The Harrier War

The Two main versions in use in the South Atlantic conflict were the Royal Navy's Sea Harrier FRS.1 and the Royal Air Forces' Harrier GR Mk3.

A naval version of the standard Harrier, equipped with a raised cockpit, which improves pilot view tremendously. The Cockpit included a larger Smith Industries Head-Up Display, itself linked to a flexible air and surface attack weapons-aiming computer and inclusion of a Ferranti self-aligning attitude-reference platform and a Ferranti Blue Fox radar. A Radar Warning Receiver was mounted on the tail and the four wing pylons were re-engineered with stronger ejector systems, giving the Sea Harrier the ability to carry all standard RAF and US Marine Corps stores including the Sidewinder, Harpoon and Martel missiles. The Pegasus engine was retained although the drive shaft was strengthened to allow a greater electrical load to be carried. When ordered, it was given three roles:

   1.Air Interception and fighter Combat Air Patrols.
   2.Reconnaissance role with sea-search capability.
   3.Strike and ground attack role against ships, fast patrol boats and shore targets.

With a radar and the ability to carry the sidewinder radar, and its unique ability to perform some outrageous manoeuvres in mid-air (Such as Viffing, vectoring the engine exhausts to punch out of a horizontal flight path) and the superbly trained, well-motivated pilots of the Fleet Air Arm, the Sea Harrier would go on to claim combat victories throughout the Falklands war. Losing none in air-to-air engagements. The aircraft achieved a serviceability of over 90 percent in the Falklands War. 28 Sea Harriers took part in the war, flying from H.M.S. Invincible and H.M.S. Hermes.

Developed from the Kestrel by Hawker Siddeley, the Harrier brought to the RAF the ability to operate from locations which did not have the absurdly obvious target of a massive concrete runway and hardened aircraft shelters. It could operate from sections of roads and highways, be hidden in hollowed buildings, forests and specially prepared hides. And when it operated through the Falklands, it proved to have the ability to operate from Carriers, although it did not have the Sea Harriers radar and was therefore relegated to strike duties and suffered from sea water corrosion unlike the Sea Harrier. 10 Harriers were operated in the Falklands war, most transported by container ships to the war zone and then transferred to the Royal Navy carriers. The Harriers' principal weapons in the Falklands were rocket pods and free fall bombs, which it used in support of the ground forces and in strikes against Argentine positions. They also operated from the land airstrips as they were captured or constructed by the ground forces.

The Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder

The Sea Harriers' premier air-to-air missile, and a combat-proven weapon. The Sidewinders provided the Sea Harrier with the ability to take on and destroy the faster enemy aircraft with missiles as well as their cannon.