HA!!!!!
Wellllll kinda sorta? :o)
Lookit.
The Brits used to know how to be the best navy in the world!! {~that work? {g} }
Plus they weren't too shabby in the Falklands War, that has to count for something.
"The only area where the RN has a qualitative advantage over Spain is in nuke subs. And in a littoral fight Spain's subs would have an even fight with what the RN would throw at them...Setting aside the submarine issue (which would end up being a matter of one side or the other getting a lucky shot), the RN voluntarily abandoned organic air cover for it's Invincible-class CVLs when they retired the Sea Harrier. The RAF/RN Joint Harrier Force's GR.7s and 9s would get eaten alive by Spain's AV-8Bs, which are radar-equipped (the APG-65, which is also carried by the F/A-18C Hornet) and can bring AMRAAMs to the fight -- giving them a beyond-visual-range engagement capability that the RN couldn't counter...Unless the RN were to throw their Vanguards into the fight and turn Madrid and some of Spain's other major population centers into smoking glass, Spain would be the odds-on favorite --(favourite?)<-- I'm a Yank -- to win. Possibly in a cakewalk."
Ahhhhh you don't happen to *write* for Jane's by any chance, do you? If not, you should. Sound like you know your naval stuff inside and out & then some. ;^)
Explains why you had to correct an Army guy. :o)
Thanks for taking the time to relate up to date, accurate information concerning the topic at hand, my friend. :^)
Thanks - appreciate the comments and compliments! I don’t write for Janes, but I am an avid reader (Aviation Leak too!)
One thing to add, there never should have been a fight in the Falklands to begin with. Argentina was emboldened by major cuts in the RN in the late 70s an early 80s. Specifically the retirement and scrapping, without replacement, of the HMS Ark Royal - which was the last “conventional” (catapults and arrester gear) carrier in the RN, as well as the sale of HMS Invincible (later rescinded) to Australia and the retirement of HMS Intrepid (assault ship, which was quickly returned to service and took part in the retaking of the Islands).
It’s believed that if the RN still had the Ark, with her Phantoms (fighter/bombers with BVR capability), Buccaneers (medium attack jets) and Gannetts (airborne early warning and control), there’s no way that the Argentinians would have made a play for the Falklands.