The Harrier Jump Jet, a highly innovative warplane that helped solve several operational problems for military planners, made its first flight on this day in history, August 31, 1966.
The fighter jet, developed in the UK, is known for its impressive vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities and its ability to hover like a helicopter.
“It can operate from motorways, main roads or even from woodland clearings, hidden under camouflage netting between missions,” writes the National Museum of Scotland of the warplane's appeal to military leaders.
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“As a result, the Harriers would be almost impossible to locate and destroy.”
A modern incarnation, the Boeing AV-8B Harrier II, is operated today by the United States Marine Corps.
A US Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II flying in the sky. (Getty Images)
“The AV-8B Harrier II is the U.S. military's only short takeoff, vertical landing jet aircraft in current inventory,” Military.com reports.
RAF Sea Harriers shot down 20 Argentine fighters and suffered no losses in the Falklands War.
“Like all aircraft in the Navy fleet, this aircraft is used for multiple missions,” the same source reports, “including attacking and destroying surface and air targets, escorting helicopters, participating in air-to-air defense, providing reconnaissance, and applying offensive and defensive support with its arsenal of missiles, bombs, and a 25-millimeter cannon on board.”
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The aircraft made its maiden voyage for Hawker Siddely Aviation, which became part of British Aerospace in 1977.
British Aerospace subsequently produced the aircraft with McDonnell Douglas, which later merged with Boeing in 1997.
A U.S. Marine Corps Harrier jump plane hangs in front of an audiovisual display inside the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, England. (Phil Noble – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
“A year after” the first flight, on August 31, 1966, “the RAF ordered 60 aircraft into production,” British defense contractor BAE Systems reports in its history of the aircraft.
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“The first RAF squadron to be equipped with the Hawker Harrier GR.1 was No. 1 Squadron RAF at Wittering, which when it received its aircraft in April 1969, marked the beginning of more than four decades of service with the RAF.”
Sea Harrier aircraft of 800 Naval Air Squadron landing at HMS Fearless L10 during the Falklands War in 1982. It was unable to land at the damaged Sheathbill airstrip; the pilot was Lieutenant Commander Neil Thomas. (Terence Laheney/Getty Images)
A carrier-based version, the Sea Harrier, made world headlines for the Royal Air Force during the Falklands War with Argentina in 1982.
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British warplanes shot down 20 Argentine fighters without suffering any losses, according to military reports.
Art Nalls, a retired Marine Corps test pilot, bought a 1979 British Sea Harrier in 2006 and shipped it to the United States, where he became the first known civilian to fly the warplane.
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“I've had the good fortune to fly about 75 different models of airplanes,” Nalls told NPR in a 2014 interview.
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“Most of them are very exciting. The F-18, the F-16,” he said.
“But my absolute favourite has been and always will be the Harrier.”
