Despite initiating the war, Argentina had not prepared a plan for the subsequent defence of the islands. The
military dictatorship that governed the country at the time regarded the seizure of the Falklands as a political act to obtain a diplomatic bargaining position, and not as an act of war. Consequently they were taken by surprise when the British responded with a large-scale mobilization, and a task force to retake the islands. The
Argentine Air Force (
Fuerza Aérea Argentina; FAA), which had never fought against an external enemy since its establishment in 1912, had never considered the possibility of waging a long-range naval air campaign against a major
NATO power. It was not trained or equipped for such a mission. The FAA had only two
tanker aircraft to serve the entirety of the air force and navy, and its fighter-bomber
Mirage IIIs and
IAI Daggers were not equipped for
aerial refuelling. The FAA's training, tactics and equipment were focused on a possible war against
Chile, resulting from disputes such as the
Beagle conflict. The option to attack Chile was a cause of great concern to the Argentina military during the war. The
Chilean armed forces had deployed a significant force to Chile's common border with Argentina, and the FAA was forced to reinstate their retired
F-86 Sabres to bolster Argentina's air defences. In Argentina's favour,
Peru immediately offered its support to the Argentine cause, with the
Peruvian Air Force even offering to fly combat missions. This was politely declined by the Argentine government. As the war progressed, Peru and
Venezuela sent critical aircraft spare parts to Argentina, urgently needed by the FAA and the
Brazilian Air Force gave two
EMB111 Bandeirantes maritime patrol aircraft to the Argentine Navy. Finally on June 4, ten Peruvian
Mirage 5 with
AS-30 missiles arrived to
Tandil but the war ended before they could be used.
Israel Aircraft Industries technicians that were in the country under the 1979
IAI Daggers contract continued their work during the conflict. By the best estimates, Argentina had about 240 planes when the war broke out. About half of those were posted in the interior and along the Chilean border. The long distances from their bases prevented them from using their top speed or they risked running out of fuel. Although the Argentines had more aeroplanes than the British Task force, a good number of them were Pucara turboprops. Also, the A-4 Skyhawk force were dependent on the two available KC-130 tankers, limiting the number of aeroplanes which could attack simultaneously. Argentina's fleet of
A-4 Skyhawk attack jets was in very poor condition. The arms embargo placed by the United States in 1976, due to the "
Dirty War", had made most airframes unusable. The involvement of Israel in helping to return the A-4 to full operational status has been alleged, but has never been confirmed. The small
air arm of the Argentine Navy (
Armada Republica Argentina; ARA) was in the middle of the transition from the A-4Q Skyhawk to the new
Super Étendard. Only five of the Étendard's anti-ship
Exocet missiles had been delivered at the time of the conflict, at which point an arms embargo prevented the delivery of further shipments. Additionally, the required programming for the missiles to interact with the Étendard's computers had not been completed by French engineers when the conflict broke out. France, being an ally of the United Kingdom, recalled all technicians, which left Argentine scientists and electronic engineers to figure out a way to make the missiles take input from the plane's computers. Navy pilots, particularly those of the 3rd Naval Fighters Squadron flying
A-4Qs, were the only personnel trained in bombing warships. Air Force pilots trained during April against the two Argentine
Type 42 destroyers, similar to those of the British Fleet, and according to the Naval officers all the sorties were shot down, causing great concern to the High Command until the successful May 1 strikes which proved that aircraft could survive. Finally, Argentine military aviation had never been involved in an international conflict, indeed the last time the Argentine military had been involved in an international conflict was the
War of the Triple Alliance more than a century before. In spite of these disadvantages, Argentine air units bore the brunt of the battle during the six-week war, and inflicted serious damage and losses to the naval forces of the United Kingdom. Low-flying jets attacking British ships provided some of the most sobering and dramatic images of the war. By the end of the conflict, the British forces had come to admire the FAA's spirited conduct in the face of an effective air defence network. Admiral
Sandy Woodward, the British Task Force commander said: "[t]he Argentine Air Force fought extremely well and we felt a great admiration for what they did." The British Operational Research Branch Report declassified and released to the public in February 2013 states: ==Organisation==