Sri Lanka Air Force FMA IA 58 Pucará stationed at Katunayake AFB, unknown date
Posted by LuckyJeweler9478@reddit | WeirdWings | View on Reddit | 23 comments
AreWeThereYetNo@reddit
That looks like a very able little aircraft right there I tell yhou hwhat.
pistaroti@reddit
Ask the british.
jackie_daytona-@reddit
Ask them what? How easy the IA-58s were to shoot down with small-fire or blow up on the runway? Or perhaps how much the Pucará loved taking Aim-9s to the face?
OhioTry@reddit
They were designed for ground attack in permissive airspace, of course jet fighters massacred them.
Squrton_Cummings@reddit
It's hilarious that Argentina succumbed to a fit of grand mal greed and stupidity and got bitchslapped so hard they're still fuming over 50 years later.
jackie_daytona-@reddit
Lol yeah. To be fair, they didn't think that the UK would be able/willing to get a fleet across the globe to stop them, not an unreasonable Calculation at the time.
Unfortunately for them, the PM in power when they made their move happened to be Margaret Thatcher.
joshuatx@reddit
James Callaghan would have responded in force too. The bigger mistake was that Argentina's junta expected the U.S. to back them up as an ally. They overestimated Reagan as a right-wing ally in the Americas and underestimated US-UK military relations.
Squrton_Cummings@reddit
Questioning the political will was reasonable. Questioning the ability was not, Britain was projecting naval power globally in the age of sail. The smoke from the battle that ruined the Graf Spee's shit would've just about been visible from the Argentine capital and the people in power there would've been old enough to remember.
jackie_daytona-@reddit
The UK of the 80's was a far cry from the fully mobilized UK of the war. Their fleet was vastly downsized, and the country was in austeire financial straits so even the ability to conduct a large-scale expeditionary campaign overseas, without allies, was kinda borderline at the time. Multiple senior officials in the Royal Navy were suggesting it wasn't doable at the time.
Fortunately for Britain, Thatcher was stubborn as shit and pushed for it anyway.
Utilizing a small but advanced fleet, and arguably the most logistically impressive long-range bombing campaign in history, The UK pulled off a very successful defence of remote, far-flung territory.
tigerskin_8@reddit
as much as your ships loved sucking exocets
jackie_daytona-@reddit
Lol got me there
joshuatx@reddit
Seems akin to the Bronco.
PolyDrew@reddit
The shear line from the propeller arc is right directly through the pilot…. Wow
fulltiltboogie1971@reddit
20mm guns on the side? Both sides?
Sivalon@reddit
4 7.62 mm guns and two 20mm cannon
fulltiltboogie1971@reddit
This must've been primarily for CAS ?
EarthMarsUranus@reddit
It would have been pretty good shooting down Messerschmitts! Pretty interesting weapons for something later than ww2.
Sivalon@reddit
COIN
SchreiberBike@reddit
I Googled it, COunter INsurgency.
RandoDude124@reddit
This looks like it should be a jet
Zcube73@reddit
Superb little aircraft the Argentinians love em 👌
cloudubious@reddit
I see a lot of A4 in the cockpit. Not surprising.
trencito_loco@reddit
Its pretty crazy that the Pucara, known for its combat in 1982, did actually fight against tamils in Sri Lanka. Great COIN aircraft and thanks for posting this obscure wing!