The

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Squadron ( es, Escuadrón Fénix) was a volunteers' special unit of the

Argentine Air Force "Argentine Wings" , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 August (anniversary) 1 May (Baptism of fire during the Falklands War) , equipment = 139 aircraft , equipment_label = , battles = * Operation Independence * Operation Soberanía * Falkl ...

established during the 1982 Falklands War.

History

The Argentine Air Force reconnaissance force at that time was formed around the ''Grupo 1 Aerofotográfico'' ( en, 1st Air Photographic Group) part of the 2nd Air Brigade equipped with two

Learjet 35A The Learjet Model 35 and Model 36 are a series of American multi-role business jets and military transport aircraft manufactured by Learjet. When used by the United States Air Force they carry the designation C-21A. The aircraft are powered by ...

s and based at Parana province of Entre Rios. In April 1982, the unit was deployed to Comodoro Rivadavia and was reinforced with several civilian planes and their civilian pilots who volunteered to fly them. During the war, the Learjets performed 52 missions including search and reconnaissance flights, communications retransmission flights, and pathfinder flights to guide combat jets with the Learjets’ superior navigation systems. The unit's most difficult missions were 126 sorties in which the Learjets acted as decoys, flying day and night to simulate strike aircraft preparing to attack the fleet. Many believe that most of the Argentine

A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed ...

s and

Dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

s successes were achieved because the British

Sea Harrier The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/ vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is the second member of the Harrier family developed. It first entered servic ...

s had been drawn away from more important targets : On one of these flights, on June 7, an Air Force Learjet was shot down over

Pebble Island Pebble Island is one of the Falkland Islands, situated north of West Falkland West Falkland ( es, Isla Gran Malvina) is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by th ...

by a surface-to-air

Sea Dart missile Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers (United Kingdom and Argentina), Type 82 destroyer and s of the Royal Navy. Originally ...

fired by HMS ''Exeter'', killing the squadron commander, Vice Commodore Rodolfo De La Colina, and the other four members of the crew. De La Colina became the second highest ranking Argentine officer (after Col Arévalo) to die in the War. Civilian helicopters were also added to the unit for use in the search and rescue role in the continent. Most notably,

Sikorsky S-61N The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the SH-3 Sea King military helicopter. It was developed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. The commercial version of the Sea King was developed during the ...

LV-OCN and

Sikorsky S-58T The Sikorsky H-34 "Choctaw" (company designation S-58) is an American piston-engined military helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States Navy. It has seen extended use when ad ...

LV-OCM.

Casualties

Argentine Air Force Learjet 35 T-24 crew: *Vice Commodore Rodolfo De La Colina (pilot) *Major Juan Falconier (co-pilot) *Captain Marcelo Lotufo (photographer) *Staff Sub-Officer Francisco Luna (mechanic) *Assistant Sub-Officer Guido Marizza (mechanic).

References

Notes

External links

Escuadron Fenix
(

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Escuadron Fenix Argentine Air Force units and formations in the Falklands War