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| AV-8 Harrier II | |||
|---|---|---|---|
April 7th 2003: an AV-8B Harrier takes off from on board the assault ship USS Nassau, to engage targets over Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. | |||
| Description | |||
| Role | Attack aircraft | ||
| Crew | 1 | ||
| First Flight | 9 November 1978 | ||
| Entered Service | 1984 | ||
| Manufacturer | BAE Systems or McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) | ||
| Dimensions | |||
| Length | 47 ft 9 in | 14.55 m | |
| Wingspan | 30 ft 4 in | 9.2 m | |
| Height | 11 ft 8 in | 3.6 m | |
| Wing Area | 243.4 ft² | 22.61 m² | |
| Weights | |||
| Empty | 13,968 lb | 6,336 kg | |
| Loaded | 22,950 lb | 10,410 kg | |
| Maximum Takeoff | 31,000 lb | 14,061 kg | |
| Powerplant | |||
| Engines | One Rolls Royce F402-RR-408 Pegasus | ||
| Thrust | 23,800 lbf | 105.87 kN | |
| Performance | |||
| Maximum Speed | 661 mph | 1,065 km/h | |
| Combat Radius | 685 miles | 1,001 km | |
| Ferry Range | 2,263 miles | 3,641 km | |
| Service Ceiling | 50,000 ft | 15,000 m | |
| Rate of Climb | 14,715 ft/min | 4,485 m/min | |
| Wing Loading | 94.3 lb/ft² | 460.4 kg/m² | |
| Thrust/Weight | 1.04 lbf/lb | 10.2 N/kg | |
| Avionics | |||
| Avionics | AN/APG-65 radar, ASB-19(V) angle-rate bombing system, laser spot tracker, TV tracker, CEC-Marconi FLIR, GPS | ||
| Armament | |||
| Guns | 1x 25 mm GAU-12 cannon with 300 rounds | ||
| Bombs | maximum of 13,235 lb (6,003 kg) on seven pylons, including up to 14 Mk 82 general purpose bombs or cluster bombs, or up to 10 Paveway 2 laser-guided bombs | ||
| Missiles | Maverick, BrimstoneThe Brimstone missile is an advanced Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) developed by MBDA. The missile, a joint development of Boeing's AGM-114 Hellfire is designed to meet the RAF's requirement for a long range anti-armour weapon, allowing strike aircraft t, Storm Shadow, SidewinderThe AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried by fighter aircraft. It is named after the Sidewinder snake, with which it professedly shares its movement pattern. The Sidewinder has a high-explosive fragmentation warhead a, ASRAAMThe AIM-132 Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile is a British air-to-air missile with infra-red guidance. History In the 1980s, NATO countries had an agreement that the USA would develop a medium-range air-to-air missile (the AIM-120 AMRAAM) to replace, AMRAAMThe AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range, Air-to-Air Missile or AMRAAM (pronounced am-ram), commonly known to air crews as the 'Slammer is a new generation air-to-air missile, developed as the result of an agreement between the United States and other NATO count (AV-8B+ variant only) | ||
| Rockets | CRV-7 or Matra rocket pods (maximum of ten pods) | ||
| Other | Joint Reconnaissance Pod | ||
The Harrier II is a second generation, vertical/short takeoff and landing ( V/STOLSTOL is an acronym for Short Take-Off and Landing used in the aircraft industry to describe airplanes with very low runway requirements. Famous STOL aircraft include the Fieseler Fi 156, de Havilland Beaver, Pilatus PC-6, Piper Cub, PZL Wilga, and Westlan) light-attack jet aircraft used by the United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps USMC is the second-smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. The United States Coast Guard is the smallest. The Marine Corps is nonetheless la, Royal Air Force, Spanish Armada and Italian navy .
The aircraft is known as the AV-8B Harrier II in USMC service and the GR7/GR9 in RAF service. The AV-8A was an unmodified Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 procured for the US Marine Corps. The AV-8B is an extensively redesigned aircraft with a new composite wing, new cockpit and avionics, and more powerful engine. The new wing enables higher take-off weights and more ordnance, although despite the more powerful engine the Harrier II is about 50 mph (80 km/h) slower than its predecessor.
The primary mission of the AV-8B in USMC service is to provide responsive close air support for ground forces. This single-piloted, advanced V/STOL aircraft can operate from short fields, forward sites, roads and surface ships providing minimum response time to targets. Recent AV-8B Plus (Night Attack Harrier II) have an expanded secondary air-to-air role.
Three AV-8B squadrons stationed about 40 miles (64 km) from the Kuwaiti border, were the most forward deployed tactical strike aircraft during Operation Desert Storm and operated from relatively unprepared sites. One AV-8B squadron and one six-aircraft detachment operated off the landing helicopter ship USS Nassau in the Persian Gulf. The average turnaround time during the ground war surge was 23 minutes. A total of 86 Marine Harriers flew 3,567 sorties against Iraqi targets in Kuwait and Iraq. Five Harriers were lost, four in combat. Following the war, Marine Corps analysis showed that the placement of the engine nozzles that allow for the Harrier's Vertical Take-Off/Landing made the aircraft far more vulnerable to infrared surface-to-air missile fire than other aircraft.
In the Iraq campaign of 2003, the Harrier II saw extensive usage by both the USMC and RAF. USMC Harriers were based on two USMC amphibious assault ships, USS Bataan (LHD-5) and USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6). Each carried 24 Harriers, about four times their normal complement of fixed wing aircraft, and tried out the long dormant secondary purpose of the LHDs and LHAs, that of a small aircraft carrier, or sea control ship. RAF Harriers were shore based in Kuwait. Two detachments from RAF Cottesmore were sent to the region, with one known to have been based at the al Jaber airbase in Kuwait, and the other at an undisclosed location. A total of 23 RAF Harriers took part in the campaign.
The current AV-8B Remanufacture Program converts older AV-8B day attack aircraft to the most recent production radar/night attack configuration. This radar-equipped version of the AV-8B, called the AV-8B+, became operational in the summer of 1994. The AV-8B+ uses the same APG-65 radar system as the F/A-18 Hornet and is able to carry AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, giving the aircraft a considerable increase in anti-aircraft capabilities. However, these missiles are most likely to be deployed as a means of self-defense or airbase defense instead of air superiority, because despite its agility, the Harrier is subsonic and therefore slower than most fighters. As mentioned before, the thrust-vectoring engine nozzles leave a large infrared signature for enemy missiles to lock on to, which puts the Harrier at a huge disadvantage in close-quarters dogfights.