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AV8 Harrier II
The AV-8B Harrier II, is a
second generation, vertical/short takeoff and landing
(V/STOL) light-attack jet aircraft utilized by the United
States Marine Corps, Royal Air Force, Spanish Armada and
Italian navy. The primary mission of the AV-8B is to
provide responsive close air support for the 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.
Three AV-8B squadrons stationed
approximately 40 miles 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 during Operation Desert Storm. The
average turnaround time during the ground war surge was
23 minutes. In the recent Iraq campaign, the Harrier II
saw extensive usage by both the USMC and RAF. USMC
Harriers were based on two USMC amphbious assualt 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 LHD's and
LHA's, that of a small aircraft carrier, or sea control
ship. RAF Harriers on the other hand were based ashore in
Kuwait. Two detatchments 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 a so far
undisclosed location. A total of 23 RAF Harriers took
part in the campaign at one point or another.
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.
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