Thanks for the article Grand Logistics...
via the Grey Lynx.com
Some twenty-seven Lynx from No. 815 Squadron
‘went south’ where they operated in the ASW,
ASV, VERTical-REPlenishment (VERTREP) and
Special Operations insertion role. Many of
the Lynx were hastily fitted with Sea Skua
missiles, even though the missiles had not
completed their full acceptance trials
within the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was not
only the Sea Skua’s use which was hasty,
many of the HAS Mk 2s heading south with the
Task Force were not uniformly equipped - not
all had Sea Skua, while Electronic-Counter
Measures (ECM), thermal imagers and MAD were
only carried by a handful of aircraft. Many
Lynx were fitted with door-mounted GPMGs for
Close-Air-Support (CAS) operations and,
though unofficial, the installation proved
popular with crews.
One of the most celebrated actions involved
two Lynx from HMS Brilliant, which attacked
the Argentine submarine Santa Fe on the 25th
April 1982, during Operation Corporate. One
launched a Mk 46 torpedo, expecting the
vessel to submerge, which it didn’t. The sub
was then unable lo submerge due to the
circling torpedo beneath it; the Lynx
attacked with their 7.62mm machine-guns
eventually putting the submarine out of
action.
Further action on the night of the 3rd May
1982 saw HMS Coventry’s Lynx ripple fire two
Sea Skuas at the enemy patrol boat, Alferez
Sorbal. Two direct hits were scored from a
range of 13km. In the confusion of the
attack the vessel was struck again by a
further two Sea Skuas from a Lynx attached
to HMS Glasgow. On May 23rd the Argentine
supply ship Rio Caracana received two direct
hits courtesy of a Lynx from HMS Antelope.
The Sea Skua was gaining itself an
impressive reputation, leaving a succession
of enemy vessels burning and sinking
following Lynx attacks. By the end of the
Falklands Conflict Lynx HAS Mk 2s of the RN
had an impressive combat record, with one
example even having a lucky escape when
attacked by a pair of Argentine Daggers.
Three Lynx were lost when the ships Ardent,
Atlantic Conveyer and Coventry were sunk. A
further example lost its nose when an
unexploded bomb bounced off the side of HMS
Broadsword - however no Lynx were shot down
or lost in flying accidents despite the
atrocious weather conditions encountered in
the region.
Impressive...and a war record I was unaware of.
If you think about it, the one hole in US naval aviation is the lack of thought given to the armed helo in the attack mission.
Correction.
The anti-ship mission.
That's extremely unfortunate and extremely hard to understand. The S-3 once had this mission set and with its retirement I assume that its been passed to F-18's. That makes sense if you can successfully keep all ships at 150 or more miles away from your task force but that's an impossibility in any area in which we might operate in the future. The straits of Hormuz are crowded and the same can be said of shipping lanes in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
A properly armed MH-60 should be as successful in this role as the British Lynx's were. We have comparable weapons...the Hell Fire acting as a Sea Skua surrogate. And the Harpoon acting as an Exocet clone.
We have the capability but not the will. Time to get it done.