown by Cuerva. Firing their Sidewinder, air-to-air, missiles, the Harrier pilots got a hit on Peronas Mirage. Perona ejected from his aircraft and came down in shallow water near West Falkland Island. Cuervas Mirage was damaged by the missile fired by Thomas, and he attempted to fly his damaged aircraft back to his base. Cuerva was unfortunately shot down and killed by his own anti-aircraft fire. During the Falklands War the Brits thoroughly outclassed the Argentine Air Force. The British forces without the loss of a single aircraft downed a total of 22 Argentine aircraft. Lt. Thomas downed three aircraft during the conflict, the most for any one pilot. Although the Harriers had a slower top speed than the aircraft they encountered during the War, they succeeded because their pilots were better trained for air-to-air combat, and their missiles were more effective. The Harrier was the worlds first operational V/STOL (vertical/short take-off and landing) aircraft. It evolved from the Hawker P.1127, which first flew in 1960. The Harrier proved itself in combat for the first time during the Falklands War. The aircraft and its pilots demonstrated that the V/STOL fighter could hold its own against much faster traditional jet fighters, while operating without the use of a traditional airfield. The Sea Harrier FRS1 has a maximum speed of 740-MPH at sea level, a service ceiling of 51,000 feet, a practical combat range of 260 miles, and a maximum ferry range of 2490 miles. Its maximum armament payload is 8,500 pounds (5,000 pounds in vertical take-off mode.) It is armed with two 30mm Aden cannon and 4 Sidewinder missiles. The Harrier has been produced by Hawker Siddley (later British Aerospace) in the UK, and by McDonnell Douglas for the USMC in America. This aircraft is also utilized by the Spanish Naval Air Force - the Armada Espanol. |
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