Significantly, the heavily-armed vessel is set to be in the islands’ waters by April – the 30th anniversary of the start of the 1982 war. It will provide an outer cordon of unseen protection for the Falklands.
The move will re-open wounds over the Argentine flagship General Belgrano, which was controversially sunk by a British submarine during the two-month conflict with the loss of 323 sailors.
The deployment is certain to infuriate the Argentine government and lead to further deterioration in the already fraught relations between Britain and Buenos Aires.
Tensions between the two countries have increased dramatically following months of sabre-rattling there over sovereignty of the disputed territory, which has been British since the 1830s.
Protesters who have vowed to target a different UK business every week, threw paint bombs at the HSBC branch in Buenos Aires. On Thursday a Union Flag was burned outside the British embassy in the capital.














