ABSTRACT
The Falkland Islands War was the first time a Western fleet had encountered mass air opposition in the jet age. Once the British surface fleet arrived off the Falklands, a conventional air-sea battle developed. With a limited number of fighter aircraft and without airborne early warning aircraft, the fleet should have had to rely heavily on its array of surface-to-air missiles. Given the limited number of Sea Harriers on hand, the British force would rely heavily on its surface-to-air missiles. The major British naval casualties fell victim to conventional "iron" bombs and the Argentines reportedly damaged twelve surface combatants, six of them by unexploded bombs. The losses of the two Type 21 frigates, Ardent and Antelope, are puzzling. Both reportedly burned intensely, and both had aluminum superstructures, which at first were blamed for their loss. This issue was of particular interest to the US Navy because nearly all modern US surface combatants have aluminum superstructures.
