Page 32 - Demo

32from the man at the top, and the normally high level of peacetime cooperation between the US and UK services, it was hardly surprising thatthe Pentagon was quick to offer support. Indeed, many civilian officialsoutside the Pentagon later seemed almost alarmed that the military couldhave pre-empted them in aiding a foreign power. Weinberger had saidthat the US help must stop short of operations in the war zone. Whilethat was strictly true, in the sense that no US units took part in theFalklands war, it has to be said that the US did provide extra aircraft,ships and men to cover the NATO commitments from which the UK hadnecessarily withdrawn. That contribution is often forgotten, but it sent animportant signal to both friends and enemies that the US was seriousabout supporting its allies.There were, of course, many other instances of close Anglo-Americanco-operation besides the aviation fuel at Ascension. Among the moreimportant were those in the fields of intelligence and communications,and there was an early request for AIM-9L Sidewinders. There was nofuss; our request for immediate delivery was quietly brought up to thetop of the priority list as soon as I asked. We also bought navigationsystems, like Omega, to cope with very long range over water missions,and other weaponry came in the form of Shrike and Harpoon missiles.Shrikes fitted to the Vulcan were used against the Argentine%u2019sWestinghouse radars near Port Stanley. At about this time, I wasdrinking for Queen and country at a Washington reception when thelocal Westinghouse representative drew me aside. %u2018How are you gettingon against their radars?%u2019 he wanted to know. %u2018Do you need any specs ordrawings?%u2019 I was quite shocked. I asked him if he was not in danger ofpushing the limits of ethical behaviour. %u2018Hell no!%u2019 he said. %u2018You knockthat one out and we get to sell them another one.%u2019At the start of the conflict, the Vulcan was being withdrawn fromservice. We had just presented three of them to various USAF museums.Led by AVM Mike Knight, they were flown into SAC HQ at Offuttintact and handed over in flying condition. Soon after that we discoveredthe hard truth that we had no aircraft which were suitable for operationsover the vast reaches of the South Atlantic. Hosts of quick fixes wererushed into service to solve these problems, among which was the needto extend the range of our maritime patrol aircraft, the Nimrod.Refuelling probes were needed in a hurry, but they were almostunobtainable. Then someone had an inspiration and we got a call in