Farewell to the Harrier :(

[Pat Pattle]

Very sad news for the UK..

http://www.key.aero/view_news.asp?ID=4414&thisSection=military

One of my all time favourite aircraft. Talk about selling off the family jewells.
At least you Yanks appreciate what is probably one of the finest aircraft of all time.

(no offence on the 'yank' bit btw)

[popsaka]

...couldn't agree more. THE jump jet, The Harrier would seem to me to be irreplaceable. ----:kilroy:----

-as to replacing the F/A-18, That makes no sense...

[Bravo/4]

Yes, doesn't make any sense to me, personally, I thought there was still a lot of life in that old dog? The U.S.M.C seem to think so?

[garykidman]

IT WAS SAD TO HEAR THE DEMISE AND FAREWELL TO SUCH A UNIQUE AND WONDERFUL AIRCRAT THE HARRIER I HAD SEEN ONE AT FLEET AIR ARM AT YEOVIL LITERALLY ON A VERTICAL IT WAS AN AMAZING SIGHT.
IF ONLY WE HAD ONE FOR CFS3 IT WOULD CERTAINLY KEEP FOR ALWAYS IN A COLECTION EVEN THOUGH THE REAL THING MAY DISSAPEAR I WOULD CERTAINLY LOVE TO MODEL ONE BUT I UNFORTUNATELY DO NOT HAVE THE EXPERTISE SO HW ABOUT A MODELLER OUT THERE HAVING A GO ESPECIALLY WITH THE SIDEWINDER WEAPONS

[HouseHobbit]

I really don't understand what is happening in the UK with all of the down sizing of the military.
No carriers now and no Harriers too..
Maybe the US can send you all some spitball guns to fight with..


I am Grateful the USMC has decided to buy these birds..
Would hate to see them all scraped..

[KellyB]

Beware! If our SuperCommittee(?) doesn't come up with some sort of plan by Nov. 23rd, and the default cuts to the DoD go through, we may have to sell off those Harriers ourselves, and perhaps more!

In the end, it well be the Duchy of Grand Fenwick which rules the world :a1451:

[BeauBrummie]

IT WAS SAD TO HEAR THE DEMISE AND FAREWELL TO SUCH A UNIQUE AND WONDERFUL AIRCRAT THE HARRIER I HAD SEEN ONE AT FLEET AIR ARM AT YEOVIL LITERALLY ON A VERTICAL IT WAS AN AMAZING SIGHT.

When I went to to the last airshow (2006) at Elvington I wondered why all the stalls were selling ear defenders. When the Harrier arrived at the end of the show I found out when it stood on its jets!

[swpierce]

...couldn't agree more. THE jump jet, The Harrier would seem to me to be irreplaceable. ----:kilroy:----

-as to replacing the F/A-18, That makes no sense...

The Navy is building a new class of assault carriers (LHA-6 America) that requires VSTOL capable aircraft. The intention was to replace many of the F-18s with the new F-35B VSTOL version for the Marines but with the looming possibility of that program being limited or cancelled I'll wager that they are hedging their bets with the Harrier purchase.

[BeauBrummie]

This sounds rather familiar. Barely saving the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier, the government are dithering about purchasing the v/stol F35 due to their cost.

[popsaka]

...thanks SWP, that's one I never would've guessed.:salute: ....Now -is the F35 super sonic and is it that much more amazing than the Harrier??

[swpierce]

It's fast, it's stealthy, and it's loaded with all the bells and whistles. But they have been having quite a bit of technical problems and it seems like they are going to end up costing something like $300 million each. It was my experience (Navy) that the newest, most complex aircraft had the lowest rate of operational availability whereas the older, simpler aircraft were more easily maintained by personnel who had years of experience with that model. I remember instances of 20% vs 100%. Even when an aircraft was flying it was rare when all of the on-board weapons systems were working. Is a squadron of F-35s more capable than a squadron of AV-8s? Maybe. But it's going to cost $2-3 billion to equip it, and the Marines KNOW how to maintain and operate the Harriers right now.