Quote:
Originally Posted by Grinner
Like we could assemble a similar task force again.
What a giant waste of money maintaining a base down there. Sort it out through diplomacy.
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Having such a base - RAF Mount Pleasant - down there is the reason why you wouldn't need to send a taskforce again. In 1982 we had to send a taskforce because there were no defences to prevent the islands being overrun and there was no naval or aerial projection of power capability otherwise.
Whereas now we have Mount Pleasant which is both the RAF and Army centres of gravity in the Falklands and down the road you have Mare Harbour home to the Royal Navy - if such a scenario were to rise again in the future Argentina would get nowhere near the islands as our two typhoon squadrons down there would be sent to intercept them.
Our total spending runs to about £300 million a year to protect the Falklands, as opposed to having to find billions to mobilise have the military and send it eight thousand miles in a disconcerting position.