A war beginning in 1980 catches the Royal Navy before its 1982 combat experience. Radar arrangements suited to the central North Atlantic would face different demands while supporting amphibious operations close to Norway. The same vulnerabilities later exposed in the Falklands could cause losses in this theatre. The emergency response would include pulling stored Bofors and Oerlikon guns back into service wherever crews could fit them.
Notable Point · 3:27:41-3:28:13
Pre-Falklands air-defence gaps force wartime improvisation
A 1980 Royal Navy has not yet absorbed the Falklands lessons that exposed the difference between open-ocean radar performance and close inshore air defence.