Warfighting at Sea: What Has Changed Since the Falklands War of 1982

Summary

RADM Chris Parry Royal Navy (RN), a retired helicopter pilot, fought in the Falklands War is well versed in the theory and practice of sea warfare and sea power. In 2015 the Hudson Institute hosted RADM Parry to discuss some of the lessons learnt from the Falklands war of 1982 of which he notes as essential - an adequate force structure, realistic training, and senior leadership providing frank advice to government on whether the mission can be achieved using current capability. He also warns of the greater transparency, and consequent threats, posed by the emerging electromagnetic spectrum sensor technologies to be deployed in the maritime domain. Australia's defensive advantage provided via its remoteness can no longer be taken for granted. The Pacific is only a launch sequence away thanks to multi-domain capabilities. Suddenly historic lessons from the likes of the Falklands War come sharply into focus, lest we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.