A new report says a UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) blunder has put the Falkland Islands at risk of attack from Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the archipelago and in 1982 invaded the Islands militarily until they were defeated and ousted 74 days later.
Chile's support for Britain during the Falklands War has been revealed for the first time by the man who was dispatched, with only hours notice, to secure a South American ally, according to an article in the Daily Telegraph credited to Harriet Alexander.
The first of the UK's next generation of stealth combat aircraft, Lightning II, was handed over to the Ministry of Defence at a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond formally accepted the first of the jets which are short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and are manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Britain’s Farnborough International Air-show opened last week with a joint flypast of the Red Arrows and the world’s last airworthy Avro Vulcan bomber XH558 commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War.
UK’s Defence Secretary Philip Hammond announced that 17 units are to be axed from the British army as part of sweeping reforms that will reduce its overall strength by 20.000 posts.
The amount spent to protect the Falkland Islands is to fall according to reports in the British media however the Ministry of Defense attributes the changes to ‘accounting policy’ and insists it has the capacity to repel any Argentine aggression of the Islands.
Argentine president Cristina Fernandez gave instructions for the formal complaint before the United Nations accusing the United Kingdom of ‘militarization’ of the South Atlantic and Malvinas Islands be presented on Friday, according to a release from the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
UK’s Prince William arrived on Thursday to the Falkland Islands amid simmering tensions between Britain and Argentina over the disputed South Atlantic Islands and in the year of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict.
Argentina complained Friday that Prince William's six-week mission as a rescue pilot in the Falkland Islands, the object of a 1982 British-Argentine war, is a provocative act.
Prince William will be posted on a tour of duty to the Falkland Islands next year, the Royal Air Force said Thursday in a statement. The South Atlantic Islands are disputed by Argentina.