Publisher Description

The complete history of the 2nd Naval Air Fighter and Attack Squadron of the Argentine Naval Aviation, and its modern Super Étendard aircraft, armed with Exocet missiles. "Handbrake!": the codeword that was shouted aboard Royal Navy ships upon the detection of an emission from the Thomson-CSF/EMD Agave radar of the Argentine Super Étendard, which carried the dreaded AM-39 Exocet missiles. Argentina had bought these aircraft and their weapons from France in 1980, assigning them to the re- established 2nd Naval Air Fighter and Attack Squadron. Like most Argentine military units, the 1982 conflict over the Falklands/Malvinas conflict surprised the squadron, which was in the process of incorporating the aircraft and missiles, arriving only a few weeks beforehand from France. Hastily, under the leadership of its commander, Capitán de Fragata Jorge Luis Colombo, the squadron finished its training and developed tactics for anti-ship attacks, deploying to the south of Argentina. The effort paid off. With just four aircraft, five missiles, and ten pilots, the squadron succeeded in sinking HMS Sheffield and the container ship Atlantic Conveyor and conducted a long range and dangerous mission against the Carrier Battle Group on 30 May 1982. Using declassified Argentine and British documentation, as well as interviewing pilots and technicians (French and Argentine) this book details, as never before, the history of this elite military unit from 1980 to the present, with a focus on the 1982 conflict over the Falklands/Malvinas, and the five missions flown. It is the story of a military unit that revolutionised modern naval warfare, addressing both the military equipment involved and the people who were there. Known as the Lora (after the squadron badge showing a female parrot armed with a club), the squadron terrorised British sailors in the South Atlantic and is still in service with the Naval Aviation of the Argentine Navy. AUTHORS: Mariano Sciaroni graduated as a lawyer and currently works as a specialist in insurance and commercial law. Alejandro Amendolara graduated as a lawyer in Buenos Aires, and his work is oriented on Telecommunications and Internet Law. 16 b/w photos, 78 colour photos, 11 colour profiles, 14 maps, 3 diagrams, 7 tables

Author Biography

Mariano Sciaroni graduated as a lawyer and currently works as a specialist in insurance and commercial law. He also lecturers in procedural law in the law faculty of the Universidad Catolica Argentina. In addition, he has a Masters Degree in Strategy and Geopolitics and a postgraduate course in Contemporary Military History, both from the Argentine Army's Military Academy. He has written two books and has also had many articles about military history published in Argentina, United States, Germany and Russia and is a member of the Argentine Institute of Military History. He is a Sub-Lieutenant in the Argentine Army Reserve. Mr. Sciaroni lives with his wife and three children in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Alejandro Amendolara graduated as a lawyer in Buenos Aires, and his work is oriented on Telecommunications and Internet Law. He has attended a Master's Degree in History of Warfare at the Argentine Army's Military Academy. He is a member of the Board of the Argentine Institute for Military History, and a frequent lecturer at International Commission for Military History annual congresses, and has given lectures on the Malvinas/Falklands Conflict in Argentina and the UK. He has translated, edited and published books in Britain about the 1982 Conflict, and has published several articles in both countries.

Feature

Based on access to recently declassified documents in Argentina and the United Kingdom as well as interviews with the protagonists of this story.

Details