Reply With Quote@ Happyslapper, does the Falklands get any military visits from other countries besides the UK.
For training or port visits?
Indeed it would. However, I sincerely believe that the US would not intervene directly, but like last time, through intelligence? Chavez is just a, what Singaporeans would say, 'talking ****' person. He can do that all day to his advanatge. He will know when to stop.Originally Posted by Arnie100
@ Happyslapper, does the Falklands get any military visits from other countries besides the UK.
For training or port visits?
Totally depends on the situation. A submarine might win a war for you...it might not. The biggest problem for the Argentinians in the extremely unlikely event of a war is actually getting to the Falklands, while Britain's most important and effective weapon in preventing them from doing so would be its SSN force.
What is the actual strength of the RAF Air defence in the Falklands, regards planes etc..etc.
Reason for asking on another forum a poster said they (RAF) have only 4 jets in total citing this article:-
http://newwars.wordpress.com/2010/02...klands-crisis/
that to me seems to be a very small air capability to rely on.
Connaught Ranger.
The RAF's air defence capability on the Falkland Islands is well documented. Typhoon equipped with AMRAAM/ASRAAM/27mm and IFR capability, SAM screens, state of the art early warning radar plus Royal Navy assets. More than enough to counter a certain clapped out air force across the water.
A single submarine may not be enough to win a war, but its certainly enough to wreck any Argentine landing force; In fact a single submarine was enough to put the entire Argentine Navy out of action the last time and UK submarines have gotten far better capabilities since then.
Thanks for that, however can anybody suggest a better figure than 4 jets.
What do you mean CR?...the 4 Tiffies are there for AD/interception ect. They are all that would be really needed intially, an add on capability could be there in 36/48 hours.
Even those lonely 4 could pretty much annihilate the FAA, who don't even have LRAAM's
PORTSMOUTH BASED DESTROYER ASSISTS IN AIR/SEA RESCUE IN THE SOUTH ATLANTICArticle written by Lt Cdr George Adams RNPhoto by Petty Officer “Dutchy” Holland, HMS York
The Sea King was operating in strong southerly head winds and required a top up, which it took from RFA Wave Ruler.
HMS York, a Portsmouth-based Type 42 Destroyer, was one of 3 units involved in a rescue mission 300 miles south east of the Falkland Islands earlier today.
HMS York was dispatched at 0800 local from East Cove Military Port on East Falkland, along with RFA Wave Ruler (the on-station tanker), to act as a floating service station for a RAF Sea King helicopter from 1564 Search and Rescue (SAR) Flight. The Sea King had been launched following the receipt of a Mayday call from a trawler some 300 miles south east of East Falkland. The trawler had a crew member with a suspected ruptured appendix.
The Sea King was operating in strong southerly head winds and required a top up, which it took from RFA Wave Ruler. The method used is known as Helicopter In-Flight Refuelling, or HIFR. All 3 units were operating in winds of 30 knots gusting to 40 generating high sea states. Following the successful refuelling, both ships continued to head south to close the trawler should they be needed again. The aircraft successfully winched the ill crew member to safety and, with a boost from the continuing strong tail winds, flew him direct to Port Stanley hospital. His current condition is unknown.
Photographs show the 1564 Flight aircraft in it’s approach to RFA Wave Ruler and in the hover taking fuel during HIFR.
- Falkland Islands News Network
Typhoons at MPA, in the classic 1435 Flt livery.
Falkland Islands - Ex CAPE BAYONET
B Company, The 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (1PWRR) on Ex CAPE BAYONET in the Falkland Islands. For 6 weeks in October/November 2007 have been providing the troops for the Falkland Islands Roulement Infantry Company. Ex CAPE BAYONET is designed to train troops in Platoon level skills.
Sgt Jo Tagica briefs Cpl Maharai on depth enemy positions
Mortar Platoon bed in their Mortars.
Patrol from B Company
[Originally posted by Vor033 in British Armed Forces thread]
Deminers recover over a thousand mines in Falklands
MORE than a thousand mines have been recovered and destroyed by deminers working in the Falkland Islands. The Falkland Island Demining Programme Office (FIDPO) was established in Stanley in early October 2009.
Roger Gagen of British demining company BACTEC International told Mercopress that in the Sapper Hill Mine Field behind Stanley, 190 Spanish P4B Anti Personnel Mines, two BL 755 Cluster Bombs and one Rifle Grenade have been recovered. All ordnance has now been accounted for in this area.
The Surf Bay minefields to the East of Stanley, a favorite leisure area of residents, has been cleared of 454 Italian SB81 Anti Vehicle Mines, 414 Italian SB33 Anti Personnel Mines and five M67 Hand Grenades. Less than 250 mines remain in this area.
Along with the success in the Stanley area of the primarily Zimbabwean team of workers, the sixteen men deployed to a Goose Green minefield, “…are making good progress,” said Roger.
He added, “We shall then have a small team deployed to Fox Bay (West Falklands) in early April.”
Asked if the Falklands environment was a particularly difficult one to work in, he said, “Once you have the right balance of clothing, such as waterproofs and thermals working in minefields is similar wherever you deploy.
Speaking of the work he explained that mining in the Falklands was very similar to anywhere else in the world, “Mining is a standardized process wherever you are, you clear a little move forward a little and so on.
He added that in the Falkland, however, “The main difficulty is the quantities of items available here on the Islands and the re-supply of specialized equipment items which break when you least expect them to.”
Although it was thought that very poor records exist showing the location of the Argentine laid mines, Roger explained that in the Stanley area records are very good. He said later in the Falklands Conflict when the Argentine authorities realized that the British troops were not planning to land in the Stanley area the placement of mines outside of Stanley became much more haphazard and less well recorded.
Demining in the Islands primarily utilizes metal detectors to locate the ordnance, “…and then we excavate them using a wide range of excavation tools similar to those used by ordinary gardeners; once we have exposed and identified the mines we simply place a donor charge next to them and destroy them where they are located.
The deminers are a popular group in the Falklands, one Islander said, “They are great guys and very respected for the work they do; they’re good fun too and when they have the time they join in with many aspects of the social life and sport.”
BACTEC hope to complete planned operations by May 2010.
Excellent news!
Some more on that rescue:
Naval Rescue in the South Atlantic
Battling high seas and headwinds gusting to over 40 mph, the Portsmouth-based destroyer HMS York and the fleet tanker RFA Wave Ruler enabled an RAF rescue helicopter to conduct a long-range operation to lift a seriously ill sailor from a fishing vessel in the South Atlantic.
On receipt of a mayday call from the Kiribatian* trawler, 300 miles south-east of the Falkland Islands, HMS York and Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Ruler were deployed from the islands’ East Cove military port at 8.00 am local time on Monday (March 15).
In a Joint Service operation, Wave Ruler acted as a floating service station for an RAF Sea King helicopter from 1564 Search and Rescue Flight, launched from the Falklands to airlift the trawler man suffering from a suspected ruptured appendix.
Operating in the strong southerly head-winds on the way out, Wave Ruler refuelled the Sea King in flight, using a tried and tested method (Helicopter In-Flight Refuelling, or HIFR), despite the heavy seas. With the Sea King refuelled, both ships and the helicopter continued to head south until the aircraft reached with the trawler to winch off the sick crew member. Aided by the strong tail winds, it was not long before the trawler man was being treated in Stanley hospital.
*The Republic of Kiribati is in the Gilbert Islands (South Pacific).
The photographs show the 1564 Flight aircraft in its approach to RFA Wave Ruler and in the hover taking fuel during HIFR.
First minefield cleared in Falkland Islands
ZIMBABWEAN de-miners were cheered and clapped by a large crowd of Falklands residents today as the, “brave and hardworking” experts demonstrated confidence in their work by holding a football game in the recently cleared Minefield 25 on Sapper Hill near Stanley.
De-miners and officials pictured in what was the middle of Minefield 25
The minefield was one of the first laid by Argentine Marine Engineers in April 1982, one of number that was intended as a linear defence of Stanley, said Kev Bryant of the British Mine Clearance Company BACTEC today.
A fascinated audience of Islanders and residents, plus the Governor and a British Foreign and Commonwealth Official, Colin Roberts, were told how the minimal metal mines were laid in six panels each made up of three rows that in turn contained eight mines.
All of the mines in this field were carefully recorded by the Argentine forces; a practice that unfortunately broke down in the latter months of the Falklands Conflict.
Zimbabwean experts having a celebratory football match in the cleared minefield
The de-miners have been 77 days clearing the area that was, “the hardest to carry out to date,” said Mr Bryant.
He explained that full excavation was needed due to the lack of metal in these particular mines rendering the metal detector pointless. The heavy excavation work was made all the harder by the, “thick fibrous rooted peat,” and because the area flooded easily.
The Falklands has suffered a particularly wet and windy summer this year, adding to the discomfort of the men who are used to a far warmer climate.
To make the task even more difficult, prior to actual mine clearance, the area of land between the road and the minefield had to be cleared of dangerous ordnance that had resulted from British air attacks on Argentine forces in the latter stages of the Conflict.
After the briefing the de-miners, in a demonstration of confidence, walked from one end of the minefield to the other before having a ‘kick around’ with a football. The Governor, Mr Roberts and others, plus the Islands press, then took a walk through the former minefield.
Mr Bryant also announced that it was a special day for the men as they had just found their 1000th mine in the Surf Bay minefield.
By Lisa Watson –SeAledPR - Stanley
A great image of HMS York in heavy seas during her current APT(S) deployment. The destroyer celebrated her 25th year in RN service yesterday (March 25th).
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