Air War in the Falklands 1982 (Osprey Combat Aircraft 28) [Paperback]

Christopher Chant (Author)

Book Description

Series: Combat Aircraft | Publication Date: June 25, 2001

The war fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982, for the possession of the Falkland Islands was probably the last 'colonial' war that will ever be undertaken by the British. This book shows how the key to British success was the speed with which the British gained and then maintained air superiority over the islands and the waters around then with their small force of Sea Harrier STOVL warplanes, which operated from two aircraft carriers. Though subsonic, the Sea Harrier and its Sidewinder AAM were a combination altogether superior to Argentina's mix of supersonic and subsonic warplanes with older weapons, and this advantage was emphasised by the significantly greater tactical acuity of the British pilots. The Argentine pilots fought with considerable piloting skill and enormous courage, and scored a number of stunning successes against British warships, but ultimately they could not prevent the British landing and the following land campaign that resulted in complete Argentine defeat.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Osprey's Combat series combines the best archival photography available with specially commissioned artworks and first hand accounts, making these books favourites amongst historians, modellers and aviation enthusiasts everywhere.

About the Author

Christopher Chant is a successful writer on modern military matters, and has a substantial number of authoritative titles to his credit. Military history, and the history of military aviation in particular have long been his passion. Having been part of the editorial team on Purnell's best-selling 'History of the First World War' and 'History of the Second World War', he became a full-time writer and editor in 1974, working extensively on military and aviation subjects. He is also a regular contributor to specialist journals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (June 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841762938
• ISBN-13: 978-1841762937
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #673,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not among the best of Osprey's, June 11, 2007

By 

Tero A Tyni "August" (Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Air War in the Falklands 1982 (Osprey Combat Aircraft 28) (Paperback)

I write from a modelmaker point of view. The book has an adequate but basic history of the war. However colour profiles has many bad mistakes: even the front cover pictures represents wrongly the post-war camouflaged Sea Harrier. The code of XZ451 was "006" during the hostilities. Colour plate no 4 has a same machine but a different text under it: ZA174 had a medium grey scheme. I also doubt that Argentine navy A-4 Skyhawk (plate no 8) wore Super Etendard style camouflage during the conflict (if ever). Photos are very useful even there is also pre- and post-conflict photos among them. Argentine losses are listed, British are not. But it is nice to read that Mr Chant tries to be neutral, for example, the "own goal" Gazelle loss (6th June 1982) is mentioned. I still believe this book belongs to modelmakers and historians desk but it cannot be trusted solely as an concise history of the Falklands air war.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly good book, January 29, 2006

By 

Pablo F. Fernicola - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Air War in the Falklands 1982 (Osprey Combat Aircraft 28) (Paperback)

The book is fairly good. Had a few factual errors (Rio as the capital of Brazil for example), as well as a couple of typos.

Good description of the overall event, although light on the sinking of the General Belgrano, which was a major combat event in terms of significance and loss of life (even though not air combat related).

3.0 out of 5 stars ..just a brief coverage of the aerial campaign, October 8, 2008

By 

Efim Sandler "fimych" (Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Air War in the Falklands 1982 (Osprey Combat Aircraft 28) (Paperback)

The subject of the book, to my understanding, is the coverage of the aerial operations during the 1982 Falklands campaign. I don't know what the goal of the author was, but I took it straight forward - as the subject. So the main idea is to go through the conflict, showing different applications of the aviation and main events.

I believe Osprey format is not sufficient to cover such topics in a comprehensive way. It is simply impossible to put all the data, pictures, maps, stories, etc into the 96pp book.

The book gives general information on every aspect of the aerial operations, briefly covers the events, giving the pictures and drawings in a proportion applicable to all Osprey books.
The information and photos are the same that can be found in other sources, nothing new. Some mistakes here and there. The color plated are poor, I would wish a better quality and more of them. I would not relate to this book as a research, it is a publication of a known story in Osprey format.

The book doesn't give any value to the enthusiast researching the Falklands war, I would suggest other sources. What it gives - a very brief and general coverage of events and air ops, in a user friendly and easy reading.