Small War, Big Consequences

摘要

During the Falklands campaign of 1982, a conflict often incorrectly labeled a war-when none was ever declared between the belligerents- Britain's loss of a sophisticated destroyer, HMS Sheffield, packed with the latest radars and air defense equipment, demonstrated the lethal nature of Argentina's Exocet missiles. This one incident transformed the British strategy of dispatching a naval task force 8,000 miles to liberate the islands, certain that the loss of either of the two aircraft carriers in the armada would force a humiliating withdrawal, and doubtless cause Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government to fall. The Sheffield, a modern, Type-42 destroyer, was accompanied by several other warships deployed on radar picket duty to protect the task force, but was nevertheless hit by the French-manufactured sea-skimming missile.