Malvinas: The First Air Combat of the AAF 6th Fighter Group

First Duel of the G6C

By Federico Funes

May, the 1st
On Saturday, May 1, the weather report indicated rain and low ceilings at the Southern Air Force (FAS) deployment airfields in Patagonia, which would make the operation of our aviation difficult. However, there would be no alternative since Great Britain had kicked off in the early hours of the morning, with the start of Operation Black Buck.
The Chief of the RAF Strategic Air Command, Marshall Bentham, had implemented this operation, in which two Vulcan bombers from 44 Squadron (registrations XM 598 and XM 607) took off from Wideawake Airport, Ascension Island. After a long navigation including several resupply stations, they arrived at Puerto Argentino at 04:40, dropping twenty-one thousand-pound bombs on the Malvinas BAM. The result of the attack was ambiguous, but it made clear what the British position would be in the conflict, reaffirming the determination they had expressed just a few days before with the capture of Georgia. Reconquer control of the islands quickly and definitively.
The FAS Command, upon receiving the report of the attack, appreciated that there would be new air raids on ground targets in the Malvinas, tending to reduce the detection and response capacity (radars, anti-aircraft artillery, airfields, etc.) in preparation for a amphibious assault in the vicinity of the main strategic objective of the islands, Puerto Argentino.
The presence of the Task Force was also known, which included two aircraft carriers along with a group of escort destroyers, as well as a number of transport and amphibious assault ships. The position of this force had been constantly monitored through distant aeromaritime reconnaissance and exploration sorties, carried out by Air Force Boeing 707s. It was known that they were close to the archipelago and that they would have a leading role in the actions of the day to come. However, it was to be expected that these ships, and in particular the aircraft carriers, would be located far enough to the east to be outside the range of action of the Argentine attack aviation based on the continent. Based on this analysis, it was decided to launch interceptor fighter sorties, with the intention of gaining local air superiority and frustrating the actions of the British embarked aviation.

This was the strategic framework in which the crews and technical personnel operated on May 1st. At the Río Gallegos, Río Grande and San Julián airfields, the interceptor squadrons were in different degrees of readiness waiting for the departure order.
Thus the pilots endured the "taming" inside the cockpits of the Dagger and M-III, mitigating the prolonged early warning shifts based on reading comic magazines, which were thrown outside when the start-up was requested. Just the night before, April 30, the men of Hunting Group 6 had been celebrating the birthdays of the members of the Squadron deployed in San Julián. On that occasion they began to receive signs of what was coming in the coming days and the excitement and celebration turned to uncertainty and nervousness.

Now everything would change, night still reigned in the south and a compact, dark layer of clouds covered the sky with its mantle just ninety meters from the ground; The occasional drizzle and fog reduced the already poor visibility, enveloping everything in a gloomy and ghostly halo.
At five thirty in the morning, two pilots woke up to the reality of a task to complete. On the night of the 30th, Captain Moreno and Lieutenant Volponi had been instructed to carry out a hunting cover mission for a Naval Aviation Neptune, which would go out to try to locate the Task Force. They were to take off from Rio Grande at 06:30, still at night and forty minutes after the ASW Neptune took off, and then meet up with it near the islands.
When they arrived at the pilot's room they found the disturbing news: Malvinas was being attacked, the Navy plane was not leaving and they had to remain on alert because a departure order could arrive at any moment. A saturated and nervous, but at the same time controlled and professional, atmosphere enveloped everyone present, they waited for their turn to hit back, the day took a while to become present, increasing impatience.



07:30 hours. The first fragmentary order arrives; Takeoff at 07:45; The mission: air coverage over the islands. From that time on, and despite the bad weather, the FAS launched 21 more interception sorties; Mirage III, Dagger and even with Skyhawk A-4C.

Two Daggers rolled slowly to the head and stood at the threshold; from the control tower they were barely perceptible to the keeper's eyes due to the faint reddish flickering of the position lighthouse; the drizzle continued. Both machines were configured on the edge of the maximum takeoff weight, three additional tanks, two Shafrir air-to-air missiles and a full load of ammunition for the 30-millimeter DEFA guns. In the cabins the "Talo" and the "Volpi", enclosed under the domes, thus isolated from the icy wind outside, immersed in the dim light radiated by the dashboard indicators, prepared for takeoff. In front, the low intensity lights marked the path towards the sky on both sides.

Check the clock, 07:44. After the last checks of the procedural checklist, the turbines accelerated with their characteristic increasing howl, the number 1 leaned forward due to the thrust contained by the brakes, releasing them began the takeoff run; The bluish jet in the nozzle resulting from afterburner was the indication that number 2 had to confirm the takeoff, then the hoarse voice, deformed by the oxygen mask, indicated - "The one in the air."
"Red! Amber! Tachymeter pendulum!" - He mentally reviewed the afterburner ignition control procedure. Number two ran along the track until he felt that the commando responded docilely by releasing the wheels to the ground, just two hundred meters before the end of the track. "Two in the air" and like one the blue flare of the nozzle was immediately engulfed by the clouds and lost sight of, although the roar persisted floating in the wind for a few more seconds, it was 07:45.
Ascending to the pre-established cruise level, piercing the cloud layer, as they emerged dragging the shreds of cloud in the trails, they emerged into a beautiful, starry sky at 22,000 feet above sea level.



Forty minutes later they contacted the controller of the CIC (Information and Control Center) Malvinas, when they were about fifty miles from Puerto Argentino. The operator informed them that at that precise moment they were attacking the airport and that a Harrier engulfed in flames was falling near the port. A nervous smile escaped under the oxygen masks of both pilots who in unison shouted: Long live the Homeland!



The hubbub was instantly stopped when the controller confirmed they had "two chicks" that were 120 miles away (two Sea Harriers from HMS Invincible manned by LtCdr RN Robin Kent and Lt Brian Haigh). Moreno ordered Volponi, who was forming to his left 500 meters away, to maintain heading 020° -at full dry gas- (full power without post combustion).

Locked in the small trailer covered with peat and masking nets, the controller was a spectator of the unfolding drama, on the screen he could see them, two echoes, just two points marked momentarily by the sweep of the antenna, on the other side of the quadrant the "Bulls" fulfilling the instructions to the letter.

Minutes later the controller's voice declared -030°, the chicks are 30 miles away from each other- and when Moreno asked what this meant and the dizzying nature of the situation, the controller hurried to answer in pure Creole -De face kid, they are facing-
Nerves, if these Sea Harriers already have the Sidewinder 9L they can shoot them head on, and they can't shoot the Shafrir; Moreno asked the controller to guide him to get on his side so he could look for their tail.
-Now you have them at 9 miles, straight ahead and one mile on the right side! - Moreno ordered the wing tanks to be ejected, conserving only the ventral one, which still had "juice" left; The controller would ask them for fuel at regular intervals, as the minutes available before the point of no return would be few and they feared they would forget to check.
Close to the crossing with the Sea Harriers, they ejected the ventral tanks and turned, applying afterburner; The Daggers were at 22,000 feet and the Sea Harriers were 4,000 feet below.
At 08:20 a.m. they began to move in circles seeking eye contact, two pairs of eyes scanning the sky with growing anxiety, while asking the controller for confirmation.
-The four of them were in circles together but I can't tell them apart- They were close, very close; Volponi saw a missile that passed between both planes.
The game of cat and mouse continued like this, for approximately two minutes that to the racing minds of the pilots seemed like an eternity. During that time they were in an advantageous position for a few seconds but without being able to see them, then they had them behind them; The Sea Harriers changed attitude and position with incredible rapidity.
When they reached the minimum fuel (2450 liters) Captain Moreno ordered to always ascend with post-combustion and begin the return; The controller confirmed that the Sea Harriers were also moving away.
They were 5 miles from Puerto Argentino, so they immediately began to calculate the consumption for the return, fortunately there was no headwind so they would arrive, although with a tight margin.
Once in contact with the continent's radar, it confirmed that the weather was still marginal, with a ceiling of one hundred meters and visibility reduced to 2 kilometers, but by making an ILS approach they could land without further risk.
The radar guided them into the localizer beam and the Daggers entered the glide slope, with 5 miles separating them.
09:45 a.m. Landing at AFB Río Grande without incident.

The second section of Dagger that took off was the one composed of Captain Mir Gonzalez and Lieutenant Bernhardt (who would be shot down over the islands on May 24), with the callsign "Cyclone". Like the previous outing, they linked up with the CIC Malvinas, which guided them to the target, a section of Harriers that were converging towards them and when they made contact with the Daggers, they began a downward spiral maneuver to fight at a low level and inciting the Daggers. to follow them, then, placing the nozzles at a negative angle, they braked abruptly so that the pursuers would pass them, the roles would be reversed and they would become the pursued.
The section, upon noticing the maneuver, threatened to follow them but rose again, this was enough for the Harriers to make the break, refusing to fight at altitude.
Upon reaching the limit of autonomy, the Ciclón returned without incident.



The third section was made up of Major Martínez and First Lieutenant Luna, callsign "Limón". Also under the guidance of the Malvinas radar, they made three crossings with the Harriers; they remained low while the Daggers stalked high up. This occasion allows us to speculate that perhaps at first not all Harriers had the AIM-9L Sidewinder, since as seen they refused to fight, or as was seen in the case of the Toro section, they missed a missile.

The fourth hunting trip belonged to the "Fierro" section, led by Captain Raúl A. Díaz, Squadron Operations Officer who, as such, had placed himself first on the list of available crews. When he was at the headland ready for takeoff, his flight aborted due to failures in his device. A single Fierro rose to fulfill his duty.
In the book The Air Battle of Our Malvinas Islands by Commodore F.P. Matassi, Captain Díaz relates:

"Near the islands I made contact with the Information and Control Center (CIC) of Puerto Argentino, who directed me to a raider 60 nautical miles east of the islands."

"I armed the missile and gun panel, turned to the ordered intercept course (090 Degrees) and automatically followed the CIC indications. It informed me that the raider was about 6,000 feet below; the radar controller was still indicating the course of interception and distance... We were approaching head on. When a distance of 12 miles separated us, the raider descended sharply enough for our radar to completely miss it."

"This encouraged me to think that the opponent did not want to engage in aerial combat."

"The operator had me set a course west to return over the islands, from which he was taking me a few miles to the east."

"There was a layer of clouds that made it difficult to see enemy ships. At one point the controller reported that I was flying over a naval echo that could be a missile frigate, suggesting that I be extremely vigilant in the face of the possibility of being attacked with missiles. surface-air; that did not happen."

"When I was again over the islands which I could see through a hole in the clouds (I saw the San Carlos Channel and the Darwin area) the operator informed me of an air attack that the enemy was carrying out - with the Sea Harriers. - about Puerto Argentino."

"I asked him if he was directing me there, and he responded negatively because the raiders were within the sector of our anti-aircraft defense."

"Then he alerted me to the presence of an echo that was heading towards me, from the Southeast at high speed and gaining height. It was detected when it was 18 miles away, I turned towards the South to adopt a collision course and maintained a altitude of 26,000 feet, accelerating to 450 knots, I dedicated myself to observing the instruments for the last time before the crossing and with apprehension I discovered that I had no more than 5 minutes of fuel left to reach the minimum level required for the long return."

"When they separated us (with the raiders) by about 8 miles and being about 3,000 feet higher than him, he decided to abandon the entry into combat, probably because he did not have an advantageous position; the truth is that he descended quickly until our radar lost its echo."

"I made an effort to try to visualize it, without losing my advantageous height, but I couldn't. At this point I heard the controller's voice asking me how much longer I could stay over the islands, answering that the time had come to return due to lack of fuel. "

"He wished me good luck and gave me the direction home; I ascended to the optimal level for the return and conceived, during the long return, this mistaken idea: the English avoid aerial combat."

"A few days later I would suffer the experience of being shot down, along with my entire squadron, by two Sea Harrier planes, when I was about to attack the Puerto San Carlos beachhead."

The Rubio section, composed of Captain Rhode and First Lieutenant Ardiles, was to take off from Río Grande on a patrol mission over the islands; The section chief could not do so due to failures in his aircraft, and since there was no reserve plane, he had to stay on the ground, watching as the wake of the "Pepe" Ardiles' nozzle was lost in the clouds.
Alone, across 700 kilometers of raging South Atlantic, perhaps to go into combat, perhaps to be damaged or suffer the imponderable of a failure, alone.
At 4:30 p.m. he was arriving at the archipelago, when he sighted two ships in the Choiseul Sound that were entering it to approach Goose Green, the location of the AFB Cóndor, the seat of the Pucará.
Although his plane was configured with air-to-air missiles, he launched himself at the ships and opened fire with his cannons in two passes; This was observed by AFB Cóndor personnel. Without responding to the attack, both ships withdrew into the open sea.
Around 16:40 he linked up with the CIC Malvinas, requesting an aerial target while gaining altitude again. The radar operator vectored him toward an echo; Ardiles confirmed -In sight- at that moment the echo split into two (both planes were formed very close to each other, so the reflection on the radar showed a single echo instead of two).
The Harrier section (comprising Flt Lt T. Penfold (RAF) and Lt Cdr M. Hale (RN)) was at 20,000 feet with Ardiles' Dagger 13,000 feet above and 5 miles away, when an air-to-air missile -air was fired by the Argentine plane. The missile was aimed at Hale's plane and he evaded it by maneuvering and launching countermeasures, immediately descending to a level of 5,000 feet.



At 16:41 Penfold had pulled up behind Ardiles' plane, at a distance of three miles; he fired an AIM-9L which hit the Dagger. The fighter exploded without any ejection being seen.

Silence... Ardiles was called on all frequencies that day, no response.
The remains of the plane fell in flames on the island of Bouganville, and the helicopters flew over this place several times in search of Pepe but without result.
First Lieutenant José Leonidas Ardiles was the first G6C pilot to spread the archipelago with his blood.

Overwhelmed by the constant signs of ships attempting helidembarkations near Puerto Argentino, and faced with a direct request from the Military Garrison, the FAS decided to relegate the attempt to gain air superiority (this decision is influenced by the meager results of the numerous hunting sorties). of that day) and proceed to carry out attack operations on naval targets. 11 fighter-bombers (A-4B/C and Dagger) and 6 light bombers (Canberra Mk-62) left to comply with the imposed order.

The "Tornos" 
They had been on alert all morning, sitting in the cabins waiting for the departure order, they even took off and then had to return due to the arrival of a Fragmentary Order.
The Chief called the three pilots who were on alert to plan a navigation at altitude with a subsequent leg (navigation section) at ground level. The squadron was made up of Captain Dimeglio, First Lieutenant Román and Lieutenant Aguirre Faget. The callsign would be Torno.



The objective was north of Puerto Argentino and about fifteen miles from the coast. Leaning over the navigation chart, the three pilots plotted the navigation course, which would take them to a fixed geographical point (navigation was visual) from which they would descend at low altitude to complete the final stretch towards the target.
The three men dressed in their orange survival flight jackets approached the planes, which had already been reconfigured with two 250-kilogram MK-82 BRP (Parachute Delayed Bomb) bombs. They took off and climbed to cruising altitude in a fluid (open) formation. The cloud cover gave a glimpse of the dark sea sliding beneath.
A glance at the clock, it's time for descent; After drilling the layer they had a visual with the geographical point. They continued leveling a few meters from the water and closed the formation, both numbers side by side of the leader. They skirted Gran Malvina Island to the north and then Soledad.
Four minutes to the target, First Lieutenant Román spotted a helicopter to the left, immediately notifying the leader - We continue towards the objective! - was his order.
A shape emerging from the water emerged in front, and with a gentle stroke of the lever they focused their firing sights on it, beginning the attack; They approached at high speed ready to open fire with their cannons when they realized that it was a rock.
They changed course and continued along the coastline. According to the navigation calculation, they had arrived at the target area but they did not see anything, they decided to continue towards Puerto Argentino.
Someone was shooting on the coast and in front of the Daggers there were explosions that looked like fireworks. Suddenly three ships appeared, close to Puerto Argentino and were bombing it mercilessly.

The radio silence was broken by the voice of the squad leader who indicated

-One to the one in the center, two to the one on the left and three to the one on the right!-

The sea was calm and dark gray, the clouds barely 300 meters above covered the sky in a compact mass. Each plane centered its nose on the designated target and approached it as level as it could with the turbines at full power, while the hands groped the weapons panel, arming the cannons and bombs. It was 16:16, the three Daggers attacked from north to south. In front of them three targets appeared, one larger than the other two, towards which the Squad Leader headed.



Piques in the water in front, white fountains of water that emerged as a result of the fire from the leader's cannons, but which caused surprise in his numbers who believed they were attacked by the ships. The leader unloaded his cannons and released his bombs at no more than 180 meters high, passing at high speed over the Destroyer, number two rose to enter at an angle for cannon shooting and was received with heavy fire from the weapons. anti-aircraft fire of the ship and then also launched its bombs, number three did not use its cannons, believing that they could be ships of the Argentine Navy, but then, in the face of the evidence of the large response fire, it discharged its bombs.

-The one coming out!-
-Turn two coming out!-
-Turn three coming out!-
-Good!!!-

Joy and frenzy in the frequency, after just a few seconds that were eternal in the minds of each pilot and surely also in those of the crew of those ships who were suddenly overwhelmed by the fury of the attack.
Immediately the raiders made their escape by piercing the cloud layer in search of height, thus losing sight of themselves, undertaking the return individually but being certain that somewhere beyond the cloud cover, their companions followed them on the return. to home.
On the islands, witnesses who observed the attack confirmed the impact of Captain Dimeglio's bombs on the destroyer, which was immediately enveloped in smoke. The ships turned and headed southeast.

The feeling of loneliness that flying between clouds gives was increased when the controller's voice gave the alarm so feared in those circumstances -The turnstiles have bandits on their tail!-
-The winches are submerged in the water!- The squad leader's response.
At that moment, the 1st Ten Roman reported seeing two Harriers diving downward, when in reality they were his companions, but he ignored it.
When they finally came out of the clouds they found themselves flying over a valley surrounded by mountains which they did not hit only by the will of God, since they had no way of knowing where they were going and the visibility until that moment had been zero. Meanwhile the Harriers continued their pursuit.



The Fortín section (Captain Donadille and First Lieutenant Senn) who were on patrol with their Daggers armed with Shafrir missiles received the order from the CIC Malvinas to go to the aid of the Tornos by placing themselves between them and the interceptors. Having received the vector, both ejected tanks and attacked at full power, the Harriers began their escape.
Upon returning to San Julián they were received by an overflowing crowd, the pilots merged in an excited hug, a moment that will be recorded with indelible precision in the retinas of those who witnessed it.

Thus the formations returned in what was the last combat sortie of the 6th Fighter Group on May 1, 1982. Due to the characteristics of this attack, the pilots could not have precise confirmation of the damage caused. However, it was determined that the three attacked ships correspond, according to the description of numerous witnesses, to two Type 21 Frigates and a Type 42 Destroyer.
Regarding this, numerous disagreements have arisen about which ships were attacked, the Argentine Air Force maintains that the Destroyer would have been the HMS Exeter, while the British affirm that it was the HMS Glamorgan. The Type 21 Frigates have been identified as HMS Alacrity and HMS Arrow. Another theory (perhaps the most controversial on this topic) is the one that concludes that the destroyer attacked by the Daggers on May 1 is the HMS Sheffield, which sank while she was being towed to the Georgia Islands.

Beyond this there is no doubt that the blow was forceful enough to persuade the fleet to withdraw to a safe distance. This was confirmed between 16:20 and 16:30 by the then Chief of the Río Gallegos Mobile Radar, Vicecomodoro C. Velazco, who captured a radio message, apparently from the "Flag Ship" (flagship of the fleet). , which ordered the withdrawal due to an unexpected tactical situation.

The 6th Fighter Group, operating from the continental bases of San Julián and Río Grande, with marginal weather conditions and at the limit of its autonomy, executed thirteen combat sorties, the majority being Combat Air Patrols, with the exception of the three corresponding ones. to the Torno squadron who carried out an anti-ship mission. As a testimony of the commitment to "Defend the flag with honor and patriotism and follow it until losing one's life" remains the sacrifice of First Lieutenant Ardiles.




1982 / 2003 

Hangar Digital