How difficult are amphibious operations without air superiority?

Timeline of the War

Timeline of Events 1981-2

15 DecemberArgentine military starts planning an invasion
FebruaryArgentine marines train for the invasion in Patagonia
9 MarchArgentine Junta receives first draft of invasion plan
19 MarchArgentine scrap workers raise Argentine flag on South Georgia
27 MarchRoyal Fleet Auxiliary support ships Appleleaf and Fort Austin head to the South Atlantic
28 MarchArgentine invasion force departs Argentina
29 MarchThatcher sends nuclear submarines south as show of force
31 MarchThatcher authorizes planning for deployment of forces
2 April Argentine forces land and capture Stanley on East Falkland then South Georgia
2 April Thatcher addresses Parliament; Britain announces deployment for Operation Corporate and Royal Navy ships in the Mediterranean start heading south
3 April British support unit flies from UK to Ascension Island; First cargo planes start arriving Ascension
4 AprilQueen signs order to requisition ships from trade; Sea-going tug Typhoon heads south from UK
5 April First warships leave the UK and link up with Landing Ships Logistic
6 AprilAircraft carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible depart UK; Amphibious Task Force with Land Force starts departing UK; Cruise ship Canberra arrives in UK for modifications
9 April Canberra, the first ship taken up from trade and modified, departs with 2500 troops
12 AprilBritain announces first Exclusion Zone around Falklands
16 AprilBritish Royal Air Force starts reconfiguring C-130s for air-to-air refueling and thereafter trains pilots
17 AprilBritish Task Force leaders meet at Ascension Island; Logisticians start reconfiguring supplies on ships and moving supplies to ships from Ascension Island
18 AprilCarrier Battle Group heads south from Ascension
25 AprilBritish forces recapture South Georgia
1 MayLanding Ships Logistic head south from Ascension; British Vulcan bomber from Ascension conducts first bombing run near Stanley
2 MayBritish submarine Conqueror sinks Argentine cruiser General Belgrano
4 MayArgentine pilots hit British destroyer HMS Sheffield with an Exocet missile, and Sheffield later sinks
7 May2 Para arrives Ascension Island aboard Norland to reinforce the Land Force; Amphibious Task Force with Land Force departs Ascension
12 MayFirst C-130 configured for air-to-air refueling drops 1,000 lbs of supplies to HMS Antelope in a trip covering 6,300 nautical miles; 5 Infantry Brigade deploys from the UK aboard QE2
19 MayUnits cross-deck at sea from Canberra to other ships because of concerns of troop concentration on the cruise ship
21 MayAmphibious Task Force arrives off San Carlos and Land Force secures beachhead; Argentine planes attack the British, sinking HMS Ardent and damaging many other ships; QE2 passes Ascension with 5 Brigade aboard
23-24 MayArgentine planes return, damage three Landing Ships Logistic and other ships, eventually sinking HMS Antelope
25 MayArgentine planes sink Atlantic Conveyor with an Exocet missile and HMS Coventry
27 May3 Para and 45 Commando start marching across East Falkland; 2 Para starts toward its start line to attack Goose Green; Argentine planes bomb the Brigade Maintenance Area; QE2 arrives South Georgia and work commences to offload
28 MayQE2 heads back to UK with many supplies for 5 Brigade still aboard
29 May2 Para captures Goose Green and takes a thousand prisoners
30 MayChinook helicopter lifts 42 Commando to Mount Kent; Major General Moore and others arrive San Carlos aboard HMS Fearless
31 MayLanding craft from HMS Intrepid move supplies forward to Teal Inlet
1 JuneFirst Landing Ship Logistic arrives at Teal Inlet; 5 Brigade units arrive and start disembarking at San Carlos
2 June2 Para seizes Swan Inlet and then advances to Fitzroy
5 JuneShips start moving more troops and supplies toward Fitzroy
8 JuneArgentine pilots attack LSLs Galahad and Tristram at Fitzroy
11 JuneForward buildup complete, the battle for the mountain starts
12 JuneExocet missile strikes HMS Glamorgan; Seventh and final Vulcan bombing mission takes place
14 JuneArgentines in Stanley surrender
15 JuneBritish start restoring order and services in Stanley and elsewhere on East and West Falkland
24 JuneFirst British C-130 cargo plane lands in Stanley
25 JuneFirst British units start redeploying to the UK