greaser From Bahamas, joined Jan 2004, 1081 posts, RR: 4 Posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 5018 times:
When 15 Afghan insurgents attacked Camp Bastion/ Camp Leatherneck on 15 Sept. 2012, they destroyed SIX AV-8B Harriers on the ground, and damaged at least two more. In addition, A fuel storage tank and a helicopter maintenance tent were also damaged.
No word on serial no.s
Not good news obviously for a model no longer in production. I wonder what effect this will have on the Marines' commitment to the F-35 (ie. it's now a necessity).
petertenthije From Netherlands, joined Jul 2001, 3233 posts, RR: 13 Reply 2, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 4975 times:
Quoting mham001 (Reply 1): it is not clear these were US planes or British. It is a joint base with both operating the type.
The Brits retired theirs last year and sold them to the US. The US put them in storage for parts. I suppose it's fair to assume a few of them will now go into front line service after some updates are completed.
NASCARAirforce From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 3085 posts, RR: 5 Reply 3, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 4969 times:
The Americans refer to them as AV-8A and AV-8C, Spanish have the AV-8S Matador. The British ones are known as the GR1 and GR3, and the FA2 Sea Harrier.
neutrino From Singapore, joined May 2012, 358 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 4924 times:
Quoting NASCARAirforce (Reply 3): The Americans refer to them as AV-8A and AV-8C, Spanish have the AV-8S Matador. The British ones are known as the GR1 and GR3, and the FA2 Sea Harrier.
Huh?
The AV-8B Harrier IIs are second generation American operational jumpjets produced by MDD. They are also the more numerous of the total AV-8s operated by the USMC.
The AV-8As are the British produced first generation Harriers for USMC and the AV-8Cs are life-extension upgrades of a little under half of the 100 plus AV-8A fleet.
dlednicer From United States of America, joined May 2005, 506 posts, RR: 6 Reply 6, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 4920 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW DATABASE EDITOR
Quoting NASCARAirforce (Reply 3): The Americans refer to them as AV-8A and AV-8C, Spanish have the AV-8S Matador. The British ones are known as the GR1 and GR3, and the FA2 Sea Harrier.
You're a little out of date. The first-generation Harriers, the Hawker Siddeley P-1127 Kestrel and Harrier were operated by the RAF (as the P.1127 and Kestrel FGA1) and USAF (yes, USAF, as the XV-6A Kestrel). There was also a Tri-partite Evaluation Squadron, consisting of pilots from the UK, US and West Germany, that operated P.1127s.
The AV-8A, AV-8C, GR1 and GR3 are all second-generation Harriers. The FA2 was an updated version of the FRS1, which was second-generation. The Indian Navy also operates the FRS51 and the Thai Navy operates or operated ex-Spanish AV-8S.
connies4ever From Canada, joined Feb 2006, 3857 posts, RR: 13 Reply 7, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 4876 times:
Quoting NASCARAirforce (Reply 3): The Americans refer to them as AV-8A and AV-8C, Spanish have the AV-8S Matador. The British ones are known as the GR1 and GR3, and the FA2 Sea Harrier.
As has been pointed out,, UK sold their Harriers to the USMC last year as a source of parts to keep the AV-8Bs viable a while longer since the F-35B seems to be having a protracted gestation. The Harriers sold were GR7/GR9 models, not GR1/GR3, which were withdrawn from use some time ago.
The FA2 Sea Harrier was withdrawn from RN service a couple of years ago. I believe the issue was corrosion both for the airframe and the engine which would have required a really substantial effort to rectify. The aircraft is actually rather different than the one operated by the RAF and was basically a fleet defense interceptor (short range) and wouldn't have been of interest to the USMC in any event as it lacks any real ground attack capability.
NASCARAirforce From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 3085 posts, RR: 5 Reply 8, posted (8 months 1 week 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 4115 times:
Quoting connies4ever (Reply 7): The FA2 Sea Harrier was withdrawn from RN service a couple of years ago. I believe the issue was corrosion both for the airframe and the engine which would have required a really substantial effort to rectify. The aircraft is actually rather different than the one operated by the RAF and was basically a fleet defense interceptor (short range) and wouldn't have been of interest to the USMC in any event as it lacks any real ground attack capability.
Some guy has a privately owned one that he flies in the airshow circuit in the US
Sponsor Message: 
From Bahamas, joined Jan 2004, 1081 posts, 
From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 3001 posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Jul 2001, 3233 posts, 
From Singapore, joined May 2012, 358 posts, 
From Canada, joined Feb 2006, 3857 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2004, 6363 posts, 
Sponsor Message: 
Printer friendly format
