The “Jump Jet” has arrived
Classed as the first operational close-support fighter/reconnaissance aircraft with vertical take-off capabilities, the Hawker Siddeley Harrier or sometimes better known as the “Jump Jet” came to the eyes of the world in the 1960s. Design on a vertical take-off aircraft started in the late 1950s with Stanley Hooker, Sir Sydney Camm and Ralph Hooper developed the Hawker Siddeley P.1127.
Even at the start of the project, Hawker was without official backing from the then British Ministry of Supply for its prototype aircraft, so work as a private venture. During this period Hawker company had been heavily occupied with submissions for the replacement of the RAF Canberra fleet. Of note was this was later awarded to BAC for the ill-fated TSR 2 project.
The first prototype of the P.1127, XP831 (above), was ready for trails in 1960, with later that year the first Pegasus engine being made available, the airframe undertook its first tethered flight. With the free hover flight taking place in late 1960, first images of this aircraft were released to the general public. Joined by the second prototype, XP836, the Ministry of Supply agreed to fund four more development aircraft and support the Pegasus engine development program.
During the development of the other four aircraft also saw the maturity of the Pegasus engine. The engine is a turban fan which was originally designed by Bristol Siddeley. Designed to be able to direct the thrust from the engine downwards and then swiveled its four nozzles giving the aircraft powered forward flight. In its first tests the engine could only just lift the aircraft of the ground. The first test of transferring from hover flight to powered flight was undertaken on the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] September 1961. The engine was mounted in the centre of the aircraft and when required to undertake a complete engine change, the only the whole wing needs to removed to gain access to the engine. Due to the high temperatures produced by the turbine blade when obtaining maximum take-off thrust, water is injected into the combustion chamber and the turbine to maintain temperatures at the acceptable levels. The aircraft carried 50 gallons of distilled water for this propose, giving appropriate 90 seconds flow of water, which is deem sufficient for the role of the aircraft. P.1127 XP984 was fitted with the 15,000lb thrust Pegasus 5 engine and married with the new swept wing for the first time, this prototype aircraft became the aptly named Kestrel.
The Kestrel
The Kestrel FGA.1 was the immediate advancement of the P.1127 with only nine produced as an evaluation aircraft. These were based with the Tripartite Evaluation Squadron which was formed at RAF West Raynham in Norfolk, funded by Britain, USA and West Germany; the Squadron being manned staffed by pilots from each of the three countries.
The squadron’s first aircraft flow on the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] March 1964 however; the aircraft was not given the name Kestrel FGA.1 until September of that year and by the end of 1964 six of the nine aircraft, making up the squadron, were flying.
Kestrel FGA.1
In November 1965 the Kestrel program came to an end in Britain, six of the aircraft were transferred to the USA to be evaluated by their Army, Navy and Air Force under the name XV-6A Kestrel; later four of these aircraft were transferred to the USAF and two to NASA. The one of the two remaining airframes in Britain joined the Blind Landing Experimental Unit at RAE Bedford, with the remaining aircraft, XP693 being used trails with the updated Pegasus 6 engine.
If the Kestrel was seen as 50% redesign of the P.1127, then the next version, that would lead to the Harrier GR.1 was in effect a new aircraft.
P.1127 (RAF)
In late 1965 a pre-production order of six P.1127 (RAF) airframes was placed for the RAF. Fitted with the Pegasus 6 engine, giving 19,000lbs thrust, this call for a redesign of the intakes, they were enlarged and six, then later eight, auxiliary inlets were added on each side. Vortex generators, fences and tip extensions were added to the new wing design. Even the aircrafts undercarriage did not escape being redesigned; it was up-rated so the aircraft could operate from rough surfaces and the ability was added for the undercarriage doors to be closed when the main gear was down. The aircraft was to carry a “War” payload, so five hard points were added. Because no internal guns were fitted, so P.1127 (RAF) was designed to be fitted with two external Aden 30mm cannon pods, these carried 130 rounds per gun and fired at a rate of 1,200 rounds per minute. The pods also had an added design of improving the airflow under the aircraft when it was in the hover.
The six aircraft which were ordered were required for in service use by 1969, these aircraft were only used as development airframes to be used by the manufacturers, Rolls Royce or Boscombe Down, to help meet the strict timescales set. None of these aircraft saw RAF squadron service.
It was during this time that a production order for sixty Harrier GR.1 Ground Attack/Reconnaissance aircraft was made, these were planned to form a RAF training Unit and an operational squadron both to be based at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, with a second squadron in housed in RAF Germany.
Harrier GR.1 /1A
The first true production GR.1 was XV738 and it first flow on the 28[SUP]th[/SUP] December 1967, later being used for development testing at Roll-Royce. Development trails were well underway and it was not long before the GR.1 received flight clearance to carry a full weapons load.
The Harrier even though designed as a subsonic aircraft could pack a punch in the ground attack role, the five hard points could carry a range of stores. Fitted with two hard points under each wing and one on the centreline under the fuselage, the typical external weapons load was approximately 5,000lbs in total weight and could include, two 1,000lb retarded bombs or four BL-755 cluster bombs, "Matra 155" 18 round unguided rocket pod for the SNEN 68mm rocket, which was the main weapon of the GR.1. Plus two 100 gallon drop tanks, these being carried on the inboard hard points as these were the only ones fitted with the plumbing.
And for the reconnaissance role, a camera pod containing five cameras, one facing forward and the other four formed as a “fan” to give horizon to horizon imagery coverage, could be fitted on the centreline hard point. This was in addition to the Port Facing Oblique (PFO) that was fitted in the noise of the aircraft. Another upgrade was the fitting of the Ferranti FE541 Nav/Attack system; this incorporated a Smiths Head-Up display and also a moving map display screen. The pace of production allowed the Harrier Conversion Team to be formed at the start of 1969 at RAF Wittering; this was mainly made up of RAF personnel who had worked along side Hawker Siddeley workers during the various development stages. On the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] April 1969 the Harrier Conversion Unit (HCU) was officially formed again at Wittering, only eighteen days later the first of its aircraft were delivered, this being XV746.
In July of that year the HCU started its first conversion course, because there was no Harrier simulator or two-seater Harriers available at the time, the RAF only selected the best of its experienced pilots to undertake the training.
The Harrier truly came to the public’s eye in May 1969; when it took part in the Daily Mail newspapers Transatlantic Air Race, the race being the fastest return crossing between the city centers of London and New York. There was always a strong rivalry between the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, using a Helicopter-Phantom-Helicopter combination, and the Royal Air Force. The RAF would use two Harriers, XV741 and XV744; both were fitted with 100 gallon drop tanks, a fixed in-flight refuelling probe and bolt on extra length wing tips.
The RAF understood that the Harrier would be slower that the Navy’s Phantoms and also would require a number of in-flight refuellings. But the Harrier could by using its vertical take-off start and complete the race in one go. So taking off from the closed coal yard in St Pancras railway station, it set a time of 5 hours and 31 minutes crossing to New York. This display underlined the operational capability of the aircraft and truly earning the name “Jump Jet”.
XV741 Getting ready for departure from St Pancras railway station, London.
XV741in mid air above St Pancras
The fitted of the bolt on wings tips did help to improve the cursing range of the aircraft, however; this would be one of the only times they would be used on the Harrier.
The fitting of the bolt on wings tips did help to improve the cursing range of the aircraft, however; this would be one of the only times they would be used on the Harrier.
In 1969,
No.1 Squadron RAF was declared as the first operational RAF Squadron flying the new Harrier GR.1, the first Vertical and Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL) jet aircraft squadron in the world and this can be seen in the squadron’s motto In omnibus princeps meaning “First in all things”. By February 1971 the HCU had competed six conversion courses for the Harrier, by this time a new unit had been formed at Wittering, No. 233 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU). The unit was formed from the personnel of the HCU, with an added number of new instructors. During this period the Harrier Force, as it was later to be know, was expanding, a number of No. 1 Squadron’s pilots were transferred to No. 4(AC) Squadron in June 1970 to start the work-up of the first operational Harrier squadron to be based in RAF Germany.
The first tow-seater Harrier, the T.2, arrived at Wittering in mid 1970, this gave the OCU the chance to expand the training of the aircrew from the basic aircraft handling to the use of weapons, attack profiles and the use of the cameras for the photographic reconnaissance role. The first two T2s prototypes undertaken their first flights in 1969, fitted with two seats in tandem requiring a stretching the fuselage by 117.5 cm. Unlike the GR.1 the canopy was hinged on the side and sliding. The instructor sat in the rear seat which had been raised by 45 cm giving excellent overall visibility. Due to the extended of the aircraft noise, the tail was extended to compensate and the rear fins, the dorsal and ventral were increased in size. Of note, the T.2 was fully operational and could be fitted with a complete weapons load.
As stated, the Harrier build up was continued with a speed and additional orders were place for a further eighteen GR.1s and twelve T.2s. The first deliveries of the T.2 went to the HCU/233 OCU, however; later each operational squadron would have its own for training and dual checks,
The added orders for the GR.1 gave raise to the formation of another three Harrier squadrons to be again based in RAF Germany. As 1970 came to a end, No.20 Squadron was formed at RAF Wildenrath, to be followed by No.3 (F) Squadron in 1972, again to be based at Wildenrath. So by the end of 1972 the Royal Air Force’s “Harrier Force” was at full strength, at RAF Wittering No.1 Squadron and the HCU/233 OCU and in RAF Germany No’s 3, 4 & 20 Squadrons. During the start of its operational carrier the RAF Germany Harrier force need to display their high skill flying this aircraft, because at this time they have very little experience in this form combat and the use of any aircraft changes all the rules of flight. There were a number of minor and some major accidents during the early 1970s; listed among the main causes was engine trouble and bird-strikes. However, during a major exercise in 1973 “Autumn Leaf” the three Germany squadrons operated close to 100% of its aircraft and his was despite the high number of daily sorties the squadrons were asked to undertake.
The first GR.1s had the Mk.101 (Pegasus 5) engine installed, advancement in the design of the engine at the factory brought if up to Mk.102 or Mk.103 standard, in the mid 1970s the GR.1 fleet had the Mk.102 installed and were renamed GR.1A and the T.2A for the two-seater trainer. New airframes fitted with the Mk.103 engines were renamed GR.3. The remaining GR.1s and GR.1As on major servicing received the MK.103 Pegasus upgrade and became GR.3s. Other upgrades to the GR.1 to GR.3 standard were the fitted of a bolted on in-flight refuelling boom (some fitted to GR.1As as well), change in the shape of the noise for the fitting of the Ferranti LRMTS, outer wing pylons to carry the Sidewinder AIM-9 missile and antennae for the Marconi ARI. 18223 Radar Warning Receiver fitted in the rear of the aircraft and tail fin.
USMC AV-8A / AV-8C
In the 1960s a number of US pilots undertook test flights in the Harrier and when back with good reports on the performance of the aircraft. In late 1968 the US Pentagon ordered 12 Harrier aircraft with the possibility of ordering a further 144 aircraft. Flown by the United States Marine Corps (USMC), they renamed the aircraft to the AV-8A. There were differences between their version and the one flown by the RAF, the AV-8A had fitted a large dorsal antenna with further modifications so American designed electronics and cockpit equipment could be fitted and also the provision for US weapons was fitted.
Also the Martin Baker Mk.9 ejection seat was replaced with the Stencel S.ll. The first USMC unit to be equipped with the AV-8A was VMA-513 which had been formed in April 1971. The training unit, VMAT-203, took charge of its first Harrier in 1975. The US had planned for its entire Harrier fleet to be built in the USA however, all 102 AV-8As and eight TAV-8As were produced by Hawker Siddeley, of these, 36 were lost in accidents.
From the very start the USMC understood that the Harrier need to be upgraded, stating that the AV-8A had limited combat capabilities. The American manufacturer McDonnell Douglas was selected to undertake the required modifications. These included major new electronic systems, the removal of the F.95 PFO camera in the noise and the installation of the F402-RR-402 engine which gave 21.500 lbs of thrust. A total of 47 AV-8As were converted to the newer variant, the two were very difficult to tell apart, the only give-away was the addition of formation keeping lights on AV-8Cs.
SPANISH / THAILAND AV-8S
The Spanish approached the US for a display of the Harrier, this was due to the fact that at this time, the UK had an arms embargo with the Spanish Government of General Franco so Spain ordered for six AV-8As and two TAV-8As was place with the US.
The aircraft equipped Escadrilla 008 of the Spanish Naval Aviation and were delivered in late 1976 as AV-8S’s. The aircraft operated from both land and aboard the aircraft carrier Dedalo. In 1980 they received a further five aircraft from the UK. The Spanish renamed their Harriers, changing it to the VA.1 and the VAE.1,also they dropped the Harrier title and called their version Matador. The aircraft stayed in service until the mid 1980s then they upgraded to the Harrier II (AV-8B) so the early Harriers were retired and placed into long term storage.
In the 1990s Thailand showed an interest in the Harriers the Spanish had placed into storage and so in 1992 a contract was signed for seven single-seater and twin-seater Matadors to be restored to flying condition and passed to the Royal Tai Navy RTN. The RTN dropped the name Matador reinstating the names AV-8A and TAV-8A. These aircraft served with No.1 squadron of the First Air Wing, when not deployed on their carrier, again purchased from the Spanish, the aircraft were based at U-Tapao. All RTN Harrier pilots were trained by the Unit States Navy from the beginning of 1995, once basic flying training had been competed they transferred to Spain to undertaken AV-8S flying training.
Footnote
In RAF service the Harrier had a very distinguished career in various variants, serving in the Falklands conflict of 1982 and operations in Afghanistan, in which they served for fiver years. However, all great stories must come to an end, and on the 15[SUP]th[/SUP] December 2010 saw the last flight of an UK Harrier, the fleet was drawn down and remaining aircraft were sold the US.
Was it right? I have strong views on the issue, however, I will leave that question unanswered. Maybe another topic subject.
Mick G
Classed as the first operational close-support fighter/reconnaissance aircraft with vertical take-off capabilities, the Hawker Siddeley Harrier or sometimes better known as the “Jump Jet” came to the eyes of the world in the 1960s. Design on a vertical take-off aircraft started in the late 1950s with Stanley Hooker, Sir Sydney Camm and Ralph Hooper developed the Hawker Siddeley P.1127.
Even at the start of the project, Hawker was without official backing from the then British Ministry of Supply for its prototype aircraft, so work as a private venture. During this period Hawker company had been heavily occupied with submissions for the replacement of the RAF Canberra fleet. Of note was this was later awarded to BAC for the ill-fated TSR 2 project.
The first prototype of the P.1127, XP831 (above), was ready for trails in 1960, with later that year the first Pegasus engine being made available, the airframe undertook its first tethered flight. With the free hover flight taking place in late 1960, first images of this aircraft were released to the general public. Joined by the second prototype, XP836, the Ministry of Supply agreed to fund four more development aircraft and support the Pegasus engine development program.
During the development of the other four aircraft also saw the maturity of the Pegasus engine. The engine is a turban fan which was originally designed by Bristol Siddeley. Designed to be able to direct the thrust from the engine downwards and then swiveled its four nozzles giving the aircraft powered forward flight. In its first tests the engine could only just lift the aircraft of the ground. The first test of transferring from hover flight to powered flight was undertaken on the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] September 1961. The engine was mounted in the centre of the aircraft and when required to undertake a complete engine change, the only the whole wing needs to removed to gain access to the engine. Due to the high temperatures produced by the turbine blade when obtaining maximum take-off thrust, water is injected into the combustion chamber and the turbine to maintain temperatures at the acceptable levels. The aircraft carried 50 gallons of distilled water for this propose, giving appropriate 90 seconds flow of water, which is deem sufficient for the role of the aircraft. P.1127 XP984 was fitted with the 15,000lb thrust Pegasus 5 engine and married with the new swept wing for the first time, this prototype aircraft became the aptly named Kestrel.
The Kestrel
The Kestrel FGA.1 was the immediate advancement of the P.1127 with only nine produced as an evaluation aircraft. These were based with the Tripartite Evaluation Squadron which was formed at RAF West Raynham in Norfolk, funded by Britain, USA and West Germany; the Squadron being manned staffed by pilots from each of the three countries.
The squadron’s first aircraft flow on the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] March 1964 however; the aircraft was not given the name Kestrel FGA.1 until September of that year and by the end of 1964 six of the nine aircraft, making up the squadron, were flying.
Kestrel FGA.1
In November 1965 the Kestrel program came to an end in Britain, six of the aircraft were transferred to the USA to be evaluated by their Army, Navy and Air Force under the name XV-6A Kestrel; later four of these aircraft were transferred to the USAF and two to NASA. The one of the two remaining airframes in Britain joined the Blind Landing Experimental Unit at RAE Bedford, with the remaining aircraft, XP693 being used trails with the updated Pegasus 6 engine.
If the Kestrel was seen as 50% redesign of the P.1127, then the next version, that would lead to the Harrier GR.1 was in effect a new aircraft.
P.1127 (RAF)
In late 1965 a pre-production order of six P.1127 (RAF) airframes was placed for the RAF. Fitted with the Pegasus 6 engine, giving 19,000lbs thrust, this call for a redesign of the intakes, they were enlarged and six, then later eight, auxiliary inlets were added on each side. Vortex generators, fences and tip extensions were added to the new wing design. Even the aircrafts undercarriage did not escape being redesigned; it was up-rated so the aircraft could operate from rough surfaces and the ability was added for the undercarriage doors to be closed when the main gear was down. The aircraft was to carry a “War” payload, so five hard points were added. Because no internal guns were fitted, so P.1127 (RAF) was designed to be fitted with two external Aden 30mm cannon pods, these carried 130 rounds per gun and fired at a rate of 1,200 rounds per minute. The pods also had an added design of improving the airflow under the aircraft when it was in the hover.
The six aircraft which were ordered were required for in service use by 1969, these aircraft were only used as development airframes to be used by the manufacturers, Rolls Royce or Boscombe Down, to help meet the strict timescales set. None of these aircraft saw RAF squadron service.
It was during this time that a production order for sixty Harrier GR.1 Ground Attack/Reconnaissance aircraft was made, these were planned to form a RAF training Unit and an operational squadron both to be based at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, with a second squadron in housed in RAF Germany.
Harrier GR.1 /1A
The first true production GR.1 was XV738 and it first flow on the 28[SUP]th[/SUP] December 1967, later being used for development testing at Roll-Royce. Development trails were well underway and it was not long before the GR.1 received flight clearance to carry a full weapons load.
The Harrier even though designed as a subsonic aircraft could pack a punch in the ground attack role, the five hard points could carry a range of stores. Fitted with two hard points under each wing and one on the centreline under the fuselage, the typical external weapons load was approximately 5,000lbs in total weight and could include, two 1,000lb retarded bombs or four BL-755 cluster bombs, "Matra 155" 18 round unguided rocket pod for the SNEN 68mm rocket, which was the main weapon of the GR.1. Plus two 100 gallon drop tanks, these being carried on the inboard hard points as these were the only ones fitted with the plumbing.
And for the reconnaissance role, a camera pod containing five cameras, one facing forward and the other four formed as a “fan” to give horizon to horizon imagery coverage, could be fitted on the centreline hard point. This was in addition to the Port Facing Oblique (PFO) that was fitted in the noise of the aircraft. Another upgrade was the fitting of the Ferranti FE541 Nav/Attack system; this incorporated a Smiths Head-Up display and also a moving map display screen. The pace of production allowed the Harrier Conversion Team to be formed at the start of 1969 at RAF Wittering; this was mainly made up of RAF personnel who had worked along side Hawker Siddeley workers during the various development stages. On the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] April 1969 the Harrier Conversion Unit (HCU) was officially formed again at Wittering, only eighteen days later the first of its aircraft were delivered, this being XV746.
In July of that year the HCU started its first conversion course, because there was no Harrier simulator or two-seater Harriers available at the time, the RAF only selected the best of its experienced pilots to undertake the training.
The Harrier truly came to the public’s eye in May 1969; when it took part in the Daily Mail newspapers Transatlantic Air Race, the race being the fastest return crossing between the city centers of London and New York. There was always a strong rivalry between the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, using a Helicopter-Phantom-Helicopter combination, and the Royal Air Force. The RAF would use two Harriers, XV741 and XV744; both were fitted with 100 gallon drop tanks, a fixed in-flight refuelling probe and bolt on extra length wing tips.
The RAF understood that the Harrier would be slower that the Navy’s Phantoms and also would require a number of in-flight refuellings. But the Harrier could by using its vertical take-off start and complete the race in one go. So taking off from the closed coal yard in St Pancras railway station, it set a time of 5 hours and 31 minutes crossing to New York. This display underlined the operational capability of the aircraft and truly earning the name “Jump Jet”.
XV741 Getting ready for departure from St Pancras railway station, London.
XV741in mid air above St Pancras
The fitted of the bolt on wings tips did help to improve the cursing range of the aircraft, however; this would be one of the only times they would be used on the Harrier.
The fitting of the bolt on wings tips did help to improve the cursing range of the aircraft, however; this would be one of the only times they would be used on the Harrier.
In 1969,
No.1 Squadron RAF was declared as the first operational RAF Squadron flying the new Harrier GR.1, the first Vertical and Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL) jet aircraft squadron in the world and this can be seen in the squadron’s motto In omnibus princeps meaning “First in all things”. By February 1971 the HCU had competed six conversion courses for the Harrier, by this time a new unit had been formed at Wittering, No. 233 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU). The unit was formed from the personnel of the HCU, with an added number of new instructors. During this period the Harrier Force, as it was later to be know, was expanding, a number of No. 1 Squadron’s pilots were transferred to No. 4(AC) Squadron in June 1970 to start the work-up of the first operational Harrier squadron to be based in RAF Germany.
The first tow-seater Harrier, the T.2, arrived at Wittering in mid 1970, this gave the OCU the chance to expand the training of the aircrew from the basic aircraft handling to the use of weapons, attack profiles and the use of the cameras for the photographic reconnaissance role. The first two T2s prototypes undertaken their first flights in 1969, fitted with two seats in tandem requiring a stretching the fuselage by 117.5 cm. Unlike the GR.1 the canopy was hinged on the side and sliding. The instructor sat in the rear seat which had been raised by 45 cm giving excellent overall visibility. Due to the extended of the aircraft noise, the tail was extended to compensate and the rear fins, the dorsal and ventral were increased in size. Of note, the T.2 was fully operational and could be fitted with a complete weapons load.
As stated, the Harrier build up was continued with a speed and additional orders were place for a further eighteen GR.1s and twelve T.2s. The first deliveries of the T.2 went to the HCU/233 OCU, however; later each operational squadron would have its own for training and dual checks,
The added orders for the GR.1 gave raise to the formation of another three Harrier squadrons to be again based in RAF Germany. As 1970 came to a end, No.20 Squadron was formed at RAF Wildenrath, to be followed by No.3 (F) Squadron in 1972, again to be based at Wildenrath. So by the end of 1972 the Royal Air Force’s “Harrier Force” was at full strength, at RAF Wittering No.1 Squadron and the HCU/233 OCU and in RAF Germany No’s 3, 4 & 20 Squadrons. During the start of its operational carrier the RAF Germany Harrier force need to display their high skill flying this aircraft, because at this time they have very little experience in this form combat and the use of any aircraft changes all the rules of flight. There were a number of minor and some major accidents during the early 1970s; listed among the main causes was engine trouble and bird-strikes. However, during a major exercise in 1973 “Autumn Leaf” the three Germany squadrons operated close to 100% of its aircraft and his was despite the high number of daily sorties the squadrons were asked to undertake.
The first GR.1s had the Mk.101 (Pegasus 5) engine installed, advancement in the design of the engine at the factory brought if up to Mk.102 or Mk.103 standard, in the mid 1970s the GR.1 fleet had the Mk.102 installed and were renamed GR.1A and the T.2A for the two-seater trainer. New airframes fitted with the Mk.103 engines were renamed GR.3. The remaining GR.1s and GR.1As on major servicing received the MK.103 Pegasus upgrade and became GR.3s. Other upgrades to the GR.1 to GR.3 standard were the fitted of a bolted on in-flight refuelling boom (some fitted to GR.1As as well), change in the shape of the noise for the fitting of the Ferranti LRMTS, outer wing pylons to carry the Sidewinder AIM-9 missile and antennae for the Marconi ARI. 18223 Radar Warning Receiver fitted in the rear of the aircraft and tail fin.
USMC AV-8A / AV-8C
In the 1960s a number of US pilots undertook test flights in the Harrier and when back with good reports on the performance of the aircraft. In late 1968 the US Pentagon ordered 12 Harrier aircraft with the possibility of ordering a further 144 aircraft. Flown by the United States Marine Corps (USMC), they renamed the aircraft to the AV-8A. There were differences between their version and the one flown by the RAF, the AV-8A had fitted a large dorsal antenna with further modifications so American designed electronics and cockpit equipment could be fitted and also the provision for US weapons was fitted.
Also the Martin Baker Mk.9 ejection seat was replaced with the Stencel S.ll. The first USMC unit to be equipped with the AV-8A was VMA-513 which had been formed in April 1971. The training unit, VMAT-203, took charge of its first Harrier in 1975. The US had planned for its entire Harrier fleet to be built in the USA however, all 102 AV-8As and eight TAV-8As were produced by Hawker Siddeley, of these, 36 were lost in accidents.
From the very start the USMC understood that the Harrier need to be upgraded, stating that the AV-8A had limited combat capabilities. The American manufacturer McDonnell Douglas was selected to undertake the required modifications. These included major new electronic systems, the removal of the F.95 PFO camera in the noise and the installation of the F402-RR-402 engine which gave 21.500 lbs of thrust. A total of 47 AV-8As were converted to the newer variant, the two were very difficult to tell apart, the only give-away was the addition of formation keeping lights on AV-8Cs.
SPANISH / THAILAND AV-8S
The Spanish approached the US for a display of the Harrier, this was due to the fact that at this time, the UK had an arms embargo with the Spanish Government of General Franco so Spain ordered for six AV-8As and two TAV-8As was place with the US.
The aircraft equipped Escadrilla 008 of the Spanish Naval Aviation and were delivered in late 1976 as AV-8S’s. The aircraft operated from both land and aboard the aircraft carrier Dedalo. In 1980 they received a further five aircraft from the UK. The Spanish renamed their Harriers, changing it to the VA.1 and the VAE.1,also they dropped the Harrier title and called their version Matador. The aircraft stayed in service until the mid 1980s then they upgraded to the Harrier II (AV-8B) so the early Harriers were retired and placed into long term storage.
In the 1990s Thailand showed an interest in the Harriers the Spanish had placed into storage and so in 1992 a contract was signed for seven single-seater and twin-seater Matadors to be restored to flying condition and passed to the Royal Tai Navy RTN. The RTN dropped the name Matador reinstating the names AV-8A and TAV-8A. These aircraft served with No.1 squadron of the First Air Wing, when not deployed on their carrier, again purchased from the Spanish, the aircraft were based at U-Tapao. All RTN Harrier pilots were trained by the Unit States Navy from the beginning of 1995, once basic flying training had been competed they transferred to Spain to undertaken AV-8S flying training.
Footnote
In RAF service the Harrier had a very distinguished career in various variants, serving in the Falklands conflict of 1982 and operations in Afghanistan, in which they served for fiver years. However, all great stories must come to an end, and on the 15[SUP]th[/SUP] December 2010 saw the last flight of an UK Harrier, the fleet was drawn down and remaining aircraft were sold the US.
Was it right? I have strong views on the issue, however, I will leave that question unanswered. Maybe another topic subject.
Mick G
Last edited by a moderator:
