Why lightweight Sea Wolf would have helped in the Falklands

Would the Falklands fleet have been better protected if Sea Cat had been replaced by lightweight Sea Wolf?

Yes; lightweight Sea Wolf would have been a major improvement, and the fleet also needed stronger close-range gun defences.

The answer is emphatic that lightweight Sea Wolf would have protected the Falklands fleet better than Sea Cat. Sea Wolf offered a more credible point-defence response to attacking aircraft and missiles. The exchange also questions the value of retaining Sea Slug and asks why more 40 mm cannon were not fitted. This short discussion is a useful watch point for the layered weaknesses in British shipboard air defence in 1982.