USA - Navy McDonnell Douglas AV-8C Harrier II 159232

Photographer's remark
(2.11.2013, 22:19 CET)
Most combat aircraft require long runways or an aircraft carrier's powerful catapults to get airborne. Not this British-designed Harrier "Jump Jet". It uses vectored-thrust technology to take off and land vertically. Smaller jet nozzles in the nose, tail, and wing tips control the aircraft while hovering. The first Harrier GR Mark 1 (MKI) flew on December 28,1967 and first saw combat, serving with the British Royal Navy, during the Falklands War (1982). The U.S. Marine Corps. realized the Harrier's potential and purchased 110 Harrier MK I (United States designation AV-SA) from Britain in 1970-71. McDonell Douglas-designed Harriers were the first Marine Corps tactical strike aircraft to be utilized during Operation Desert Strom (1991), flying 3.342 sorties in over 4.300 flight hours. Aircraft on display is part of the Marine Corps' original order of Harrier MK Is. It was upgraded with more powerful engines and modern electronics and subsequently re-designed AV-8C. The Harrier is on loan from the National Museum of the Marine Corps. The British Aerospace AV-8C Harrier is dedicated to Captain Manuel Rivera, USMC, of the Bronx, NY, who was killed in action during Operation Desert Storm (1991)

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