EXCLUSIVE: Argentina handed Falklands "Invasion Handbook" in MoD blunder

Last night it provoked fury with defence experts and senior military personnel who accused the MoD of handing extremely sensitive details to Buenos Aires “on a plate” at a time of heightened tension.

“In any other scenario, this is exactly the kind of intel foreign powers send spies to get,” said one serving senior military source.

“No need here, though – they just have to look at this manual, where it’s all nicely collated for them. It’s practically an invasion handbook.”

Justin Bronk, of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said: “This document is certainly extraordinarily detailed. From an intelligence point of view, one of the most interesting details it gives to any prospective enemy is the full operating procedures for how the runways on Mount Pleasant are used.

“That gives Argentina an interesting window into how best to use a limited number of strikes – where to target them to do the most amount of potential damage to operations.  If you know that, at certain times, most of the length of the longest runway is required, then you know you don’t need to take out many sections of that runway – all you need is to target a mid-section.

“The manual does not give information about ground or air defences which protect the base, but nonetheless would be extremely helpful to Argentina in the event of a conventional air attack.”

In December, the Sunday Express revealed a defence review of the islands had been launched after Argentine President Cristina de Kerchner began negotiations with Russia to lease 12 Sukhoi Su-24 supersonic long-range bombers capable of mounting an attack on both Mouth Pleasant and Port Stanley.

Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox said: “At a time when we’re at pains to point out to Argentina that we are intent on defending the Falklands, we just cannot afford to have careless mistakes like this.”

Last night the Ministry of Defence attempted to downplay the error, stating that all the information was “freely available to military and commercial pilots to maximise safety for all visiting aircraft” and claiming that “sensitive military information is not included.”

However, there was no official explanation as to why the manual had strict instructions that it should be password protected.

Air Commodore Andrew Lambert, who served as a wing commander on the Falklands, said the information should have been “classified.”

“If there is information that can be of use for the Argentines to target their weapons more effectively, then even password protecting it is not enough - it simply must be classified,” he said.

“Detailing the exact concrete makeup of the runway is vital for Argentina to determine which ordinance to use to take it out quickly. We’re doing half the job for them.”

Sir Gerald Howarth MP said: “The Defence of the Falkland Islands is absolutely critical to both the UK and to the Conservative Party. We need to be very vigilant indeed about the way in which we address these issues.

“When I was minister reasonable for international security strategy I was very careful indeed about doing all I could to protect the Falkland Islands, and we can allow no slip up now.”

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