#av8a harrier

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AV-8A

[skyfire85]

-A Hawker Siddeley AV-8A atached to VMA-231 “Ace of Spades”, wearing a rare white and green camo pattern. | Photo: PH1 Rober Bennett

Flightline: 69 - Hawker Siddeley Harrier I

After the cancellation of the P.1154, the RAF went back to the drawing board, and issued a new requirement for a subsonic V/STOL strike aircraft. Hawker Siddeley advanced an upgraded Kestrel, designated P.1127 (RAF), and awarded a contract for six preproduction Harrier GR.1 in 1965, with the first taking flight on 31 August 1966. The RAF ordered 60 production Harriers in early 1967, which officially entered service in 1969. During the same year, Hawker Siddeley formed a partnership with McDonnell Douglas to produce aircraft for the US, though, through that decision was later reversed and the USMC’s order of 102 AV-8A and 8 TAV-8A trainers were produced on Hawker Siddeley’s Kingston upon Thames and Dunsfold factories.

-RAF Harrier GR.1 (the best looking version, don’t @ me) fitted with SNEB rocket pods. | Photo: Mike Freer - Touchdown-aviation

The P.1127/Kestrel KGA.1 and Harrier GR.1/AV-8A are broadly similar in appearance, but the two designs share less than 10% commonality. The Harrier was powered by the more powerful Pegasus 6 engine, and new air intakes with auxiliary blow-in doors were added to produce the required airflow at low speed. Its wing was modified to increase area, and the landing gear was strengthened. Several hardpoints for weapons or drop-tanks were installed, two under each wing and one underneath the fuselage, and provisions for two 30 mm (1.2 in) ADEN cannon gun pods were added to the underside of the fuselage. The Harrier was outfitted with updated avionics to replace the basic systems used in the Kestrel: a navigational-attack system incorporating an inertial navigation system, originally for the P.1154, was installed and information was presented to the pilot by a head-up display and a moving map display. USMC Harriers were further differentiated in that they were built without magnesium components, which were subject to corrosion. They were also fitted with American radios and IFF avionics, and the outer wing pylons were wired to carry AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles for self-defense.

-A USMC AV-8A from VMA-513 (The Flying Nightmares) preparing to land at NAS Whiting Field in 1982. | Photo: USMC

Development of the Harrier continued, with the GR.3 variant being introduced in the early 1980s. Featuring an uprated Pegasus engine, chisel nose incorporating a laser tracker, upgraded avionics and ECM equipment, 62 were converted from earlier GR.1/.1As, while an additional 40 new aircraft were built. In the US, the AV-8As were upgraded to AV-8C specs, mainly involving strengthening the structure and replacing earlier models of the Pegasus engine. During air-combat trials against USMC Phantoms, the Harrier’s pilots developed the concept of “viffing”: rotating the nozzles forward during a turn, which allowed the AV-8s to engage faster targets at close range.

-An RAF GR.3 at Stanley Airport in 1984. | Photo: Petebutt

In the early 1970's the Royal Navy faced the cancellation of the CVA carriers, which would have replaced the Centaur- and Audacious-class full-deck carriers, and as a result began to seek a V/STOL replacement for its Sea Vixen and Phantom FG.1 fighters. The answer came as a result of RN Lt. Cdr. D.R. Taylor’s M.Phil. thesis which postulated that an angled ramp would allow a V/STOL aircraft like the Harrier to take off on smaller decks while still carrying a combat load. Initial testing with various ramp angles was carried out at RAE Bedford, using the two-seat Harrier demonstrator G-VTOL during 1976 and ‘77, and proved that the more the ramp was angled the more of a performance boost was added. As a result, the RN commissioned the new Invincible-class light carriers, which incorporated the newly-christened ski-jump deck. To fly from these ships, Hawker Siddeley developed the Sea Harrier FRS.1.

-A lineup of Sea Harriers (In this camo, the second best looking Harrier. Again, don’t @ me) in 1980. | Photo: Mike Freer - Touchdown-aviation

Based on the upgraded Harrier GR.3, the Sea Harrier was further modified with a raised bubble canopy for improved visibility and a longer nose to incorporate the Ferranti Blue Fox radar. As with the American AV-8A, different alloys were used to prevent corrosion.

FRS.1 and GR.3 Harriers were soon pressed into service during the Falklands Islands War. Sea Harriers operated from the aircraft carriers HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes, acting as the primary air defense, shooting down 20 Argentine aircraft. The RAF’s GR.3s, meanwhile, were operating from two commandeered merchant container ships, Atlantic Conveyor and Atlantic Causeway, which were modified with temporary flight decks. Ten more GR.3s operated from the Hermes.

-Newsweek coverage of the Falklands conflict, showing HMS Hermes carrying Harrier FRS.1. | Screenshot: Newsweek magazine, 19 April 1982.

Along with the US and UK, Spain operated a force of ten Harriers, based on the USMC’s AV-8A, known as the VA-1 Matador, and the Indian Navy ordered a force of 30 (25 fighters and five trainers) Sea Harrier FRS.51 to operate from INS Vikrant (ex-HMS Hercules) and NS Viraat (ex-HMS Hermes).

-An AV-8S (VA-1) Matador of the Spanish Navy. | Photo: PH2 James Bishop

-INS Vikrant circa 1984 carrying a unique complement of Sea Harriers, Sea Hawks, Allouette & Sea King helicopters and Alize ASW aircraft. | Photo: Admiral Arun Prakash (ret.)

The GR.1, GR.3, AV-8A, -8C and Sea Harrier FRS.1 were all retired in the 1980s, and the Spanish Navy sold their VA-1 Matadors to the Thai Royal Navy in 1998. The Thai Harriers were retired in 2008, while the Indian FRS.51 were replaced in 2016 by MiG-29K aircraft. 

But the story doesn’t end there....

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AV-8A Harrier

[skyfire85]

Unf. AV-8A in the original green, gray and white camo.

Marine Corps AV-8A Harrier of the squadron VMA-231 landing on the deck of an amphibious assault ship