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I'm not sure why they would be: the only French combat aircraft in the Argentine air forces in 1982 were 16 Mirage IIIEA and 4 Super Etendard.

The Mirages were exported to Argentina in the early 1970s, around the same time that Argentina was also purchasing Canberras from the UK. Politically, I doubt there'd be any issue with buying Mirages in this timeline. The Neshers were bought from Israel, and I expect that pipeline would be totally unaffected.

The Super Etendards were purchased to fly off the VIENTECINCO DE MAYO, due largely to non-availability of spares for their Skyhawks. This one is a bit more open to question; presumably the Dirty War and associated US arms embargo still happen. The VIENTECINCO DE MAYO wouldn't be able to operate Buccaneers, so the choice would be Super Etendards, Harriers, or trying to get by with the Skyhawks. I suspect that Super Etendard and Exocet would still be the Argentine preference unless France blocked the sale. Without an anti-ship missile, the Harrier is just a Skyhawk with shorter range; I doubt if the Argentine Navy would be willing or able to forward-base them.

The absence of French nuclear submarines is more interesting, IMHO. That gives the Argentine navy a much freer hand.

<blockquote data-quote="Yellow Palace" data-source="post: 511526" data-attributes="member: 574">I'm not sure why they would be: the only French combat aircraft in the Argentine air forces in 1982 were 16 Mirage IIIEA and 4 Super Etendard.The Mirages were exported to Argentina in the early 1970s, around the same time that Argentina was also purchasing Canberras from the UK. Politically, I doubt there'd be any issue with buying Mirages in this timeline. The Neshers were bought from Israel, and I expect that pipeline would be totally unaffected.The Super Etendards were purchased to fly off the VIENTECINCO DE MAYO, due largely to non-availability of spares for their Skyhawks. This one is a bit more open to question; presumably the Dirty War and associated US arms embargo still happen. The VIENTECINCO DE MAYO wouldn't be able to operate Buccaneers, so the choice would be Super Etendards, Harriers, or trying to get by with the Skyhawks. I suspect that Super Etendard and Exocet would still be the Argentine preference unless France blocked the sale. Without an anti-ship missile, the Harrier is just a Skyhawk with shorter range; I doubt if the Argentine Navy would be willing or able to forward-base them.The absence of French nuclear submarines is more interesting, IMHO. That gives the Argentine navy a much freer hand.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Yellow Palace, post: 511526, member: 574"] I'm not sure why they would be: the only French combat aircraft in the Argentine air forces in 1982 were 16 Mirage IIIEA and 4 Super Etendard. The Mirages were exported to Argentina in the early 1970s, around the same time that Argentina was also purchasing Canberras from the UK. Politically, I doubt there'd be any issue with buying Mirages in this timeline. The Neshers were bought from Israel, and I expect that pipeline would be totally unaffected. The Super Etendards were purchased to fly off the VIENTECINCO DE MAYO, due largely to non-availability of spares for their Skyhawks. This one is a bit more open to question; presumably the Dirty War and associated US arms embargo still happen. The VIENTECINCO DE MAYO wouldn't be able to operate Buccaneers, so the choice would be Super Etendards, Harriers, or trying to get by with the Skyhawks. I suspect that Super Etendard and Exocet would still be the Argentine preference unless France blocked the sale. Without an anti-ship missile, the Harrier is just a Skyhawk with shorter range; I doubt if the Argentine Navy would be willing or able to forward-base them. The absence of French nuclear submarines is more interesting, IMHO. That gives the Argentine navy a much freer hand. [/QUOTE]

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