Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 53:56-1:01:25

Separating Falklands ELINT claims from airborne early warning

A long Falklands exchange separates plausible electronic surveillance from the much different job of airborne early warning.

Airborne Early WarningElectronic WarfareFalklands WarHawker Siddeley Nimrod
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Question

Did Britain use Nimrods or other aircraft from Chile as airborne early warning in the Falklands War?

Short answer

Probably not: passive ELINT or reconnaissance is conceivable, but it is not AEW and cannot replace a dedicated radar aircraft.

Notes

Nimrod AEW operations from Chile in 1982 are rejected because the available RAF Nimrods were anti-submarine and electronic-intelligence platforms. Passive listening or electronic reconnaissance from Chilean airspace is more plausible, while neither Hercules nor Canberra aircraft could substitute for a large AEW radar. Tanked long-range missions from Ascension also made more operational sense than basing such aircraft in Chile.