Editing Invincible-class aircraft carrier (section)

==Falklands War==
Prior to 1982, ''Invincible''{{'}}s air group consisted purely of Sea King HAS.5 anti-submarine helicopters and [[BAE Sea Harrier|Sea Harrier FRS.1]] aircraft. Typically, nine Sea Kings, and four or five Sea Harriers were embarked. This was due to the fact that the originally envisioned mission for the ships was to provide the heart of [[Antisubmarine warfare|ASW]] hunter-killer groups in the North Atlantic during a war against the [[Soviet Union]]. In that context, the main weapon of the carrier would not be its fighter aircraft, but its ASW helicopters. The fighters were on board to shoot down the occasional Soviet [[maritime patrol aircraft]] nosing around the ship and its escorts.

The [[Falklands War]] changed that posture, since it proved that Britain needed to retain the capability to use carrier air power in its traditional role of [[power projection]], both over land, and against enemy fleets. The Falklands War saw ''Invincible'', and the larger and older {{HMS|Hermes|R12|6}} filled to capacity with both the Sea Harrier and the [[Royal Air Force]] [[Hawker Siddeley Harrier|Harrier GR3]] ground attack variant of the aircraft, along with ASW helicopters. The RAF Harriers proved to be a temporary aberration at the time, but a permanent addition to the usual air group was made due to lessons learned during the war: the [[Westland Sea King#Variants|Sea King AEW2A]] ([[airborne early warning]]) version. ''Illustrious'' carried the first examples of the type when it was rushed south in the aftermath of the Falklands War to relieve ''Invincible'' of its guard duty around the islands.

[[File:USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) & HMS Illustrious (R 06).jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Illustrious|R06|6}} (right) with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier {{USS|John C. Stennis|CVN-74|6}}]]

In the aftermath of the Falklands, the typical air group was three AEW Sea Kings, nine ASW Sea Kings and eight or nine Sea Harriers. Analysis of the Sea Harrier's performance during the war led to the requirement for an upgrade, approval for which was granted in 1984. The [[BAE Sea Harrier#FA.2|Sea Harrier FA.2]] entered service in 1993 and deployed on ''Invincible'' to Bosnia in 1994. The FA2 featured the [[Blue Vixen]] radar which was described as one of the most advanced pulse Doppler radars in the world. The FA2 carried the [[AIM-120 AMRAAM]]. The final new build Sea Harrier FA2 was delivered on 18 January 1999. Other improvements were made to the class during the 1980s and early 1990s, in particular to increase the ski-jump exit angle on ''Invincible'' and ''Illustrious'' to 12° to match ''Ark Royal''.<ref name="hobbs2015"/>