Radar horizon, Sea Harriers, and carrier positioning

Missing airborne early warning left Type 42 destroyers and frigates vulnerable in the Falklands. Ship radar cannot see through land or around the Earth's curvature, so aircraft flying at sea level and using terrain can appear only at short notice. The Sea Harrier armed with Sidewinder was capable, but without a look-down sensor it often had to chase late information. An airborne radar could move fighter cover forward and let Sandy Woodward place carriers closer without accepting the same blind risk. Criticism of his actual carrier position overlooks the absence of that warning capability. Sixteen adapted Sea King airframes would have been modest beside the fleet already bought for anti-submarine work, and the same capability would help in Norway and the northern NATO theatre. A helicopter system was inferior to Hawkeye, but even a roughly 70 percent solution was far better than having no warning aircraft.