Argentina fought the British missiles with a paste machine

Battles and wars always leave winners and defeated, but in some cases they occur Unexpected surprises due to the apparent advantage of some and the surprising outcome with the victory of the other. There are stories like the The Invasion of the United Kingdom trying to conquer Tenerife without knowing what was inside. The one that occurred in Malvinas had the expected endbut what nobody could imagine is what Argentina was going to defend.

An unequal war. The FALVINAS WAR (1982) faced the Argentine Air Force (FAA) against the United Kingdom in a conflict where British technological superiority It was more than evident. While Be British Harrier They had advanced radars and missiles AIM-9 SidewinderArgentine airplanes lacked radar alert systems and electronic countermeasures. Moreover, the A-4 Skyhawk, Mirage III, Dagger and Canberra they operated without self -defense systems against radar -guided missiles, such as the Be dartlaunched from British destroyers.

The pilot Pablo Carballo, veteran of Malvinas, He explained years later To a United States Air Force officer that Argentine pilots were not afraid when a radar alert receptor was activated because their planes simply did not have one. That lack of equipment left FAA with a single option: resort to ingenuity to create its own countermeasures.

Electronic countermeasures. The so -called Like Chaffused from World War II, consists of metal strips that enemy radars saturate With false signals. It would be something like the measures/lures against electronic of our time.

Plus: Argentina had detailed information about British radars, since the Navy operated two Type 42 destroyersHMS Sheffield twins. With a “but”: the FAA did not have an industry developed to produce large -scale Chaff, so they turned to the most improvised media.

The secret is in the pasta. The first production attempts began in the Military Air Base (BAM) Comodoro Rivadavia In May 1982. By not having specialized equipment, a group of officers devised a rudimentary method: Students recruited from the province of Entre Ríos to cut hand -to -cut strips. The problem? Production was insufficient.

As they counted In The War Zoneit was then that a technical noncommissioned officer proposed an unusual solution: use a Industrial Machine for Pasta and noodles. That machine, borrowed from the Napoli pasta factory, had blades of the exact size to cut the aluminum strips efficiently. Thus, the team worked 24 hours a day for a week to make enough Chaff that could be used in combat.

Deployment and difficulties. With the insured production, methods to launch the chaff were improvised from the airplanes. In it Mirage III and Dagger rolled chaff strips in packages wrapped in toilet paper and adhesive tape, which then They placed in the aerofrenos of the airplanes. This had a problem: the pilots opened the aerofrenos during the flight to maneuver, which could make the Chaff disperse before being useful.

For The C-130 HerculesChaff was placed in bags tied with three -meter strings, which were thrown manually from the rear doors to create an interference curtain against enemy radars. Finally, with the Canberra MK 62 It was with the only unit that a partially successful system was used. Seven pitchers were installed in the back, with cartridges containing Chaff and Bengals.

The “D” day. Thus, on June 2, 1982, the system was approved in a A-4C Skyhawk with launches from different altitudes, although No effective results were achieved. Other attempts included the use of FFAR rockets to disperse Chaff and the modification of Shafrir Missiles 2although none was really viable.

Use in combat. On May 1, 1982, during a mission of bombing on the British forces, three Canberra MK 62 took from Trelew with the Chaff system and flares. The pilot Eduardo García Puebla reported how He managed to avoid Two missiles AIM-9L Sidewinder launched by a Sea Harrier thanks to the use of the improvised system. However, another Canberra failed to activate his flares and was shot down by a British missile.

Days later, another Canberra was destroyed by a missile Be dart of HMS Cardiff without even having deployed Chaff. It is not clear if the countermeasures were really effective in some other episode, mainly because the British reports did not mention deviated missiles by these techniques (and it is very possible that they did not even know).

The legacy. The end of the contest It is known (Although never It has ended at all). After 74 days of battle certainly unequal, the United Kingdom recovered the Falkland Islands. The conflict ended exactly on June 14, 1982 with Argentine surrender. However, FAA’s attempt to use chaff manufactured by hand With a pasta machine It is a testimony of ingenuity and determination in conditions of technological inferiority.

Although the system had rather limited results, it demonstrates how in war the resources available can become improvised solutions. For the history of the contests, the only known conflict where a pasta machine was part of the military countermeasures.

Image | Argentina.gob.ar, Magic Madzik, Us Defenseimagery

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