When Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in April 1982 Britain responded with a massive naval taskforce including two aircraft carriers, the elderly HMS Illustrious (the ex USS Shangri La) with her 16 Sea Jaguars and 10 Buccaneers, and the brand new HMS Invincible with her Sea Harriers.  This Sea Jaguar from 806 NAS is armed for a SEAD strike on Argentine radar installations around Port Stanley.  It carries 2 AGM-45 Shrike ARMs, 2 AIM-9L Sidewinders, an AN/ALQ-101 ECM pod, and a single Matra rocket pod for 'targets of opportunity'.

This particular aircraft carries a single kill marking representing an Argentine Mirage shot down with an AIM-9L over Falkland Sound on May 09.

Though the terrible weather in the South Atlantic winter kept the RN's CTOL aircraft out of operations on many days, the 12 Sea Harriers aboard HMS Invincible would have been hard pressed to win the war without Illustrious' Sea Jaguars and Buccaneers.

 The mods to turn a Jaguar GR.1 into a Sea Jag FRS.1 weren't that extensive, and were based on information on the actual proposed Jaguar M which was cancelled in favor of the Super Etendard.   

1. New nosegear made from the kit gear leg mated to the lower gear leg of an A-7 using steel tube as the oleo. The wheels are the main wheels from an ancient Hasegawa T-38.

2. Main gear-the kit gear legs were modified by cutting off the trailing link sections and turning the gear legs around. The main gear wheels are from an A-7.

3. Arrestor hook-the thin center section of the kit hook was replaced with styrene rod. The attache point and hook are from the kit.

4. Radome-biggest mod-is the French nose from a Hasegawa Jaguar kit with the laser designator removed and grafted back on further back on the nose as a LRMTS. The resulting radome was sanded to shape with virtually no filler.
Nick 

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