Harrier Jump jet

Overview

The Harrier is a military jet aircraft designed by the British. It is informally coined as the Jump Jet. It can make vertical takeoff, vertical landing, short take off and short landing. There where a lot of harrier aircrafts designed back in the 1960s but the Harrier jump jet is by far the most successful one. The harrier was originaly created to operate in ad-hoc facilities like forest clearings and car parks. This way, it will not require big air bases anymore. With this, it will not be vulnerable to any tactical nuclear weapons. Later on, the Harrier evolved into aircraft carriers. These jet aircraft can perform operations that are truly amazing and unique.

Versions

There are four types of Harriers: the BAE Systems/ Boeing Harrier II, the Boeing/BAE Systems AV-8B Harrier II, the British Aerospace Sea Harrier and the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. The first generation version is the hawker Siddeley Harrier. This aircraft is more commonly known as the AV-8A Harrier. The Sea Harrier, on the other hand, is a naval air defense fighter and a strike defense fighter. While the AV-8B and the BAE Harrier II are the second generations of Harriers.

Background

The first Harrier which is the Hawker Aircraft was created to meet the NATO “Light Tactical Support Fighter” specification. This was a direct thrust engine that based on the Bristol Engine Company back in 1957. The funding for the creation of this jet aircraft was given by the Mutual Weapon Development Project of NATO. There were a lot of prototype jet aircraft that were created to provide for the specifications of NATO during that time. A lot of aircraft were tested so that the NATO can determine whether these planes passed the specifications they gave out. The Hawker got its design and feature from ideas coming from some of the prototype aircraft that were tested during those times. In 1965, the Hawker ultimately won the specifications competition set out by NATO.

Operations

If the Harrier Jump Jet has less than its maximum weight, it can take off vertically. This aircraft usually makes short take offs. This makes it save more fuel because with short take off it can gain speed followed by aerodynamics. This aircraft also performs landings quite differently. Conventional landings are possible with this aircraft though. With some forward speed, this aircraft usually does near vertical landings. These are some of the unique operations that the Harrier Jump Jet can do.

Replacement