Marcantile and cosmiscomet - many thanks indeed.
My point isn't that the Mirage III EA would be of any use against a Vulcan strike on the Falklands having scrambled from the mainland. That would be a little daft.
The standard UK line is that the Vulcan caused assets that would otherwise have been used against the task force to be used to defend the homeland. From what we think so far the only unit to receive a change in orders was Grupo 8. Our Argentine sources are saying though that the Mirage III EA of Grupo 8 could only get to the FI at medium level and even then for a very short time. They had new and untried weapons and a radar that didn't look down. They lost two of their comrades on day one.
I cannot rule out BB as a factor in the decision to re-task a part of Grupo 8. But the Mirage III EA appears to have ruled itself out of offensive ops as well.
Marcantile - do you know what fighters went to Buenos Aires? The ones from Rivadavia or Gallegos? Did they operate out of Tandil? I make it about 900 miles from Rivadavia to Buenos Ares. Of the 15 single seaters left do you knwo what split there was between the three locations?