LRMPA/AWACS v Naval ships

Didn’t Falkland war show limitations of 1-2 carriers against a small but dedicated force. Argentinian fighter were operating at the limit of their range without any MPS or AWACs.

Just imagine what could have been the outcome if Argentinians had those assets along with precision weaponry/ and loads of Anti ship missiles.

I was talking more along the lines of CV(N)s, like Charles the Gaulle, rather than ski-jump/stovl ships. In which case you would have Hawkeyes for AEW instead of SeaKings* (which wasn’t there at the time of Falklands war), Tomcat’s and Hornets instead of Harriers. The two aircraft carriers sent were Invincible and Hermes. Hermes carried 12 Sea Harrier FRS1 attack aircraft of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, and 18 Sea King helicopters to the Falklands, but her airgroup grew to a total of 16 Sea Harriers, 10 Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR3s of the Royal Air Force, and 10 Sea Kings (after some of the helicopters were dispersed to other ships). Invincible brought 8 Sea Harriers and 12 Sea King helicopters. So that is a total of 24 SHARs and 10 GR3s. As compared to 85–90 fixed wing and helicopters for a Nimitz class carries. The contemporary French carrier of the Clemenceau class carried a total of 40 (10 F-8FN, 15-16 Super Étendard and 3-4 Étendard IVP, 7 Alizé, 2 Super Frelon and 2 Alouette III). The carrier Charles the Gaulle typically carries a mix of 20-24 Super Etendard and Rafale (increasingly the latter) plus 2 Hawkeye AEWC and some helicopters (aircraft complement: 28–40 aircraft).

The Argentinians had no AWACS and their MPAs limited to S-2 Trackers and P-2 Neptunes, neither of which carried antiship missiles (just unguided rockets and/or dumb bombs). However, the Brazilian Air Force leased two EMB111 Bandeirantes maritime patrol aircraft to the Argentine Navy.

Argentinia had no Mavericks or Paveway like precision munitions as we know them today. In 1979, the Argentine Naval Aviation had decided to buy 14 Super Étendards. Between August and November 1981, five Super Étendards and five anti-ship sea skimming Exocet missiles were shipped to Argentina, at which point an arms embargo prevented the delivery of further shipments. A total of four Super Étendards were operational during the conflict. On June 4, ten Peruvian Mirage 5 with precision guidance AS-30 missiles arrived to Tandil but the war ended before they could be used.

* Two Sea King HAS2s were modified in 1982 with the addition of the Thorn-EMI ARI 5980/3 Searchwater LAST radar attached to the fuselage on a swivel arm and protected by an inflatable dome. These prototypes, designated HAS2(AEW), were both flying within 11 weeks and deployed with 824 “D” Flight on HMS Illustrious, serving in the Falklands after the cessation of hostilities.

Didn’t Falkland war show limitations of 1-2 carriers against a small but dedicated force. Argentinian fighter were operating at the limit of their range without any MPS or AWACs.

Just imagine what could have been the outcome if Argentinians had those assets along with precision weaponry/ and loads of Anti ship missiles.

Not so. The Argentines fully understood the value of Maritime Patrol and were good at it. They had B707’s tagging some task force elements on route south into theatre. The attack that caught Sheffield was steered in by Argentine Neptunes patrolling over the Belgrano sinking site. Climbing up to altitude they were able to take ESM bearings to the carrier group and triangulate. They correlated that with the radar hits on aircraft over the formation, from the surveillance sets on the islands themselves, and were able to build a picture.

Bottom line if the ships were not obliged to emit for lack of airborne radar and Sea Harrier had slightly longer legs….or we paid more attention to deceptive manoeuvre then we did….then the Task Force wouldnt have been as cooperative in advertising their location and the Argentine successes somewhat curtailed.

Depends on what is in those numbers… if that is a carrier heavy force, then good luck with MPAs and fast jets.

Didn’t Falkland war show limitations of 1-2 carriers against a small but dedicated force. Argentinian fighter were operating at the limit of their range without any MPS or AWACs.

Just imagine what could have been the outcome if Argentinians had those assets along with precision weaponry/ and loads of Anti ship missiles.

How would a navy with strength in numbers face off against an adversary with a smaller navy but ample Patrol aircraft/AWACS and fast jets armed with AShMs?
Would it place massive limitations on the bigger navy as their ships could be detected from 3-400kms and fast jets sent to fire off a salvo of AShMs?

Could these limitations be overcome and can they enforce a blockade ?

Depends on what is in those numbers… if that is a carrier heavy force, then good luck with MPAs and fast jets.