Harrier II

The Harrier II is a family of second generation vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) jet aircraft of the late 20th century. They were developed from the earlier Hawker-Siddeley Harriers, are primarily used for light attack or multi-role tasks, and are almost all operated from small aircraft carriers. Versions of it are used primarily by NATO countries, and also by India. This includes:

The Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm of the United Kingdom under a number of variants and versions starting in the late 1980s, including the GR.7, T.10, FRS.1, FA.2 and T.4 versions. (see RAF Harrier II, BAE Sea Harrier )
United States Marine Corps as the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B and TAV-8B starting in 1985.
The Spanish Naval air wing (Arma Aerea De La Armada) as the AV-8B+, AV8-B and a TAV-8S.
The Italian Navy air wing (Aviazione per la Marina Militare) as the AV-8B and TAV-8.
The Indian Navy as the FRS51 and T60.

The Harrier II is also notable in history as an example of U.S.-U.K cooperation and of Cold War defense achievements. Of note is the U.S aid funding early development under the Mutual Weapons Development Program (MWDP) and the salvaging of what was left of the AV-8A Advanced Harrier Program by McDonnell Douglas, making the second-generation family possible.

History

Introduction

The AV-8B had its direct origins in a Joint U.S.-British project (Hawker-Siddeley and McDonnell Douglas Aircraft) for a much-improved Harrier aircraft, to be the AV-16A Advanced Harrier program. However cost over-runs in engine development on the part of Rolls Royce and in the aircraft development caused the British to pull out of the program. Interest remained in the U.S. so a less ambitious, though still expensive project was undertaken by McDonnell on their own catered to U.S. needs. Using things learned from AV-16A development, though dropping some things such as further Pegasus development, the development work continued leading the AV-8B for the U.S. Marine Corps. The aircraft was centered on the Marine's needs, light ground attack and was focused on payload and range as opposed to speed. In the late 1970's the British re-entered development of their own second generation Harrier based on the U.S. design leading eventually to the GR.5, which had somewhat different performance goals.

Overview and Use

Manufacture

Aircraft were built by McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace (later BAE Systems) the latter at their Kingston & Dunsfold facilities in Surrey, in the UK. The factories were also home to the Hawker Hunter, & BAe Hawk T1.

The aircraft is known mainly as the AV-8B in USMC service and the GR7/GR9 in RAF service. The AV-8A (and also TAV-8A versions) , which was the previous generation of Harrier and should not be confused with the next generation, was a Hawker-Siddeley Harrier GR.3 procured for the US Marine Corps.

Variants

Harrier II variants can vary significantly depending on the exact model, even among a single country's aircraft.

YAV-8B The first two prototypes.
AV-8B Harrier II — Two versions were developed. The first was commonly known as the "Day Attack" variant. Later, a "Night Attack" variant was fielded (1991). The Night Attack Harrier incorporated a Navigation Forward Looking Infrared camera (NAVFLIR) and the cockpit was made compatible with night vision goggles (NVGs). It was also able to use the larger Rolls Royce engine. The II+ described below is very similar to the Night Attack variant, except it incorporates an APG-65 radar, the same as in early F/A-18 Hornets.
AV-8B II+ — AV-8B with radar (APG-65) allowing firing of radar guided air-to-air missiles.
AV-8C — An experimental version developed from the AV-8A model
TAV-8B Harrier II — A two-seat trainer version
EAV-8B — Spanish Navy version
Harrier GR5 — First RAF version of RAF Harrier II
Harrier GR7 — Avionics upgrade to GR5
Harrier GR7A — GR7 with more powerful engine
Harrier GR9 — Avionics upgrade to GR7
Harrier GR9A — Avionics upgrade and more powerful engine

Operating squadrons

Specifications (AV-8B)

Note: Data may differ for other versions.

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 46 ft 4 in (14.1 m)
Wingspan: 30 ft 4 in (9.2 m)
Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.5 m)
Wing area: 243.4 ft² (22.61 m²)
Empty: 12,500 lb (5,700 kg)

Maximum takeoff: 36,000 lb (16,329 kg)
Power plant: 1x Rolls-Royce F402-RR-408, 22,200/23,400 lbf thrust (without/with water injection)

Performance

Maximum speed: 629 mph (1000 km/h) 547 knots
Range: 685 miles (1,000 km)
Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
Rate of climb: 14,715 ft/min (4,485 m/min)

Armament

Detachable fuselage strakes can be replaced with pods for one GAU-12U "Equalizer" 25 mm cannon (left pod) and 300 rounds of ammunition (right pod) 7 pylons for a maximum of 13,200 lb (STOL) of stores, including: Iron bombs, cluster bombs, napalm canisters, laser-guided bombs, AGM-65 Maverick missiles, and up to four AIM-9 Sidewinder or similar-sized infrared-guided missiles. AV-8B+ variants can carry up to four AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles.

Films

The James Bond Movie The Living Daylights
The Arnold Schwarzenegger spy-action movie True Lies
The science fiction movie Battlefield Earth starring John Travolta.
Aerialbot Slingshot in The Transformers
Spy movie spoof Spy Hard starring Leslie Nielsen.
An alien ship was disguised as a Harrier II in a Japanese science fiction movie, The Returner.

External links

RTP-TV AeroSpace Show: Video of Harrier Hovering
Navy.mil - Standard Aircraft Characteristics: AV-8B Harrier II
UK MoD Release lauds No. 1 Squadron & No. 3 Squadron's role in Afghanistan with GR7As (August 10, 2005)
Defense Industry Daily: AV-8B Harrier finding Success in Iraq (March 30, 2005)
The Vertical Vision - a Pulitzer Prize winnning article in three parts on the accident prone Harrier published in 2002

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