8. The British bombed the Port Stanley air base from Ascension Island
On May 1, the British launched an air operation known as Operation Black Buck. The operation consisted of bombing the runway at Port Stanley’s airfield, using the medium-range Vulcan bomber flying from Ascension Island. The Vulcan was not designed for long-range bombing. It required multiple refuelings to complete the mission, from tankers which required refueling themselves. Eleven tankers and two Vulcans were required for the missions. Seven raids were planned, five were completed, and of those only three struck the airfield. The other two were against radar and early warning facilities. The Black Buck raids were the longest bombing raids in terms of distance covered ever attempted at the time.
They were minimally successful, damage to the airfield was relatively light and quickly repaired by the Argentines. They did cause the Argentines to relocate some aircraft to bases on the mainland. The Black Buck raids were largely political in nature, an attempt by the Royal Air Force to increase its visibility with the public and perhaps avoid future cuts in its budget. Photographic evidence was required to evaluate its effectiveness, and the Navy’s Sea Harriers were the only means of obtaining them. The Navy argued, before and after the missions, the Sea Harriers could deliver a greater amount of bomb tonnage, and create more damage, for the same amount of fuel used by the Vulcan raids. At any rate, the Argentine Air Force continued to use the airfield for resupply of its troops until it was captured.