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Craiglxviii wrote: ↑Thu Sep 11, 2025 11:17 amNo EW needed, the Argentinians at that point only had Roland SAMs. Stay above 20,000’ and they’re safe. Add to that all they would be facing as interceptors were Mirage III armed with -9D(? I think) so a brief escort screen would have taken care of those too.
Range would probably be a bit long for escorts, but the FAA of the time was very much a day/clear weather force. Cyrano II was theoretically capable against B-52s but as I understand it was only ever tied to the cannon and R530 - I'll bet they never paid to tie it in to Sidewinder. In a tail-chase at night and in a severe electronic warfare environment the difference between a pair of 30mm and for .50s isn't all that big, particularly given how much tougher the B-52 will be to shoot down and the fact that the Argentines won't be trained in the blindfire mode.