MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Exercise Cassin Falcon shows off Falklands Air Defence systems
Intitial briefing to fire the Rapier system simulator 
Airmen are getting prettier The invitation “for interested military and civilian personnel” to have an opportunity to watch the live firing of both the High-Velocity and Rapier missile systems drew a mixed audience on Wednesday, ranging from Deputy Governor, Miss Harriett Hall, to school children on holiday, a Swiss journalist and even Sergio Zagier, an Argentine writer and publisher of guide books.
Arriving at the assembly point in Stanley, John Davis, pint-sized son of Legislative Council member, Dr. Richard Davis came straight to the point. "Can I fire a missile?" he asked. No one, apart from John, was too sorry when Captain Lloyd Owen, the organiser of the open day, gently refused this request. Quite apart from the safety aspects of letting a small boy loose with a missile fired by the High Velocity System (HVM), which has a lethal range of up to 5½ kilometres and reaches a speed of Mach 3 in 1.7 seconds, each one costs £52,000, so even the military don't get to fire them for real too often. Firing missiles "for real" at the Mount Harriet air-defence range, instead of on a simulator, is the whole point of Exercise Cassin Falcon, held this year between 16th and 27th April. Hosted by the Royal Artillery, who as the Resident Rapier Battery (RRB), have now taken over the air-defence of Mount Pleasant Air Base from the Royal Air Force Regiment and with the participation of instructors and safety officers from the Royal Artillery School in the United Kingdom, the exercise has given both resident and visiting military the opportunity to fire the Rapier system, which is deployed in the Falkland Islands and the more mobile HVM. The invitation to the open day also read, "This should be a very enjoyable day for all. It will not last for a particularly long time but, nevertheless, please ensure that you are correctly dressed for the cold." Fortunately, the weather was kind and the experience was, on the whole, enjoyable, thanks to a good lunch and the efforts of a number of officers and non-commissioned officers to explain in simple terms what was going on. However, for long periods there was nothing very much going on and by the end the day did begin to seem very long. Most fun to watch were the targets, large radio controlled model aircraft, capable of flying at 175 mph and giving off smoke. Wherever missiles are fired in practice by the British Forces, providing such targets, which are launched from ramps and usually survive to fly again, is the sole function of a group from Meggit Defence Systems, who are normally based in either the Hebrides or Wales. Surely in a world of boys with large and occasionally deadly toys, theirs must be one of the best jobs. John Fowler (Mercopress) Stanley
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