Deliverance,
On the evening of 13 June, a new technology was introduced to the battlefield. Two Harrier GR3s flown by Wing Commander Peter Squire and Squadron Leader Jerry Pook attacked positions in the Tumbledown and Mount William area with laser guided bombs in the first British use of the equipment. They came in over Bluff Cove, 'lobbed' their four 1,000lb bombs and hit a Company Headquarters and a machine gun post, the bombs flying down the laser 'cone' to their targets. Majors Anwyl Hughes and Mike Howes, the two Forward Air Controllers on Two Sisters designated these targets for the Harriers, although they were under artillery fire at the time.
RAF - Mount Tumbledown and Mount William
Sunday 13 June
Combat Report for this day,
Ground forces consolidate before the final push. At last we mount two successful LGB sorties with LTMs achieving DHs against pin-point enemy positions.
Friday 11 June
Combat Report for this day,
During the run-in to a target, my aircraft is holed through the cockpit but fortunately the damage is minimal. Tony Harper and Nick Gilchrist attempt to co-ordinate LGB delivery with LTM but the latter is unserviceable.
Monday 14 June
Combat Report for this day,
There is no tasked flying but one pair of aircraft is scrambled for a LGB sortie; they arrive in the target area after a cease-fire is called. We will now have to await the outcome of negotiations.
RAF - Harrier Diary 6
Sunday 30 May
Combat Report for this day,
The weather is showery and we spend most of the day attacking targets in the hills to the West of Stanley. Jerry Pook's aircraft is hit and he runs out of fuel some 40 miles from the ship, but he is quickly recovered and returned to the ship along with Bob Iveson. We also get the news that Geoff Glover is in Stanley hospital with a broken jaw and arm.
In a continuing effort to get high-angle bombs onto Stanley runway, we attempt a LGB delivery from high-level using a chase aircraft to actively range the runway. In fact the logic systems between the bomb seeker head and the aircraft laser-ranger are incompatible - thus no guidance. Nor are the bombs seen to explode; is there a fuzing problem - if so it won't be the first or last such error.
Monday 31 May
Combat Report for this day,
Once again the weather is showery. We carry a further and unsuccessful attempt with the LGBs on Stanley runway.
11 Jun 82 Tony Harper and one other Harrier took off from Hermes at 11.22 to attack Port Stanley, carrying Laser Guided bombs, which were launched unguided at a secondary target. Flew off again at 18.10, flown by Nick Gilchrist, to again attack the Port Stanley area.
RAF - Harrier Diary 5
13 Jun 82 Carried out the first successful Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) sortie during the Falklands conflict when Wg Cdr Peter Squire attacked an enemy Company HQ on Mount Tumbledown, scoring a direct hit with his second bomb, returning to Hermes at 15.30 after an hour long mission.
14 Jun 82 Argentine forces surrendered. At this stage XZ997, coded ‘31’ (from a total of 31 Harriers despatched) carried several patches on the upper surface of the port wing covering damage from small-arms fire. On this date XZ997 took off from HMS Hermes at 15.00, flown by Peter Harris, for an LGB attack on Sapper Hill in the Port Stanley area, accompanied by Harrier XZ133. The attack was called off by the Forward Air Control when white flags were seen in Port Stanley at 15.55 and the aircraft landed back on the Hermes at 16.25. Photo on board Hermes around this time – RAF Yearbook 2007 p.21.
http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/document...-GR3-XZ997.pdf