British Aerospace AV-8A Harrier
'Ace of Spades'
British Aerospace AV-8A Harrier
This aircraft displayed on the flight deck is part of the original Marine Corps order of Harrier I's and is on loan from the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Combat aircraft require long runways or an aircraft carrier’s powerful catapults to get airborne. Not this Harrier “Jump Jet.” It uses vectored-thrust technology to take off and land vertically. Smaller jet nozzles on the airframe control the aircraft while hovering.
Developed from the experimental Hawker P.1126 and 1127 of 1960, the first Harrier GR Mark 1 flew on December 28, 1967. Commissioned by Britain’s Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, the Harrier has a top speed of 661 mph (1065 kph) and first saw combat during the Falklands War (1982).
The U.S. Marine Corps realized the Harrier’s potential and made an initial purchase of 110 AV-8A Harrier I planes from Britain in 1970–71. Later McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harriers were the first Marine Corps tactical strike aircraft to be utilized during Operation Desert Storm (1991), flying 3,342 sorties in over 4,300 flight hours.
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