The Harrier II incorporated many improvements over its predecessors. It has a completely new supercritical-section wing with the main box spar produced entirely of carbon fiber composite, a Pegasus engine with improved front nozzles, a raised cockpit to improve the pilot’s view, outrigger landing gears that have been moved further inboard to facilitate operations from narrow roads, and a totally new avionics package that includes both electronics countermeasures equipments and the Hughes Angle/Rate bombing system. The four wing pylons of the GR-3 have been replaced by eight for the RAF and six for the U.S. Marines. In all, the Harrier II is designed as a versatile aircraft that will continue to fill the gap for many years to come.

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In all the variants since the GR-1, the Harrier has proven itself a tribute to man’s ingenuity. Maybe it should have been named Hummingbird.

This article was written by Craig Roberts and originally published in the November 1990 issue of Aviation History.

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