Word: vulcans
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...Falklands on April 29. The first action of the fleet's commander, Rear Admiral John ("Sandy") Woodward, 50, had been to enforce a total air and sea blockade within 200 miles of the islands. In a daring, long-distance raid on May 1, a delta-winged Vulcan bomber blasted the airstrip near the Falklands' tiny capital, Port Stanley. Flights of carrier-based Sea Harrier jets pounded the airfield with more bombs and also attacked a second, grassy airstrip 50 miles away, near the settlement of Goose Green. A British Sea King helicopter reportedly launched a strafing attack near...
Britain also kept up the military pressure on land. Despite claims to have knocked out the airstrips at Port Stanley and Goose Green, the British sent another wave of Sea Harriers against both targets, followed by a second solo Vulcan attack on the field at Port Stanley. The initial attacks had left it possible for smaller aircraft to fly from the fields; the British also wanted to inhibit Argentine repair work. During these raids the British admitted to suffering their first loss: a Sea Harrier was downed, its pilot killed...
...they come within striking distance. In addition, the British government announced that four more frigates would join the Falklands fleet. One other possibility: the ferrying of Royal Air Force Phantom interceptors to the South Atlantic for combat runs, using airborne tankers for refueling, as the British did with their Vulcan bombing runs...
...British may also have used two air weapons for the first time. The 610-lb. BL 755 cluster bomb destroys armored and thin-skinned targets and mines the area with smaller bombs timed to go off at varying intervals. In addition, it is suspected, though not confirmed, that the Vulcan bombers that struck Port Stanley airfield may have used the new JP233 airfield attack bomb. The result of a collaboration between British and U.S. firms, the JP233 craters enemy runways by penetrating the concrete before exploding, causing the surface to lift and fracture over a wide area. The bomb also...
...sudden spate of attacks, British warplanes swept in over Port Stanley, the Falklands' tiny capital, and struck at the 4,000-ft. airstrip held since Argentina invaded the islands on April 2. First came a long-range, delta-winged Vulcan bomber from a base at Ascension Island, some 3,800 miles away. The Vulcan refueled in the air on the way to its target, dropped 21 half-ton bombs and, said a British defense official in London, left the airfield "severely cratered...