Type 42s still faced compatibility problems between satellite communications and radar equipment. Their intended place was within a task group, whereas the larger Type 82 concept suited the exposed picket position at its edge. Available ship numbers nevertheless pushed Type 42s into picket duty during the Falklands campaign. Pairing them with Type 22 frigates provided complementary defences, but the ships and their systems sometimes obstructed one another during air attacks. A larger ship carrying both short- and long-range air defence offered a hypothetical way to avoid relying on the coordination of two separate hulls.
Notable Point · 1:11:54-1:13:17
Type 42 picket duty exposed communications and escort problems
Satellite-communications conflicts and the Type 42-Type 22 pairing reveal the difficulties of asking task-group escorts to act as exposed pickets.