I don’t think Thailand did, but technically its still capable of using said dual rail, so I don’t see an issue with it. Its not like 4x AIM-9Ls are game-breaking at 11.0, and it isn’t ahistorical.
Hmm… im on the fence. I dont necessarily have issue with it but also could loose them and just join the FRS1e at 10.7 with just 2.
But it is certainly a grey area.
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Probably. I mean they likely wanted it to be practically identical to the AV-8A in the US tech tree. They did the same w/ other vehicles because they wanted it at a certain BR. Most recently the MiG-29 Sniper is missing R-73s because it is intended to be at 12.7.
Maybe. I would be fine with either, I think having 4x missiles already makes it an interesting Harrier I, similar to the FRS.1 Squadron
The phrase “la muerte negra” was coined by the english… it doesn’t even sound right in Argentine spanish, you can tell it is word for word translation from english. smh
Yeah. Loadouts have always been a balancing decision. There are dozens of examples
Harrier 809 by Rowland White - (covers a lot of the war from the Argentine perspective too, very good read for a good picture of the air war from both sides)
So might not have been wide spread, but probably did originate from an Argentinian in some form
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This is really interesting, it seems to be a Russian source however, I’m not going to say it didn’t have the dual rails either I’ll just do some more digging.
Matador w/ Dual Rails (Spanish service)
Whether its a Russian source or not doesn’t matter, its an image of the AV-8S.
If you do manage to find documentation, i’d love to see it though!
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She defo had them, curious as to how they got them lol.
Anything else in the Spanish arsenal that used them?
I don’t want to derail the thread, the topic is genuinely interesting, but your claims are highly debatable. And not just by me, but by anyone who’s done even a bit of reading on the subject.
Spoiler
Only the Pucará could operate from the islands; the runway was far too short for anything else.
Argentina had no refueling capacity in the hot zone.
Missions flown from the mainland, even with external tanks and C-130 support, left jets with just minutes to strike and escape. We didn’t have Limas or CM, and even if an Argentine jet managed to score a kill from a favorable position, it likely wouldn’t have had the fuel to make it back.
One of the Shars greatest advantages was being a naval fighter, with VTOL capability, not to mention the logistics behind it. Argentina’s Navy was retiring its A-4Qs, most of which had cracked airframes, and their experience with the Super Étendards was still very limited. The Mirage III lacked surface attack capability and was best suited for A2A combat, but it did perform escort missions to the combat zone and back, acting as a decoy. Their priority was to defend the continent from the Vulcans, given that they were not naval aircraft and the distances from the theater of operations were not favorable to them. The Mirage III was used as an interceptor, while the other aircraft were employed in naval strike roles, although only the Super Étendard was truly designed for that purpose.
In that context, the most effective mission was targeting surface fleet assets. It was more worthwhile, and less suicidal, than engaging the Shars head on.
And while the Navy pilots performed admirably and bravely, it was the Air Force pilots who bore the brunt of the missions, despite never having trained for maritime combat or antiship operations.
Good luck with the fixes
PS. While not a widely known nickname, it’s true that some pilots referred to the SHar as black death, due to its lethality and dark paint.
It’s wild, but many believe some pilots preferred attacking the fleet at San Carlos directly, even with light attack aircraft like the Aermacchi, rather than face the Sea Harriers.
Then again, few would argue that either option was less suicidal than the other. At the end of the day, the pilots were just following orders.
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again, the phrase doesn’t sound Argentine at all… it was only mentioned by the english along with other propaganda leaflets they dropped on the island. I’ve never heard or read any Argentine pilot using that phrase.
The Gr.3s didn’t even start showing up to the fight until much later after being shipped down on Atlantic conveyor.
And the Mirages fighting the Shars after some cat and mouse is a fact that has been confirmed by many.
I think he’s referring to Argentina Air Force
Well yeah they were the only argies at play.
The 5th of may never really left port.
He mentioned that Argentine Navy A-4’s were aging and cracked airframes
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The only time they tried to attack from the carrier. There wasnt enough wind to take-off (ironic for the area) and so were forced to abort. (only if they had bought SHars)
Then Belgrano was sunk and they werent taking any chances so the A-4s were sent back to the mainland and conducted raids from there whilst the carrier and the bulk of the Argentine navy returned to port
They had about 6 in a semi-usable state. though most should have probably been grounded