Role of intelligence in the Falklands campaign

[Greasel_burger]

Currently doing a presentation and a 2000 word paper on the role of intelligence on the Falklands campaign, Anyone know any good places to look? especially for the role that the argentinian intelligence services played?

This does include tactical (radar stations, the BBC pretty much reporting that low level bombs were not exploding in bomb alley, radar tracking, Local guides)

And strategic intelligence (soviet shadowing of the RN taskforce, French intel on the numbers of working air launched exocets etc)

[sniper1946]

Originally Posted by Greasel_burger

Currently doing a presentation and a 2000 word paper on the role of intelligence on the Falklands campaign, Anyone know any good places to look? especially for the role that the argentinian intelligence services played?

This does include tactical (radar stations, the BBC pretty much reporting that low level bombs were not exploding in bomb alley, radar tracking, Local guides)

And strategic intelligence (soviet shadowing of the RN taskforce, French intel on the numbers of working air launched exocets etc)

not sure if this is anything that helps you, regards, ray..


http://www.falklandswar.org.uk/FAQ.htm

[ozjohn39]

Not much use to you I am afraid, but I do remember reading after the conflict that the choice of San Carlos as the invasion point, was based on US satellite pics confirming that it was free of Argentine troops.

[Demon_Llama]

Look for the following book:

One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander

It's the memories of Sandy Woodward, (the Battle Group Commander) and it certainly gives a superb picture of the naval operations, including the rationals behind his decisions (why San Carlos was chosen, etc). I just finished reading it recently.

Hint about what you'll find:
The Brits had very little intelligence about the Args. For example, their naval "intelligence" was based on what they could find in Jane's.
The BBC are morons.
Excellent coverage on the Argies use of trawlers and aircraft for reconnaissance.
And more.

[urqh]

The secret war for the Falklands, Nigel West is a good start.
Excellent book. French clandestine moves to limit purchase of Exocet, banking schemes, William And Glynns bank, lots of stuff in there to start you off.

[R.N. Armstrong]

My friend, David Burrill, was the G2 of the British ground forces. He wrote a paper afterwards in which he highlighted the value of prisoner of war information.

The U.S. provide overhead photographic support.

[Greasel_burger]

Cheers for all the data, currently collating the infomation and writing up the slides!

[Herman Hum]

Wasn't there also a case for bombing the Argentine HQ? I read that the UK decided against that attack because they were getting such good intelligence out of the place and did not want to disrupt such a valuable source.

[Greasel_burger]

if you mean the one in stanley they did attack it with missiles launched from a helicopter...

[Herman Hum]

I think it was in reference to the one in Buenos Aires.

[Soothesayer]

Not forgetting that FI had been substantially re-surveyed in the 1970s. This was exploited to produce a DTB, although it needed RARDE's computing grunt to make use of it, the initial Rapier deployments were planned this way, IPB I think.