The UK may be forced to review its Falkland Islands air defenses to face a renewed threat in the South Atlantic.
According to a report in the Daily Express newspaper, the Argentine Air Force is set to get a dozen Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer attack planes from Russia in return for foodstuff.
Due to this, the UK Ministry of Defense is in the process of reviewing the Falkland Islands air defenses. The delivery of the supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft could pose a threat to the islands, referred to as “Malvinas” by Argentina.
According to Jane’s, the islands current British air defenses include four Eurofighter Typhoon jets, Rapier SAM (Surface to Air Missile) systems, along with about 1,200 troops permanently stationed in the South Atlantic base.
Even though the Typhoons are modern enough to deal with a dozen Su-24s, the Soviet-era twin-engined two-seater are able to perform ultra-low level surface and maritime strike missions. The planes can be outfitted with a wide variety of General Purpose as well as Laser Guided Bombs and stand-off missiles, such as the Kh-31 (AS-17 “Krypton”) anti-radiation and anti-shipping sea-skimming missiles.
We don’t know whether the potential deal includes armament; still the possible delivery of Su-24s to Argentina makes the Falkland Islands a bit more vulnerable to an attack by the Fuerza Aérea Argentina.