This is a list of the units, aircraft and casualties of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

air services in the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) 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 ...

. 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 This article describes the composition and actions of the Argentine air forces in the Falklands War ( es, Guerra de las Malvinas), which comprised units of the Air Force, Army, Navy and other services. For a description of air forces of the Uni ...

Units

Army Air Corps

* No. 656 Squadron Army Air Corps – ( Gazelle AH.1, Scout AH.1) 6 (1), 6

Royal Marines

* 3 CDO Brigade Air Squadron – ( Gazelle AH.1, Scout AH.1) 9 (2), 6 (1)

Fleet Air Arm

Royal Air Force

All of the four-engined aircraft operated from Wideawake Airfield,

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of ...

, but flew in the war zone. * No. 1(F) Squadron – (

Harrier GR.3 The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British military aircraft. It was the first of the Harrier series of aircraft and was developed in the 1960s as the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and ...

) 10 (4) ''( & Port San Carlos)'' * No. 18 Squadron – ( Chinook HC.1) 4 (3) ''+1 at Wideawake'' * No. 29 Squadron – ( Phantom FGR.2) 3; ''only at Wideawake'' * No. 39 Squadron – ( Canberra PR.9) 2; ''Clandestine operations from Chile'' * No. 42 Squadron – ( Nimrod MR.2) 3 * No. 44 Squadron – ( Vulcan B.2) 2 * No. 47 Squadron – ( Hercules C.1) 3 * No. 50 Squadron – ( Vulcan B.2) 1 * No. 51 Squadron – ( Nimrod R.1) 3 * No. 55 Squadron – ( Victor K.2) 10 * No. 57 Squadron – ( Victor K.2) 10 * No. 70 Squadron – ( Hercules C.1) 3 * No. 101 Squadron – ( Vulcan B.2) 1 * No. 120 Squadron – ( Nimrod MR.2) 3 * No. 201 Squadron – ( Nimrod MR.2) 3 * No. 202 Squadron – ( Sea King HAR.3) 1 ''only at Wideawake'' * No. 206 Squadron – ( Nimrod MR.2) 4 * No. 10 Squadron - ( VC10 C.1) 14

Armament

* L44A1 GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun) * 30 mm ADEN Cannon with 120–130 rounds ''Sea Harrier, Harrier GR.3'' * AIM-9D/G Sidewinder

Air-to-air missile The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back) An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying a ...

(AAM) ''F-4 at Wideawake'' * AIM-9L Sidewinder AAM ''Sea Harrier, Harrier GR.3'' *

AGM-45 Shrike AGM-45 Shrike is an American anti-radiation missile designed to home in on hostile anti-aircraft radar. The Shrike was developed by the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake in 1963 by mating a seeker head to the rocket body of an AIM-7 Sparrow. ...

Air-to-Surface An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common prop ...

Anti-radiation missile (ARM) ''Vulcan'' * BAe Sea Skua Air-to-Surface

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A goo ...

''Lynx'' * Aerospatiale AS.12 Air-to-Surface missile ''Wasp'' *

Paveway Paveway is a series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs). ''Pave'' or PAVE is sometimes used as an acronym for ''precision avionics vectoring equipment''; literally, electronics for controlling the speed and direction of aircraft. Laser guidance is ...

Laser-guided bomb A laser-guided bomb (LGB) is a guided bomb that uses semi-active laser guidance to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than an unguided bomb. First developed by the United States during the Vietnam War, laser-guided bombs quickly pr ...

(LGB), 454 kg ''Harrier GR.3'' *

BL755 BL755 is a cluster bomb developed by Hunting Aircraft that contains 147 parachute-retarded high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) submunitions. Its primary targets are armoured vehicles and tanks with secondary soft target (anti personnel) capabiliti ...

Cluster bomb A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...

with 147 bomblets ''Sea Harrier & Nimrod'' * 1,000 lb

General-Purpose Bomb A general-purpose bomb is an air-dropped bomb intended as a compromise between blast damage, penetration, and fragmentation in explosive effect. They are designed to be effective against enemy troops, vehicles, and buildings. Characteristics ...

''Sea Harrier, Harrier GR.3, Vulcan & Nimrod'' * SNEB Rockets ''Harrier GR.3, Gazelle'' * Marconi Stingray TorpedoRAF Flying Log Book of Nimrod Participant * Mk. 46 Torpedo * Mk. 11

Depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

Air campaign

Casualties and aircraft losses

* Human losses: ** 2

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

1982 British Army Gazelle friendly fire incident On 6 June 1982, during the Falklands War, the British Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer engaged and destroyed a British Army Gazelle helicopter, serial number ''XX377'', in a friendly fire incident, killing all four occupants. ''Cardiff'', on th ...

Gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...

shot down by friendly

Sea Dart missile Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers (United Kingdom and Argentina), Type 82 destroyer and s of the Royal Navy. Originally ...

from on 6 June. All four onboard killed, two from 656 Squadron,

and two from

205 Signal Squadron 205 Signal Squadron was a unit of the Royal Corps of Signals of the British Army. After two of their members were killed in an Army Air Corps Gazelle helicopter due to a friendly fire incident with HMS Cardiff during the Falklands War The ...

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield commun ...

** 4

3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron, Royal Marines, was formed in 1968 in Singapore by the amalgamation of three Commando Air Troops and the Brigade Flight. The squadron moved to Plymouth in 1971 and the two remaining UK Commando Air Troops became p ...

Royal Marines ** 17

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wi ...

* Passengers ** 1

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Probable bird strike to transport helicopter operating between ''Intrepid'' and ''Hermes'' on 20 May ** 18

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-te ...

(

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

) ** 3

(Army) * Aircraft Lost in the Air:, _{no suffix: ''Fleet Air Arm''} ** 2 Sea Harrier FRS.1 (hit by anti-aircraft fire during 4 May attack on Goose Green and by

Roland missile The Roland is a Franco-German mobile short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. The Roland was also purchased by the U.S. Army as one of very few foreign SAM systems. Development Roland was designed to a joint French and German requireme ...

during 1 June attack on Port Stanley)Ethell, Jeffrey and Price, Alfred ''Air War South Atlantic'' Macmillan Publishing Company (1983) pp.248–251 ** 3 Westland Gazelle AH.1 ''Army'' and ''Royal Marines''
(2 Gazelles shot down by Argentine army forces small arms leaving San Carlos area on 21 May) ** 3

''RAF'' (shot down by

shoulder-fired missile A shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile, man-portable rocket launcher, or man-portable missile is a rocket-propelled explosive projectile small enough to be carried by a single person and fired while held on one's shoulder. The wo ...

in Port Howard on 21 May, hit by anti-aircraft fire on 27 May over Goose Green and hit by ground fire near Port Stanley on 30 May) ** 1 Scout AH.1 ''Royal Marines'' (shot down by Pucara at Goose Green on 28 May) * Flying accidents in the war zone ** 2

Westland Wessex HU.5 The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34 (in US service known as Choctaw). It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main changes ...

(crashed in bad weather on Fortune Glacier 22 April) ** 2 Westland Sea King HC.4 (1 lost operational accident 23 April) ** 4 Sea Harrier FRS.1 (two 801 Sqn CAP collided over the task force on 6 May – one 800 Sqn crashed during takeoff from ''Hermes'' on 24 May – one 801 Sqn slid off deck in bad weather on 29 May) ** 2 Westland Sea King HAS.5 (ditched on 12 May & 17 May) ** 1 Harrier GR.3 ''RAF'' (landing accident on 8 June) ** 1 Scout AH.1 ''Royal Marines'' (crash landed after main rotor gearbox failure over MacPhee Pond, 8 June. Recovered but written off.) * Lost on board a ship ** 3 Westland Lynx HAS.2 (aboard ''Ardent'' on 21 May and aboard ''Coventry'' and ''Atlantic Conveyor'' on 25 May) ** 3 Chinook HC.1 ''RAF''25 May aboard ''Atlantic Conveyor'' ** 6 Westland Wessex HU.5 ** 1 Westland Wessex HAS.3 (when ''Glamorgan'' hit by shore-launched Exocet on 12 June) * Self-destruct in Chile ** 1 Westland Sea King HC.4 (on 20 May) *Total 10 fixed-wing aircraft and 25 helicopters.

References

External links

British site about British Aircraft lost

* ttp://www.naval-history.net/F20faa.htm Fleet Air Arm�
RAF Role and Operations
{{Falklands War, style=wide Aerial operations and battles of the Falklands War British military aviation Falklands War orders of battle