The British "Sea Harrier" vertical take-off and landing fighter is a legend in the history of world air combat in the last century. In the Battle of Falklands, the "Sea Harrier" set an amazing exchange ratio of 21:0. As a subsonic fighter, the "Sea Harrier" even shot down 10 legal "Phantom III" and Israeli "Dagger" fighters with 2 times the speed of sound, and none of them were shot down in air combat.
But in fact, the invincibility myth of the "Sea Harrier" was shattered in only one year, and the opponent was precisely the former defeated "Phantom III" fighter.
"Sea Harrier" on the Falkland Islands "air combat myth"
During the 1982 Falkland Islands War, Britain dispatched 28 "Sea Harrier" and 14 "Harrier GR3" vertical take-off and landing fighters. The Royal Navy’s "Harriers" are all assigned to the "Invincible" and "Sports God" aircraft carriers. They are primarily used to seize air supremacy, while the Royal Air Force’s "Harrier GR3" is mainly used for ground attacks.
In the battle for Falkland Islands, the Argentine Air Force dispatched hundreds of "Phantom III", "Dagger", A-4 "Skyhawk", "Canberra" and other fighters to launch multiple rounds of violent air attacks on the British fleet. Many British ships were sunk and injured. As the main force of the British air defense, the "Sea Harrier" fighter has shot down 21 Argentine fighters with its outstanding performance, including 9 "Dagger" fighters, 1 "Phantom III" fighter, 8 A-4 "Skyhawk" Attack aircraft, 1 "Pukara" attack aircraft, 1 "Canberra" bomber and 1 C-130 transport aircraft.
especially need to point out that the "Phantom III" and "Dagger" (Israeli imitation of "Phantom 5") are second-generation fighters with a maximum speed of Mach 2.1-2.2, while the maximum speed of the "Sea Harrier" is only Mach 0.95. The subsonic fighter defeated a two-fold sonic fighter by an overwhelming advantage, which was the first time in the history of world air combat and caused a sensation in that era. The outstanding record of
"Sea Harrier", in addition to the advanced performance of the AIM-9L infrared tracking air-to-air missile, having a vector nozzle engine is a key. As a vertical take-off and landing fighter, the "Sea Harrier" accidentally obtained "super maneuverability" by virtue of its vector nozzle, and was able to make a series of unconventional maneuvers at low altitudes, such as sudden sharp rise or translation (ie "book shelf" maneuver). Therefore, the "Sea Harrier" is easy to get rid of the opponent's tail biting or locking, and at the same time, the nose is easy to point to the opponent first, and uses advanced AIM-9L missiles to attack the enemy's aircraft head-on.
Because of this, the ultra-maneuverability of the "Sea Harrier" has affected the views of many domestic military fans, and the vertical take-off and landing fighters have also been regarded as "super air combat capabilities". However, the super mobility value of the "Sea Harrier" has actually been seriously exaggerated.
Only in the second year of the Falklands War, the air combat myth of the "Sea Harrier" was ruthlessly shattered, and the opponent's fighter model was very subtle.
The same pilots and enemy planes, the "Sea Harrier" was hurt in Australia.
In 1983, the British Royal Navy "Invincible" aircraft carrier visited Australia, and the carrier-based aircraft force conducted a joint exercise with the Royal Australian Air Force. Many British pilots who participated in the exercise have participated in the Falkland Islands air battle, and several have also shot down Argentine fighters, and have recorded more than one.
Australian pilots participating in the exercise are piloting "Phantom IIIO" single-seater fighters and "Phantom IIID" two-seater fighters. They belong to the "Phantom III" family with the "Phantom IIIEA" and "Dagger" of the Argentine Air Force, and their performance is basically the same. The main difference is that the "Phantom IIIO" type adds more advanced navigation equipment. The main weapon is the US-made AIM-9G air-to-air missile, which replaces the French R550 "Magic" missile.
British naval pilots with rich practical experience, before the simulated confrontation with the "Phantom III", the confidence to win is actually not strong, because they themselves know the defects of the "Sea Harrier" best. Sure enough, when the "Sea Harrier" faced the "Phantom III" again, the air battle between the two sides became very different from the Falklands. Not only that, the performance of "Sea Harrier" turned out to be worse than expected-"Phantom III" couldn't be bitten in combat!
Before the exercise, the Australian Air Force had repeatedly studied the battle examples of the Falkland Islands air combat and studied adequate response tactics. In the confrontation exercise with the "Sea Harrier", the Australian Army "Phantom III" adhered to the principle of energy maneuvering.Give full play to the high-speed advantage of the fighters, not to deal with the British fighters at low altitudes, just run away.
The specific record of the two parties has not been disclosed to the public, but there is information that "almost all the'Sea Harrier' pilots who have achieved a record on the Falkland Islands have been shot down", while the "Phantom III" shot down by the British pilots are very few. In the face of ugly confrontation results, the British military has no face. The pilots claimed that "the AIM-9G missile equipped with the Mirage fighter is the key to victory." However, is this really the case?
performance reason or weapon reason? After the
confrontation exercise lost to the Australian "Phantom III", the British pilots later claimed that the opponent's AIM-9G Sidewinder missile was the decisive factor in winning. But if you carefully compare the missiles of the two sides, you know that these reasons are pure excuses. The
AIM-9G infrared tracking combat missile is the second-generation air-to-air missile developed by the U.S. military in the mid-1960s after learning the lessons of the Vietnam War and improving the first-generation AIM-9B. Although the tracking ability has been improved, the AIM-9G still uses the old-fashioned vacuum tube circuit and can only carry out rear-end attacks on enemy aircraft, but still cannot achieve omnidirectional attacks. The American Sidewinder missile was developed into the AIM-9J type in the early 1970s, using transistor circuits, and began to have a certain omnidirectional attack capability, which can be launched head-on against enemy aircraft.
The British "Sea Harrier" fighter is equipped with the AIM-9L, which is the third-generation air-to-air missile newly developed in 1978. It has a more complete omni-directional launch capability and does not require rear-end attacks. The AIM-9L and its improved AIM-9M missiles were still the main weapon of the US military during the 1991 Gulf War. It can be said that the AIM-9G of the Australian "Phantom III" is far better than the AIM-9L of the "Sea Harrier".
During the Falklands War, the legal R550 "Magic" air-to-air missiles equipped with the Argentine Mirage III and Dagger fighters belonged to the second generation of the AIM-9G. Therefore, there is no performance gap between the equipment of the Australian Air Force and the Argentine Air Force. The defeat of the British Sea Harrier in air combat was entirely caused by the performance defects of the fighter aircraft and tactical errors.
The failure of the exaggerated "Sea Harrier"
in the Australian exercise proves that the "Sea Harrier" and "Harrier" cannot compete against the real third-generation aircraft, or even the second-generation aircraft with correct tactics. The "super maneuverability" associated with vertical take-off and landing technology cannot compensate for the resulting performance defects such as low speed, high wing load, and short range. The vertical take-off and landing fighters of the last century cannot represent the mainstream development direction of fighter technology. Three-generation fighters such as F-15, Mirage-2000, and Su-27 are the right path for development. The outstanding performance of
"Sea Harrier" in the air combat on Falklands is mainly due to the lack of range of Argentine fighters. Especially the "Phantom III", which flew thousands of miles from the mainland of Argentina to the skies over the Maldives, could only stay for a few minutes, unable to choose more reasonable tactics and battle positions. As the "Phantom 5" imitation version of the "Dagger", it was used as an attack aircraft at the time, and it was easy to be caught by the "Sea Harrier" when it was loaded with bombs at low altitude. Strictly speaking, the Argentine fighters did not have the opportunity to engage in a fair air battle with the Sea Harrier at the time.
In contrast, although the "Sea Harrier" is a subsonic fighter with high wing load, its engine thrust is amazing (air combat thrust-to-weight ratio is as high as 1.2). With the addition of vector nozzles, it has strong acceleration and circling at low altitudes. Ability, and alternative super mobility. Therefore, when the "Phantom III" and "Dagger" had to enter the battlefield at low altitude in order to avoid the British radar, various battlefield advantages were taken up by the "Sea Harrier". In addition, the "Sea Harrier" AIM-9L missile, which can be launched omnidirectionally, gives fighters more freedom to fire.
However, "Phantom III" also has its own advantages. Although the thrust-to-weight ratio of the aircraft is not high, the maximum speed of Mach 2.2 is unmatched by the Sea Harrier. Moreover, the "Phantom III" uses a large delta wing design with a low wing load and a strong instantaneous circling speed, which is conducive to preemptively aiming the missile at the enemy aircraft in air combat. Therefore, the Australian Army’s "Phantom III" adopted correct energy maneuvering tactics to ensure that the fighters maintain sufficient speed and altitude to avoid fighting the "Sea Harrier" at low altitude and low speed.
on the energy maneuver tactical sideIn the past, the shortcomings of the "Sea Harrier" were fully exposed. The "Sea Harrier" is equipped with a huge "Pegasus" engine, which has a large body resistance and cannot exceed the speed of sound. It is easy to become passive in front of high-altitude high-speed enemy aircraft. In addition, the "Sea Harrier" "Blue Fox" airborne radar has good performance, with a detection range of up to 75 kilometers, but it does not have the ability to launch semi-active radar missiles, that is, it cannot conduct over-the-horizon attacks. The "Sea Harrier" supporting AIM-9L heat-tracking missile has a short range. The maximum effective range of head-on shooting is no more than 12 kilometers, and tail-chasing shooting is less than 7 kilometers. If the enemy aircraft adopts the "hit and run" tactics, the "Sea Harrier" It is difficult to launch missiles for pursuit.
It can be seen that the strengths and weaknesses of the "Sea Harrier" are very obvious. After familiarizing with the performance of this fighter, the so-called "air combat myth" can be easily broken.
The Falklands War became the only air combat performance opportunity for "Sea Harrier" and "Harrier" style. Since then, this vertical take-off and landing fighter will be mainly used for ground attack, and never fight to be the protagonist of air supremacy. (Author: Tao Mu sword)
