The RAF is on “high alert” to defend the Falklands after reports that the US could support Argentina’s claim to the islands, the chief of the air staff has said.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth said that the RAF’s role in defending the British territory was “non-negotiable” and the air force was prepared to step in at a “moment’s notice” to protect citizens.
It comes after a leaked Pentagon email last week suggested that the US might review its support for the UK’s claim on the disputed Falklands.
“Today, across the UK and globally in places as far away as the Middle East, the RAF is on high alert and ready to defend our country at a moment’s notice,” Mr Smyth wrote in The Times.
“From ‘quick reaction alert’ in UK, scrambled recently against a suspected Russian ‘Bear’ bomber aircraft which was approaching our airspace from the north, to fighter aircraft based in the Falklands (defending the islands since the 1982 war), to our current Typhoon deployment in Romania as part of Nato’s vital enhanced air policing mission, the RAF’s role in defending airspace is non-negotiable.”
The confidential Washington memo, which outlined options to punish Nato allies for a lack of support in the Iran war, hinted at a review of the US’s diplomatic support for “imperial possessions” such as the Falklands.
The islands have been under the administration of the UK since 1833, but have long been claimed by Argentina, whose president, Javier Milei, is a close ally of Donald Trump.
In response to the email, Mr Milei took to social media to say the Falklands, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas, “were, are and will always be Argentine.”
Argentina’s vice president, Victoria Villarruel, also responded to say residents of the Falklands should “go back to England.”
“Today, more than ever, the Malvinas are Argentine,” she said.
“The discussion over the sovereignty of our islands is between states, therefore the United Kingdom must discuss bilaterally with Argentina the claim that we maintain for legal, historical and geographical reasons.
“The Kelpers [Falkland Islanders] are English people who live in Argentine territory; they are not part of the discussion.”
Downing Street has insisted that the sovereignty of the islands is “not in question”.
“The Falkland Islands have hugely voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory, and we’ve always stood behind the islanders’ right to self-determination and the fact that sovereignty rests with the UK,” a spokesperson said.
The defence of the islands is provided by the UK at a permanent military base, RAF Mount Pleasant, which opened in 1985.
There are currently four Typhoon fighter jets stationed at the base as well as a Sky Sabre missile system, which can destroy enemy jets.
