Malvinas: The Bad Guys Had An Impressive Logistics

The Impressive Logistics of the Invader

On 2 June 1982, the invading British troops completed the temporary Harrier landing strip at San Carlos Water.

Built in just a few days by the Royal Engineers and support units, the strip was designed to bring British air cover closer to the front line.

Constructed from prefabricated aluminium panels originally developed for use in Europe in the event that NATO airfields were destroyed during a Soviet invasion, it provided a simple but effective forward operating base in the Malvinas / Falklands.

The strip was not intended to be a fully equipped air base. There were no facilities for rearming aircraft, only for refuelling them. Fuel was stored in large floating fuel bladders anchored in San Carlos Water and pumped ashore to support operations.



The aim was simple: to allow the Harriers to land, refuel quickly and return to the skies, extending their patrol times over Gran Malvina / East Falkland and reducing the need to fly back to the aircraft carriers to refuel.

The first Harriers from HMS Hermes would arrive on 5 June, and the forward operating base quickly became an important part of the British air defence network. At times, up to four aircraft operated there, ready to launch at short notice against Argentine air attacks or to provide support to British troops advancing towards Puerto Argentino.

The landing strip remained operational until the end of the war, though not without incident.

On one occasion, a loose connector pin from the surface of the strip was sucked into the engine of a Harrier during take-off. The resulting damage caused the aircraft to crash, although the pilot escaped unharmed.



After the accident, flight operations from the strip were temporarily suspended, and some Harriers operated instead from HMS Fearless and HMS Intrepid using vertical landings.

The San Carlos Forward Operating Base was a remarkable achievement. Built in a remote war zone under the threat of air attack, it helped keep the Harriers over the battlefield for longer. This deployment demonstrated the enormous logistical capacity of the British invader, who did not hesitate to use every means available for the sustained support and supply of his troops, in contrast to the Argentine command, which had never anticipated the possibility of a British blockade. This left the ground forces in a state close to abandonment, forced to face combat with undernourished, freezing, poorly armed soldiers, and without adequate support and communications systems.