Vertical Take-Off Super Fighter: British Aerospace Sea Harrier and AV-8B Harrier II Plus

Vertical Take-Off Super Fighter: British Aerospace Sea Harrier and AV-8B Harrier II Plus

The Harrier is internationally recognised as the predominant vertical short take-off and landing military fighter aircraft in the world. The aircraft's ability to vertically take-off and land, as well as transition to high speed flight make it a potent and versatile weapon with unmatched capabilities in military aerospace. The latest British and American variants have been fitted with advanced radar giving them formidable beyond visual range functions.

Originally developed by British Aerospace (Hawker Siddeley) in the 1950's the first of many prototypes flew in the 1960's. At first the aircraft was not taken seriously but the British Sea Harrier FRS.Mk1 which is informally referred to as the Jump Jet proved to be a very effective and capable aircraft during the Falklands conflict in 1982. The Harrier design is commonly used from aircraft carriers.

Historically it was developed with the intention of having the British RAF deploy it close to the Soviet Union, where its VTOL capabilities would have made it able to operate from make shift facilities such as parking lots or forest clearings and where it would have been less vulnerable to attack. The American AV-8B Harrier showed both its effectiveness and shortcomings during the Gulf War in 1992 and inspired the greatly improved Harrier II plus. The Sea Harrier is a naval strike/air defense fighter. The AV-8B and BAE Harrier II are the US and British variants respectively of the second generation Harrier aircraft.

The Harrier operates from land and sea bases and can carry an array of weapons from conventional missiles and bombs to nuclear ordinance. With an endurance of over 3 hours and a maximum cruise speed of 1065 km/h the Harrier can be deployed very quickly and deliver a punishing array of weapons with precision, in forward flight or in a hover. The primary operators of the newest variants of the harrier are the US Marine Corps and the British Navy. India operates the British FRS.Mk1 version from two of their carriers and Italy and Spain operate the American AV-8B Harrier II plus version primarily in an air defence role.

With more than forty years in service the Harrier has proven itself on the battlefield and has paved the way for its successor to continue the impressive role of the vstol fighter. Known as the Joint Strike Fighter the F-35 lightening has been developed by a consortium of countries to fulfill a number of roles. At least one of the three variants has advanced vstol capabilities and incorporates stealth technology and advanced avionic and weapons systems. The Harrier has shown the world how effective and useful a vstol fighter aircraft can be for military operations and the F-35 lightening will continue its legacy well into the future.