THE FALKLANDS WAR - Post Conflict - Think Defence

There is a persistent myth that the Argentine forces were a bunch of frightened, underfed and ill equipped conscripts with no clue of their business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Their equipment in many cases was superb, in part, much better than that enjoyed by British forces.

Defensive positions were well sited and constructed, they had made excellent use of visual deceptions and the radar and ECM equipment were not only extensive but exceptionally well operated as well. Many were volunteers, thought right was on their side and fought with great skill, determination and gallantry. They were not short of most things, there were ample rations, ammunition and equipment, it was just poorly distributed which meant there were many local shortages outside Port Stanley, especially of food. However, the rift between the officer and other ranks was enormous, logistics was inconsistent and at the end of the day, they had no campaign plan because quite simply, they did not expect such a resolute response. The best soldiers on the planet, sailing 8,000 miles across open ocean, supported by equally fine air and sea forces, and with firm intent, fighting skill and centuries of tradition behind them was simply not within their range of expectations.

Following the surrender of the Argentine forces, it was now time to consolidate and prevent a rematch.

Although Argentina had accepted the Instrument of Ceasefire they only recognised this locally, there was no wider recognition of the cessation of hostilities so although they were down for the count the British government recognised that the nature of the unfinished business needed sensible and sturdy consolidation.

Unfortunately, the scale of the other problems facing both the victorious military forces and civilian inhabitants of the Falkland Islands were immense, there were many priorities, every single one of them number one.

Disposal of the detritus of war, getting the defeated Argentine forces home safe and well, restoring damaged or destroyed utilities, keeping everyone fed and watered, rotating British forces out of theatre, satisfying the demands of the world’s media and basically getting the islanders back to some semblance of normality all competed with rehabilitating the airport.

That said, commanders were entirely focussed on the airport facilities, it might have been competing with other resource demands but it was generally beating them as well. Unlike the Argentine forces, we recognised the strategic value of air defence from the islands.

For several weeks, there was also a real fear that elements of the Argentine forces might try an armed publicity stunt.

If many considered the conduct of the Argentine forces to very good during the conflict, towards the end, and after, they somewhat spoiled that.

A vast quantity and variety of mines had been laid and not just in out of the way locations. The hazard to civilians (especially children) and service personnel was enormous. On June 14th Major Roddy McDonald, the OC of 59 Independent Squadron Royal Engineers managed to track down the Argentine chief engineer, one Lt. Col Dorago, in order to assess the scale of the mine problem. Other personnel from 59 joined in, a warning was broadcast on local radio and through the military chain of command, and fourteen selected Argentine volunteers were utilised to complete the recce.

By the end of the day, the full realisation of the scale of the Argentine mining and booby trapping efforts had become apparent.

It was staggering.

They simply did not know how many or where mines had been laid, records were incomplete or incorrect, markers had been removed and mines had shifted in peat and deep sand. The problem was made worse because the Argentine chain of command allowed almost any unit to lay mines, marines, artillery and all manner of infantry units, not just the professional combat engineers. After a number of casualties the clearance effort changed to one of ‘marking only’

The POW volunteer force of Argentine combat engineers expanded, formed a close working relationship with British forces and received special privileges and pay not enjoyed by other POW’s. A joint guard of honour and bugler were provided for the burials of Argentine soldiers discovered during the clearance operations and in thanks for the rapid medevac and treatment of an injured Argentine member of the demining team they paid for and cooked a barbecue for British members of the team and OC of 9 Parachute Squadron RE.

9 PARA left for the UK on the 17th July and were replaced in the mine clearance role by 69 Ghurka Independent Field Squadron RE.

There was a lot of sympathy/pity for the prisoners of war but that understandably evaporated when the scale of booby trapping and vindictive sabotage became known. Argentine forces had deliberately set many complex booby traps in the latter stages of the conflict in civilian houses and places of business. These were often linked to attractive items like boots, binoculars or thermos flasks and many of the discarded munitions were also booby trapped, some even attached to propane cylinders. Water supply in Port Stanley was always a problem, Argentine forces even turned all the taps on in houses they occupied and opened fire hydrants. Desalination equipment was lost on the Atlantic Conveyor, as well as tentage for five thousand personnel, exacerbating the problems. 9 Squadron and 61 Field Support Squadron RE managed to get water supplies running after four days and this was supplemented with water dracones towed into Port Stanley harbour.

In addition, to mines and booby traps, an equally huge problem was that of unexploded munitions of every kind. Everything from small arms ammunition to napalm canisters to anti-aircraft missiles to flares were strewn around the area, half opened and often poorly accounted for.

‘Dumdum’ small arms ammunition was found in addition to a large stock of SA-7 MANPAD missiles fresh off the plane from Col. Gadaffi. Grenades, flares, rockets, cannon shells, mortar bombs, small arms ammunition, aircraft bombs, missiles, napalm, and artillery ammunition all needed to be tackled. Unboxed ammunition was recovered to the UK but anything else was made safe and destroyed by a combined Royal Navy, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Royal Engineers and Royal Air Force team of EOD specialists.

Repatriating Argentine personnel and maintaining good order was made worse by the gulf between their officers and other ranks, a gulf, generally speaking, filled with a deep dislike bordering on hatred. This was plainly a result of the huge difference in the way they were both treated; officers had different, and larger, rations packs for example, including whiskey and cigarettes. The Globe Store was burned down by Argentine soldiers because they thought it was where their officers were accommodated and but for officers being allowed to retain their side arms, many might not have made it home.

For the most part, Argentine forces were well beaten and looking forward to going home, some weren’t though, the marines, for example, marched to the weapons surrender point and promptly burned their colours lest they become a souvenir in some Officers Mess in the UK.

Indeed, there were a number of slight lapses of UK military discipline as the acquisition of trophy’s and venting steam threatened to spoil the atmosphere. As Jeremy Edmund Shackleton Larken, British officer commanded HMS Fearless during Falklands War, 1982 commented that there was a;

a general acquisitive approach to liberating Argentine equipment

This was quickly dealt with.

The area of Port Stanley, a town that normally supported about 800 people, was no home to ten thousand POW’s, about five thousand UK military personnel, and of course, the permanent residents.

And all this was before the problems of the airport had been addressed.

There were three broad objectives for the British Forces;

ONE; Re-establish basic air operations at Stanley Airport such that they could support Harrier and Hercules aircraft. This would allow much of the task force, especially the aircraft carriers, to return to the UK, and replacement forces to arrive quickly.

TWO; Extend and reinforce Stanley Airport to allow the Harriers to depart and be replaced with Phantoms.

THREE; Select a suitable location for a large military airfield that could support all current and future combat and transport aircraft.

RAF Stanley – Phase One

Stanley Airport, formerly BAM Malvinas, was in an equally poor state as Port Stanley.

The image below reportedly taken the day after the surrender, shows Stanley Airport

Day after surrender.

Prisoners were an added complication around the airport in the days after surrender. Many of them were temporarily accommodated at the airport, it was an obvious place, easily contained, safe, yet surrounded by their own mines and with only one means of access before Boxer Bridge was built by 25 Field Squadron Royal Engineers in 1983.

Surrender

Clearance

The first task to conduct a survey and make safe any exploded munitions, booby traps and mines, of which there were plenty.

This task would fall to both the Royal Engineers and Royal Air Force EOD teams. No.1 Bomb Disposal Group RAF would play a considerable part in clearing Stanley Airport of unexploded munitions but that had a difficult start to the campaign. On the 27th of match they boarded RFA Sir Bedivere with all their vehicles and equipment but when loading had completed, were ordered off again. Another four man team clearing unexploded cluster bomblets from the West Freugh range in Scotland had been killed and the embarked team were disembarked in order to complete the task. The team would eventually join the task force by being flown to Ascension Island to catch up with Sir Bedivere. The team cleared munitions in San Carlos and Goose Green, especially the leaking napalm cannisters and mines at Goose Green. By the time the team had finished its deployment, it had cleared over 900 unexploded bombs, numerous mines and booby traps and tonnes of napalm.

The Argentine aircraft that were left at Stanley Airport were also cleared of booby traps, munitions removed and to prevent accidents by the ever present ‘trophy hunters’ the ejection seats were removed (firing the ejection seats was also used to initiate booby traps)

Once made safe, aircraft were then moved to an assembly area for eventual disposal

A number of PoW’s volunteered for removing none explosive debris and sweeping the runway after they assumed that such endeavours would earn them a priority ticket home, quite how they came to this belief has never been determined!

A number of Exocet missiles were also found, the canisters which would be used later.

Making Good the Runway

During the conflict, the runway was cratered by 5 bombs. The first and deepest was from Black Buck I and the others were much shallower, from retarded bombs dropped by the Sea Harriers/Harrier GR.3a’s. There were also over 1,000 shallow scabs from rockets, BL 755 bomblets, 4.5” shells and cannon fire.

59 Commando Squadron Royal Engineers (with a troop from 20 Field Squadron) filled in three craters and about 500 of the scabs on the Northern half of the runway, the repairs were made by using magnesium phosphate cement called Bostik 276.

The thousand pound bomb craters on the runway were backfilled and a quantity of AM-2 repair matting used to cover them. It was also discovered that Argentine engineers had used filled oil drums to fill the Vulcan crater, these were removed

his allowed the runway to be used for planned Hercules flights.

The first RAF Hercules landed on the 24th of June 1982, ten days after the surrender, a magnificent, and generally unrecognised achievement.

Harrier Operations and Airport Development

Using PSA-1 from the Port San Carlos FOB and a quantity of AM-2 matting left at the airport a short parallel runway, to the north of the main runway, was also created for use by Harriers.

The RAF Harrier GR.3 detachment, armed with Sidewinders, went ashore to Port Stanley Airport on the 4th of July and operated in the air defence role. A number of Rhubb shelters were installed to provide sheltered maintenance spaces but the weather was so severe, a number were dislodged and damaged aircraft.

11 Field Squadron Royal Engineers also supported the repair effort and as can be imagined, the tasks were extremely varied. Not widely known is that in order to create a drainage culvert, the engineers used a pair of empty Exocet missile containers.

In addition, to the runway, the airport support facilities were enhanced greatly and the sign was changed as well.

New arms threat: Argentina's £3billion boost to military

British military chiefs were last night “carefully monitoring” developments after Argentina announced a £3billion revamp of its armed forces.

 

Buenos Aires will acquire military hardware including fighter aircraft, ­anti-aircraft weapons and specialised radar, as well as beefing up its special forces.

 

The news comes months before drilling for oil ­begins in earnest off the Falkland Islands, provoking ­Argentina’s struggling President Cristina ­Fernandez de ­Kirchner.

 

Last month she created a new cabinet post of Secretary for the Malvinas, her country’s name for the Falklands.

 

Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has refused to confirm that Britain would retake the Falklands if they were overrun by enemy forces.

 

The extra cash means Argentina will ­increase defence spending by 33.4 per cent this year, the biggest rise in its history. It will include £750million for 32 ­procurement and modernisation programmes.

 

They will include medium tanks and transport aircraft and the refurbishment of warships and submarines. The shopping list also ­includes Israeli air ­defence systems, naval assault craft, rocket systems, helicopters and a drone project.

 

There will be a range of hi-tech capabilities for the army and the formation of new commando and special ­forces units.

 

In August last year the Sunday Express revealed details of a contract to buy 20 French Mirage fighter jets from Spain, giving Argentina the ability to attack Port Stanley airfield with laser guided bombs.

 

Sources from British oil and gas firm Rockhopper Exploration confirmed serious drilling could begin in a few months. Its Sea Lion field is thought to have 394 million barrels of oil.

 

“We’re just waiting for a rig, which isn’t easy to organise in the South Atlantic, ­before we can escalate to the next stage,” said the source. President de Kirchner’s new Malvinas Secretary Daniel Filmus sent over 200 letters to oil firms threatening fines of up to $1.5billion and 15-year-jail terms if they drilled without consent.

 

Though the threats have no validity in international law, it is seen as an example of the lengths the president will go to in order to bolster domestic political ­support.

Britain has strengthened its defences of the islands, with four RAF Eurofighter Typhoons and 600 troops. A Royal Navy nuclear submarine armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles visits twice a year.

 

Senior military sources told the Sunday Express they were “carefully monitoring” the situation. The real fear, however, is a raid by Argentinian special forces aimed at damaging Port Stanley’s runway.

Admiral Lord West, who was at the helm of HMS Ardent when she was sunk in the Falklands War, said: “Any major increase in defence expenditure by Argentina must be viewed with concern. I am concerned that, without any ­aircraft carriers, we are incapable of ­recapturing them.”

He said Britain’s new carriers will not be operational until 2020 and until then Argentina had a window of opportunity.

Argentina’s Antarctica flagship ‘Almirante Irizar’ remains ‘grounded’ in controversy

Six years ago this week Argentina’s icebreaker ‘Almirante Irizar’ and symbol of the country’s presence in Antarctica caught fire and was an almost loss. The government pledged to have the vessel back sailing in a couple of years but now it has surfaced that only 50% of repairs have been completed and the whole enterprise is involved in deep controversy.

Argentine Defence minister Arturo Puricelli has promised that next year the emblematic icebreaker will begin sea trials, but according to congressional reports it is hard to see this happening given claims of operational errors, administrative irregularities and even probably acts of corruption.

Opposition lawmakers have stated that with all the money invested so far in the repairs, over a hundred million dollars, a new icebreaker could have been purchased and all the problems facing the Argentine Antarctic campaign since the fire back in 2007 could have been overcome.

The lawmakers claim that this month the technical advisor of the Tandanor shipyard where the Irizar is under repairs was removed following complaints about the disarray of the whole operation.

Likewise at the end of December Minister Puricelli rescinded the contract with Swiss ABB arguing the work budget was excessive. However it was also revealed that the ABB budget had to cover initial errors committed when repair works started. Anyhow ABB is considering demanding the Argentine state for breach of contract.

Under the original contract sea trials should have taken place 17 October 2011 with Cristina Fernandez and Nestor Kirchner on board, but the death of Kirchner and a cabinet reshuffle forced a suspension of the whole ceremony.

Opposition lawmakers anticipated they would be asking the Argentine ministry of defence an urgent appraisal of the situation, the real state or repairs, budget management and who are ultimately responsible for the delay and over expenditure.

Argentine Farce - Argentine seamen are back in Buenos Aires; small group remains in Ghana

After three weeks retained in Ghana, members of the crew and cadets from the Argentine Navy training vessel ARA Libertad arrived past midnight Wednesday to Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires where relatives and media were waiting.

Relatives and media received the stranded seamen.

The specially chartered Air France Boeing 777 left Ghana mid afternoon with 279 seamen, of which “a fraction are crew members of the training vessel plus all cadets from the Navy and Army schools and all national and international guests”, said a brief release from the Argentine Navy.

Stranded for three weeks because the vessel was impounded by NML Capital, which demands payment of Argentine sovereign bonds, the seamen left the port of Tema for the airport of Kokota in nine buses heavily escorted while 44 crewmembers and the captain remain for the maintenance of the flagship of the Argentine navy.

The Navy said that following medical check-up the cadets can join their families and must return by Monday November 5 to complete their training for the graduation ceremony scheduled 8 December.

The group flown back also includes naval cadets from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Two of the Chileans (one of them was injured) out of a crew of 15, arrived in Santiago Wednesday midday. They were received by Defence minister Andres Allamand.

“We were always convinced we would sail; we kept waiting for the day to leave the port”, said the Chilean cadets who added that “people in Ghana are very friendly and were kind with us”.

Meantime the Argentine government continues with its diplomatic lobbying and legal battle with NML-Capital, a battle which so far it has been losing.

Argentine Farce Continues - NML-Capital targeting second Argentine navy vessel docked in South Africa

A second Argentine navy vessel has been targeted by NML-Capital which apparently has contracted a renowned South African law office to impound the corvette ARA Espora.

ARA Espora was on joint naval exercises when it broke down and had to be taken in for repairs.

The vessel had to abandon the joint naval exercise Atlassur IX with South Africa, Brazil and Uruguay because of mechanical problems and was pulled to Simonstown where she is undergoing repairs that could demand two months.

According to Buenos Aires media, the Argentine embassy in Pretoria is aware of the situation and ready for an immediate legal reply if there is litigation with one of the funds under control of Paul Singer that successfully impounded the Argentine navy’s flagship ARA Libertad in Ghana where she remains retained.

However contrary to what happened in Accra where Argentina has minimum contacts, with South Africa there are strong political and trade links, and President Jacob Zuma is considered a good friend of Argentina, according to Buenos Aires media.

Furthermore Elliot Capital three years ago was attempting something similar buying South African companies bonds at rock bottom prices to later try and recuperate the face value plus interests. Apparently the ‘vulture fund’ has yet to win a case in South Africa although several are pending.

Argentine economist and banker Federico Sturzenegger in a book under the heading “Default and lessons from a decade of crisis”, (obviously referred to Argentina), says that ‘vulture funds’ rarely have favourable sentences and equally rarely manage to impound assets of countries or corporations which they are demanding.

In the book Stursenegger mentions 35 known cases of this kind of litigations in the last twenty years, of which in only six cases did the funds recover 100% of bonds face-value; 15 were lost; in six less than a third for which they sued, and from the rest there is no available information.

However Elliot Capital was considered one of the most successful hedge funds by Wall Street last year, with a profit of 14.6%, very uncommon in these lean days. Like wise The New York Times described him as “one of the most daring hedge fund managers”, but it is difficult Mr Singer accepts new clients, ‘unless you are the wife of the Republican presidential candidate”.

Paul Singer and his funds have similar cases pending with Ivory Coast, Nicaragua and Turkmenistan, all countries involved in armed internal conflicts.

NML-Capital offers to pay for repatriation of ARA Libertad crew members

In a PR stunt the US fund NML-Capital offered to fly back free of charge all crew members of the Argentine training frigate ARA Libertad retained in Ghana, but reiterated that to release the vessel Argentina must deposit a 20million dollars bail.

Flagship of the Argentine navy with all its ceremonial sails displayed

According to the Buenos Aires media in a letter from the solicitors’ office representing NML Capital in Accra, Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah addressed to Argentina’s legal defence Larry Otoo, it indicates that “our client has no intention of causing inconveniences” to the crew members.

For this reason, “even in the absence of a bail deposit, NML-Capital can, with immediate effect, pay all costs so that sailors and cadets can fly back to their respective countries”, says the letter signed by Ace Anan Ankomah.

The letter with copy to all the main officers from the Ghana government dedicates several paragraphs to try and display good will vis-à-vis Argentina’s international moves to try and release the Navy vessel, an asset belonging to a sovereign nation.

“We must recall that in its 2 October ruling the Honourable Court, aware of the possible consequences of its order, explicitly gave Argentina the chance to liberate the frigate ARA Libertad” says the letter adding that NML Capital “does not oppose the vessel abandoning Ghana as long as your client deposits a bail of 20 million dollars”

The figure is reasonable since “it represents less than 5% of the full claim of our client before the court” in the US together with Dart, the other fund involved in the demand.

“We regret we haven’t received any formal reply yet to our offer. Anyhow we have taking note as it was indicated to the court on 9 October, that your client does not seem willing to deposit a bail”, adds the letter.

However “we still believe there is an opportunity for Argentina to deposit bail in court and obtain the immediate release of the vessel”. Apparently the solicitors in Ghana who were contracted by Argentina’s New York legal office Cleary, Gottieb, Steen & Hamilton, had not replied to the NML letter.