The Falkland Islands currently has three primary means of transport - road, sea and air. However, in 1946, when Sir Miles Clifford arrived as governor, there were no air services, no roads outside Stanley and an indifferent sea service. Sir Miles was instrumental in starting the Falkland Islands Government Air Service in December 1948. The inaugural flight involved a mercy flight from North Arm Settlement to Stanley to bring a girl with peritonitis to life-saving medical help in Stanley. There is now an international airport, a domestic airport, a number of airstrips, a growing road network and a much-improved ferry service between the two main islands.
The Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory and, as such, rely on the United Kingdom for the guarantee of their security. The other UK territories in the South Atlantic, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, fall under the protection of British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI), formerly known as British Forces Falkland Islands (BFFI), which includes commitments from the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. They are headed by the Commander, British Forces South Atlantic Islands (CBFSAI), a brigadier-equivalent appointment that rotates among all three services.
The Falklands War was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The conflict began on 2 April 1982, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders were killed during the hostilities.
Stanley is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a population of 2,460. The entire population of the Falkland Islands was 3,398 on Census Day on 9 October 2016.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1982.
RAF Mount Pleasant is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The airfield goes by the motto of "Defend the right" and is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI). Home to between 1,000 and 2,000 British military personnel, it is about 33 miles (53 km) southwest of Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, on the island of East Falkland. The world's longest corridor, 2,600 feet (800 m) long, links the barracks, messes, and recreational and welfare areas of the station, and was nicknamed the "Death Star Corridor" by personnel.
Operations Black Buck 1 to Black Buck 7 were seven extremely long-range ground attack missions conducted during the 1982 Falklands War by Royal Air Force (RAF) Vulcan bombers of the RAF Waddington Wing, comprising aircraft from Nos. 44, 50 and 101 Squadrons, against Argentine positions in the Falkland Islands. Five of the missions completed attacks. The objective of the missions was to attack Port Stanley Airport and its associated defences. The raids, at almost 6,600 nautical miles and 16 hours for the round trip, were the longest-ranged bombing raids in history at that time.
This article describes the composition and actions of the Argentine air forces in the Falklands War, which comprised units of the Air Force, Army, Navy and other services.
No. 1435 Flight is a Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 unit of the Royal Air Force, based at RAF Mount Pleasant, providing air defence for the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Permanently based in the islands, the aircrew and groundcrew from the UK are cycled through No. 1435 Flight, providing a 365-day, 24-hour alert.
RAF Ascension Island, also known as Wideawake Airfield or Ascension Island Auxiliary Field, is a military airfield and facility located on Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean. The airfield is jointly operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Space Force (USSF). Under the terms of an international agreement between the UK and US governments, only state aircraft are authorised to land at Ascension; however, it is also open to air services between Saint Helena and Ascension.
Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS) is an airline based at Port Stanley Airport, Falkland Islands. It operates unscheduled passenger services throughout the Falkland Islands. It also undertakes aerial surveillance of the exclusive economic zone surrounding the islands.
Caernarfon Airport, is a general aviation airport located 4 nautical miles southwest of Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales. It is on the site of the former RAF Llandwrog which was operational between 1941 and 1946. From the end of the 1960s, civil light aircraft started to use the aerodrome in greater numbers and eventually gained a full operating licence in 1976.
This is a list of the units, aircraft and casualties of the British air services in the Falklands War. The numbers in bold are the number of aircraft used in the war, the numbers in brackets are the number of lost aircraft. For a list of air forces from Argentina, see Argentine air forces in the Falklands War.
The 1982 British military campaign to recapture the Falkland Islands depended on complex logistical arrangements. The logistical difficulties of operating 7,000 nautical miles from home were formidable. The Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands came at a time when the Royal Navy was experiencing a reduction in its amphibious capability, but it still possessed the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and Invincible, the landing platform dock (LPD) ships HMS Fearless and Intrepid, and six landing ship logistics (LSL) ships. To provide the necessary logistic support, the Royal Navy's ships were augmented by ships taken up from trade (STUFT).
The 601st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Group, historically known as GADA 601 is the main anti-aircraft artillery unit of the Argentine Army. Its headquarters are just north of Mar del Plata. The unit's name was changed to GAA 601 Teniente General Pablo Ricchieri in 1999. The group played a key role during the 1982 Falklands War. The GAA 601 compound is the main air defence training center in Argentina.
Commodore Pablo Marcos Rafael Carballo is a retired member of the Argentine Air Force - the Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA) - who fought in the 1982 Falklands War where he participated in actions that led to the sinking of three Royal Navy ships. He was awarded the highest national military decoration: the Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross, the Argentine Congressional Medal, and the Highest Distinction of the Argentine Air Force.
1453 (Turbinlite) Flight Royal Air Force was first formed in 1941 as a night-fighter unit at RAF Wittering, equipped with Douglas Turbinlite Havoc aircraft. In the 1950s the flight was briefly resurrected as an early warning flight and during the 1980s it was employed as a ground attack and air defence unit on the Falkland Islands.
The Battle of San Carlos was a battle between aircraft and ships that lasted from 21 to 25 May 1982 during the British landings on the shores of San Carlos Water in the 1982 Falklands War. Low-flying land-based Argentine jet aircraft made repeated attacks on ships of the British Task Force.
Kelly's Garden was a site used by the Royal Air Force in the Falkland Islands. Situated near to Port San Carlos, on the North-West Coast of East Falkland. The site is close to where the British Task Force landed to retake the Falkland Islands from the invading Argentine Forces on 21 May 1982.
David Henry Spencer Morgan is a former British Navy and RAF pilot who flew on attachment to the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Falklands War in 1982 where he became the most successful British fighter pilot of the conflict and was also involved in the last dogfight by British fighter pilots in which enemy aircraft were destroyed.
