{"id":29763444,"date":"2026-10-27T10:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/operation-mikado-1982-sas-hercules-raid-rio-grande-plum-duff\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T10:07:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:07:45","slug":"operation-mikado-1982-sas-hercules-raid-rio-grande-plum-duff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fr\/operation-mikado-1982-sas-hercules-raid-rio-grande-plum-duff\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation Mikado: Britain&rsquo;s Planned SAS Raid on Argentina&rsquo;s Exocets"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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Their ramps come down while the propellers are still turning, and dozens of SAS soldiers pour out to find and destroy a handful of French-built strike jets, their missiles and the men who fly them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That was Operation Mikado, Britain&rsquo;s plan in May 1982 to take the Falklands War to the Argentine mainland. It was meant to end the Exocet threat to the Royal Navy in a single night at the R\u00edo Grande naval air base in Tierra del Fuego. Many of the men assigned to it gave it another name: Operation Certain Death.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It never happened. What did happen was its reconnaissance prelude, Operation Plum Duff, which ended with a Royal Navy Sea King burnt out on a beach in neutral Chile and one of the strangest diplomatic headlines of the war.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Operation:<\/strong> Mikado (planned raid) and Plum Duff (reconnaissance)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Date:<\/strong> May 1982, Falklands War<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Target:<\/strong> R\u00edo Grande naval air base, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Objective:<\/strong> Destroy the Argentine Navy&rsquo;s Super \u00c9tendards and remaining AM39 Exocet missiles<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Plan:<\/strong> About 55 SAS (B Squadron) landed by two RAF C-130 Hercules; accounts of numbers vary<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Planner:<\/strong> Brigadier Peter de la Billi\u00e8re, Director SAS<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Plum Duff:<\/strong> Sea King HC.4 of 846 NAS, launched from HMS <em>Invincible<\/em> on the night of 17\/18 May; destroyed by its crew near Punta Arenas, Chile<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Outcome:<\/strong> Mikado cancelled; never launched<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Five jets, five missiles<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The target was small but deadly. Argentina had ordered 14 <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/super-etendard\/\">Super \u00c9tendard<\/a> strike fighters from France, but by the time of the war only five aircraft and five air-launched AM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles had arrived. They flew with the Argentine Navy&rsquo;s 2nd Naval Squadron from R\u00edo Grande, and four of the jets were operational.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>On 4 May 1982, two Super \u00c9tendards guided by a <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/lockheed-p-2-neptune\/\">P-2 Neptune<\/a> patrol aircraft each launched an Exocet at the British task force. One hit the destroyer HMS <em>Sheffield<\/em>, which later sank. Two of Argentina&rsquo;s five missiles were gone, but three remained, and the British carriers <em>Hermes<\/em> and <em>Invincible<\/em> were exactly the kind of target they were built for.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/super-etendard-3-a-204-argentine-navy-exocet.jpg\" alt=\"Argentine Navy Super Etendard 3-A-204 displayed in a hangar with missiles and weapons laid out beside it\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Super \u00c9tendard 3-A-204 of the Argentine Navy, one of the aircraft flying from R\u00edo Grande in 1982, displayed with weapons in a hangar. Photo: Martin Otero \/ Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Losing a carrier could have lost the war. The answer that came out of SAS headquarters was audacious even by the regiment&rsquo;s standards: if you cannot stop the archers in the air, kill them on the ground.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">An Entebbe in Tierra del Fuego<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Brigadier Peter de la Billi\u00e8re, Director of the SAS, was in charge of the planning. The model was the Israeli raid on Entebbe in 1976. According to the plan as summarised on Wikipedia, two <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/c-130-hercules\/\">C-130 Hercules<\/a> would land about 55 men of the SAS&rsquo;s B Squadron directly on the R\u00edo Grande runway. The Hercules would keep their engines running while the troopers destroyed the Super \u00c9tendards and the Exocets, and killed the pilots in their quarters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>If the transports survived, they would fly on to the Chilean air base at Punta Arenas. If not, the survivors would grab whatever vehicles they could find and make for the Chilean border, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the west. Accounts of the exact force size differ, but every version agrees the odds were grim.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;For me, where we were going to go after we landed was not really a major thought because I didn&rsquo;t see us surviving the landing.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Harry Burgoyne<\/strong> &mdash; Former RAF No. 47 Squadron Hercules pilot, speaking to Forces News (2022)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Just getting there was a problem. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/united-kingdom-royal-air-force\/\">Royal Air Force<\/a> Hercules crews of No. 47 Squadron faced a round trip from Ascension Island that former pilot Harry Burgoyne put at 13 hours, which meant air-to-air refuelling, something the RAF&rsquo;s Hercules fleet had to be adapted for in a hurry. The only tankers available were jets, far faster than a turboprop transport.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;So you get to that point where the Hercules can&rsquo;t go fast enough and the jet refueller can&rsquo;t go slow enough.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Ian &ldquo;Chalky&rdquo; White<\/strong> &mdash; SAS B Squadron, on refuelling the Hercules from a jet tanker (Forces News, 2022)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>B Squadron&rsquo;s Ian &ldquo;Chalky&rdquo; White described the workaround to Forces News: the tanker flew ahead of the Hercules and eased into a shallow dive, letting the slower transport build up enough speed to make contact while fuel was passed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/d1F7O8t5IBs\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">BFBS Forces News on the Falklands SAS mission known as &ldquo;Op Certain Death&rdquo;, with former 47 Squadron Hercules pilot Harry Burgoyne.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Plum Duff: the Sea King that ended up in Chile<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Nobody in Britain knew how R\u00edo Grande was defended, where the jets were parked or where the missiles were stored. So the raid needed eyes on the target first. Operation Plum Duff would put a small SAS patrol ashore in Tierra del Fuego to march to the base and set up an observation post.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>On the night of 17\/18 May, HMS <em>Invincible<\/em> dashed west towards the Argentine coast. At 00:15 a stripped-down <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/westland-sea-king\/\">Sea King<\/a> HC.4 of 846 Naval Air Squadron took off with a three-man crew and an eight-man SAS team. The target was so far away that it was a one-way flight: after the drop, the crew were to fly on to Chile and dispose of the helicopter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/westland-sea-king-hc4-za314-846-naval-air-squadron.jpg\" alt=\"A green Royal Navy Westland Sea King HC.4 commando helicopter in flight\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Westland Sea King HC.4, the commando-transport variant used for Operation Plum Duff. This airframe, ZA314, was built in 1982 and later served with 846 Naval Air Squadron; it is not the helicopter lost in Chile. Photo: Alan Wilson \/ Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Almost nothing went to plan. The Sea King had to detour around a flaring offshore gas rig, adding about twenty minutes. Near the coast, fog closed in. Wikipedia&rsquo;s account says the pilot was forced to land some 12 miles short of the planned drop-off point, that he and the patrol commander disagreed about their exact position, and that the SAS commander believed they had been spotted and asked to be taken to the Chilean border instead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The pilot, Lieutenant Richard Hutchings of the Royal Marines, later remembered it differently. He told the <em>Whitehaven News<\/em> in 2007 that he had found the drop point, only for the patrol to get back on board.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;But the SAS commander got into difficulties and even though two of his men had already jumped out, they were told by him to get back on board. I was amazed.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Richard Hutchings<\/strong> &mdash; Plum Duff Sea King pilot, Royal Marines, to the Whitehaven News (2007)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Either way, the patrol was eventually put down on the Chilean side, near the south coast of Bah\u00eda In\u00fatil, and the Sea King flew on towards Punta Arenas. The crew tried to scuttle it in the water, but it would not sink. In the end they set it on fire on a beach and went into hiding. They lay low for days before the Chilean authorities picked them up and handed them over to British officials; accounts of how long they hid range from three days to more than a week.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tfmzTz8yjFc\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Mark Felton Productions tells the story of Operation Plum Duff and the planned SAS raid on R\u00edo Grande.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The burnt-out helicopter made headlines, and politically it was an embarrassment. The Ministry of Defence suggested at the time that the crew had lost their way. The SAS patrol never got eyes on R\u00edo Grande, and the reconnaissance mission was eventually aborted.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why Mikado was cancelled<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Without intelligence from the ground, Mikado was a raid into the unknown, and the Sea King in Chile had arguably blown any element of surprise. British intelligence also learned that Argentine radar coverage of the area was far better than first thought. Burgoyne told Forces News he was &ldquo;absolutely astonished&rdquo; when word came back that the raid should still go ahead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Inside the SAS, hostility to the plan was serious. According to Wikipedia, one sergeant resigned shortly before the team was due to fly to Ascension, and B Squadron&rsquo;s commander was relieved and replaced by the regiment&rsquo;s second-in-command. In the end, Mikado was quietly abandoned, to the relief of the men who would have flown it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/raf-hercules-c1p-c-130k-lyneham-1996.jpg\" alt=\"A grey Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130K Hercules C1P transport parked on an airfield apron\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">An RAF Hercules C1P of the Lyneham Tactical Wing in 1996. The C-130K was the RAF&rsquo;s Hercules version in 1982, the type that would have carried the SAS to R\u00edo Grande. Photo: Mike Freer, Touchdown-aviation \/ Wikimedia Commons, GFDL 1.2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>They were right to be worried. Argentine accounts say R\u00edo Grande was ringed by Marine infantry, armoured cars, anti-aircraft guns and a TPS-43 radar, with more than 1,200 men crammed onto the base by late May. Argentine marine commanders later said they expected a special-forces attack but never imagined a Hercules landing straight on the runway. The British government later acknowledged that the operation would very likely have failed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The missiles that got away<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The Super \u00c9tendards kept flying. On 25 May, two of them fired two more Exocets at the task force, and both hit the container ship <em>Atlantic Conveyor<\/em>. Fire destroyed three Chinooks, six Wessex and a Lynx aboard her, and she later sank under tow. On 30 May, two Super \u00c9tendards with <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/a-4-skyhawk\/\">A-4 Skyhawk<\/a> escorts used Argentina&rsquo;s last air-launched Exocet in an attack aimed at HMS <em>Invincible<\/em>. Argentina claimed a hit; Britain says the carrier was not damaged.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mcPSx3Jr_us\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Argentina&rsquo;s T\u00e9lam news agency on how R\u00edo Grande lived through the alarms of 1982 (in Spanish).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>In R\u00edo Grande itself, the raid that never came is remembered differently. Argentina&rsquo;s state news agency T\u00e9lam, marking the 40th anniversary in 2022, recalled the nights when the town&rsquo;s air-raid alarms sounded in expectation of an enemy attack on Argentine soil.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Operation Mikado stands as one of the great what-ifs of the Falklands War: a raid so bold it might have changed the war overnight, and so dangerous that almost nobody who was meant to fly it expected to come home. The most daring thing Britain did at R\u00edo Grande, in the end, was decide not to go.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Wikipedia (Operation Mikado; Dassault-Breguet Super \u00c9tendard), Forces News (BFBS), Whitehaven News, Naval-History.net, T\u00e9lam<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What was Operation Mikado?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Operation Mikado was a British plan during the 1982 Falklands War to land SAS troops in two RAF C-130 Hercules directly on the runway of the R\u00edo Grande naval air base in Tierra del Fuego. They were to destroy Argentina&rsquo;s Exocet-armed Super \u00c9tendard jets and remaining missiles. The raid was cancelled and never launched.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why was Operation Mikado cancelled?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Operation Mikado was abandoned because the Plum Duff reconnaissance failed to put eyes on R\u00edo Grande, the element of surprise was considered lost, and Argentine radar coverage proved better than expected. Many SAS men considered it a suicide mission, and the British government later acknowledged it would very likely have failed.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was Operation Plum Duff?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Operation Plum Duff was the reconnaissance mission for Operation Mikado. On the night of 17\/18 May 1982, a Royal Navy Sea King HC.4 from HMS Invincible carried an eight-man SAS patrol towards R\u00edo Grande. Fog and confusion ended the plan; the patrol was dropped in Chile and later withdrawn without reaching the base.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did a British Sea King end up in Chile in 1982?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Plum Duff Sea King was flying a one-way mission: after dropping its SAS patrol in Tierra del Fuego, the crew were to fly on to Chile and dispose of the helicopter. They tried to sink it near Punta Arenas, failed, burned it on a beach and hid before Chilean authorities handed them to British officials.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many Exocet missiles did Argentina have in the Falklands War?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Argentina had five air-launched AM39 Exocet missiles and five Super \u00c9tendards delivered by the 1982 Falklands War. Two Exocets were fired on 4 May, one hitting HMS Sheffield; two hit Atlantic Conveyor on 25 May; and the last was fired at HMS Invincible on 30 May without damaging the carrier, according to Britain.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who planned Operation Mikado?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Operation Mikado was planned under Brigadier Peter de la Billi\u00e8re, then Director of the SAS. Modelled on the Israeli raid on Entebbe in 1976, it would have used B Squadron SAS and RAF C-130 Hercules crews from No. 47 Squadron, whose transports would have needed air-to-air refuelling to reach Tierra del Fuego.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was Operation Mikado?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Operation Mikado was a British plan during the 1982 Falklands War to land SAS troops in two RAF C-130 Hercules directly on the runway of the R\u00edo Grande naval air base in Tierra del Fuego. They were to destroy Argentina\u2019s Exocet-armed Super \u00c9tendard jets and remaining missiles. 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Modelled on the Israeli raid on Entebbe in 1976, it would have used B Squadron SAS and RAF C-130 Hercules crews from No. 47 Squadron, whose transports would have needed air-to-air refuelling to reach Tierra del Fuego.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pebble-island-raid-1982-sas-falklands-pucara-airfield\/\">Pebble Island Raid 1982: The SAS Night That Wrecked 11 Aircraft<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/three-exocets-that-terrified-the-royal-navy\/\">Three Exocets That Terrified the Royal Navy<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/argentina-retires-super-etendard-plan-dedalo-2026\/\">Argentina Retires Super Etendards Grounded by UK Ejection Seat Ban<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/falklands-sea-harrier-20-kills-zero-losses-1982\/\">The Falklands Sea Harrier: 20 Jets, 20 Kills, Zero Losses<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In May 1982, Britain planned to land SAS troops in two C-130 Hercules on Argentina&rsquo;s R\u00edo Grande air base to destroy the Exocet-armed Super \u00c9tendards. Here is why it never happened.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":29763376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29763444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Operation Mikado: Britain&#039;s Planned SAS Raid | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Operation Mikado: the 1982 British plan to land SAS troops in C-130 Hercules on Argentina&#039;s R\u00edo Grande base to destroy the Exocet-armed Super \u00c9tendards.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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