An AV-8B Harrier (right) assigned to Marine Attack Squadron 214 prepares for takeoff as another lands aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island underway in the Pacific Ocean on Feb. 17, 2011. (John Lill/U.S. Navy)
The Marine Corps is poised to say goodbye to one of its hallmark historic aircraft, the AV-8B Harrier II, the British-designed “jump jet” that became a key weapon in battlefronts across four decades.
A flight of the jets, which can take off and land vertically using vectored thrust, will take to the air over North Carolina for a final official flight on Wednesday.
The “AV-8B Sundown Ceremony” ceremony will be held by Marine Attack Squadron 223, based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, in North Carolina. The main event will be held on the Cherry Point flight line at 10 a.m. ET.
The Marines say five of the jets will fly in formation and land in front of a crowd of service members, veterans and aviation fans. The squadron itself will deactivate in September, and the planes will be donated to aviation museums or put in storage.
British Harriers made their reputation during the 1982 Falklands War, flying for the British against Argentine forces that had occupied the British territory of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
The Marines procured the aircraft as the AV-8A Harrier. The design was extensively modified, and its engines were upgraded, in a joint effort by McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace. The Marines introduced the AV-8B Harrier II in 1985. Boeing took over the aircraft program when it acquired McDonnell Douglas in 1997.
The vertical takeoff and landing ability made the Harrier well-suited to operations from the rough runways and Marine amphibious assault ships from which Marines operated during Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq and other Middle East conflicts after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. While capable of air-to-air combat, the Harrier was frequently used in ground-attack roles, supporting infantry.
The Harrier is being replaced in Marine squadrons by the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II, a fifth-generation stealth fighter and ground-attack aircraft. The B variant also has vertical takeoff and landing capability.
