6 ms·

I believe there were regular dogfights during the Falklands War in the 1980's.

• greedo 5y ago
  The air combat in the Falklands was largely interceptions, not dogfights. The British used Sea Harriers and the GR3 Harriers, both of which have surprising agility. They were challenged with stopping attacks from the Argentine Navy and Air Force that were targeting the RN ships transporting the RN Marines. There were three primary Argentine aircraft used in the conflict; the Super Entendard, the Dagger (an Israeli Mirage derivative) and the A-4 Skyhawk. The Super Entendard gained fame because of its successful use of the Exocet ASM. It never engaged in A2A combat with any British forces. The Daggers and Skyhawks could have tried to engage the Harriers, but that wasn't their mission tasking. They carried nothing but bombs and attacked the RN ships (sinking 7 and damaging many more). They were operating at the very edge of their range, and didn't have enough fuel to do more than skim in, drop bombs, and flee. The Skyhawks had airborne refueling capabilities, but this was very limited since the Argentines only had 2 tankers.