91-699: The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing / vertical take-off and landing jet fighter , reconnaissance and attack aircraft . It is the second member of the Harrier family developed. It first entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980 as the Sea Harrier FRS1 and became informally known as the " Shar ". Unusual in an era in which most naval and land-based air superiority fighters were large and supersonic ,
182-515: A maritime patrol aircraft ; fast jets carried onboard would be able to shoot these down. No mention was made of the other capabilities that these aircraft would have. The Royal Air Force 's Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR1s had entered service in April 1969. A navalized variant of the Harrier was developed by Hawker Siddeley to serve on the upcoming ships; this became the Sea Harrier. In 1975,
273-557: A public limited company (plc), under the name "British Aerospace Public Limited Company", on 2 January 1981. BAe was privatised in two main phases, the first in February 1981, involving 51.6% shares of the company, during which the public sale was 3.5 times subscribed and at the end of the first day's trading, share prices were 14% above the original offer price. The second phase occurred in May 1985, in which 48.4% shares were sold; this sale
364-473: A vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) carrier-based interceptor to replace the de Havilland Sea Vixen . The first V/STOL tests on a ship began with a Hawker Siddeley P.1127 landing on HMS Ark Royal in 1963. A second concept for the future of naval aviation emerged in the early 1970s when the first of a new class of "through deck cruisers" was planned. These were very carefully and politically designated as cruisers, deliberately avoiding
455-563: A 20% share in the venture, the move effectively reversed a decision made ten years prior in which the UK government had withdrawn its support for the Airbus consortium. Airbus' first aircraft, the A300 , had been received with little initial demand, but orders for the airliner had picked up in the late 1970s. By 1979, the consortium had 256 orders for A300, and Airbus had launched its second airliner,
546-427: A Sea Harrier was modified with an ' Autoland ' system to allow the fighter to perform a safe vertical landing without any pilot interaction. Despite the pitching of a ship posing a natural problem, the system was designed to be aware of such data, and successfully performed a landing at sea in May 2005. The first three Sea Harriers were a development batch and were used for clearance trials. The first production aircraft
637-598: A contract was signed for 29 upgraded aircraft in December that year. In 1990, the Navy ordered 18 new-build FA2s at a unit cost of around £12 million, four further upgraded aircraft were ordered in 1994. The first aircraft was delivered on 2 April 1993. The Sea Harrier is a subsonic aircraft designed for strike , reconnaissance and fighter roles. It features a single Rolls-Royce Pegasus turbofan engine with two intakes and four vectorable nozzles. It has two landing gear on
728-410: A conventional centre stick arrangement and left-hand throttle. In addition to normal flight controls, the Harrier has a lever for controlling the direction of the four vectorable nozzles. The nozzles point rearward with the lever in the forward position for horizontal flight. With the lever back, the nozzles point downward for vertical takeoff or landing. The utility of the vertical landing capability of
819-465: A further decade until its retirement in 2016. In the post-World War II era, the Royal Navy began contracting in size. By 1960, the last battleship , HMS Vanguard , was retired from the Navy, having been in service for less than fifteen years. In 1966 the planned CVA-01 class of large aircraft carriers was cancelled. During this time, requirements within the Royal Navy began to form for
910-528: A major review. Losses in our commercial aerospace division increased dramatically with the recession in the airline industry." In mid-1992, BAe wrote off £1 billion of assets, largely as part of redundancies and restructuring of its regional aircraft division. This was the largest asset write-off in UK corporate history. General Electric Company (GEC), later to sell its defence interests to BAe, came close to acquiring BAe at this time. BAe cut 47% of its workforce (60,000 out of 127,000), 40,000 of which were from
1001-575: A merger had been reportedly agreed between British Aerospace Chairman Richard Evans and DASA CEO Jürgen Schrempp in December 1998. However, when the British General Electric Company (GEC) put its defence electronics business Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) up for sale on 22 December 1998, BAe's management opted to abandon the DASA merger in favour of purchasing its British rival. During 2004, Evans stated that his fear
SECTION 10
#17327808335921092-488: A naval systems joint venture, BAeSEMA , with the Sema Group . BAe acquired Sema's 50% share in 1998. That year also saw BAe begin to experience major difficulties. BAe saw its share price fall below 100p for the first time. On 9 September 1991, the company issued a profits warning and later that week "bungled" the launch of a £432 million rights issue . On 25 September 1991 BAe directors led by CEO Richard Evans ousted
1183-590: A normal airport runway. The Sea Harrier was largely based on the Harrier GR3, but was modified to have a raised cockpit with a " bubble " canopy for greater visibility and an extended forward fuselage to accommodate the Ferranti Blue Fox radar. Parts were changed to use corrosion resistant alloys , or coatings were added, to protect against the marine environment. After the Falklands War ,
1274-503: A quiet and economic turbofan -powered compact airliner that could replace the previous generation of turboprop -powered feeder aircraft. In 1982, the first completed aircraft made its first flight. Upon its launch into service the following year, it was hailed as being "the world's quietest jetliner". In 1993, an upgraded model of the BAe 146, referred to as the Avro RJ series, superseded
1365-527: A second operational squadron 801 Naval Air Squadron was formed to operate from HMS Invincible . Sea Harriers took part in the Falklands War ( Spanish : Guerra de las Malvinas ) of 1982, flying from HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes . The Sea Harriers performed the primary air defence role with a secondary role of ground attack; the RAF Harrier GR3 provided the main ground attack force. A total of 28 Sea Harriers and 14 Harrier GR3s were deployed in
1456-735: A separate dedicated lift engine alongside the main engine, and the Gas-Driven Lift Fan (GDLF) by McDonnell Douglas that used the main engine bleed air to power a lift fan; all methods had an aft vectoring nozzle for the main engine. ASTOVL would continue under the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter (CALF) program, which eventually became part of the Joint Strike Fighter program ; the Lockheed Martin X-35B with
1547-499: A small number of V/STOL jets. The naval staff were able to build an effective political argument for acquiring V/STOL aircraft on the grounds that anti-submarine groups operating in the NATO Atlantic area, the intended main role of the through-deck cruisers, would be vulnerable to attack by Soviet anti-ship missiles . These could be launched at a considerable distance by a submarine or surface ship but needed to be guided in by
1638-450: A total of 173 Avro RJ aircraft was delivered between 1993 and 2003. BAe developed several advanced models of the Harrier family. In 1978, the Royal Navy received the first BAe Sea Harrier of an initial order for 24. The Sea Harrier was declared operational three years later, being initially embarked on both the first Invincible class aircraft carrier HMS Invincible , and the older HMS Hermes . Following their decisive role in
1729-526: Is a fixed-wing aircraft that is able to take off from a short runway (or take off vertically if it does not have a heavy payload) and land vertically (i.e. with no runway). The formal NATO definition (since 1991) is: A Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of clearing a 15 m (50 ft) obstacle within 450 m (1,500 ft) of commencing take-off run, and capable of landing vertically. On aircraft carriers , non-catapult-assisted fixed-wing short takeoffs are accomplished with
1820-561: Is list of those not used by the military for training. Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1999-00, Wilson, Bull, Donald Spick General characteristics Performance Armament Avionics The Harrier's unique characteristics have led to it being featured a number of films and video games. Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists STOVL A short take-off and vertical landing aircraft ( STOVL aircraft )
1911-592: Is now known that British units based in Chile did provide early radar warning to the Task Force. Nonetheless, the lack of AEW&C cover resulted in air superiority as opposed to air supremacy ; the Sea Harriers could not prevent Argentine attacks during day or night nor could they completely stop the daily C-130 Hercules transports' night flights to the islands. The Sea Harrier saw action in war again when it
SECTION 20
#17327808335922002-670: Is used on the F-35B which entered service on 31 July 2015. Larger STOVL designs were considered, the Armstrong Whitworth AW.681 cargo aircraft was under development when cancelled in 1965. The Dornier Do 31 got as far as three experimental aircraft before cancellation in 1970. Although mostly a VTOL design, the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey has increased payload when taking off from a short runway. British Aerospace British Aerospace plc ( BAe )
2093-477: The A310 , less than 12 months prior to BAe formally joining the consortium. As time went on, it was becoming clear that Airbus was no longer a temporary collaboration to produce a single design as per its original mission statement; it had become a long-term brand for the development of further aircraft. By the late 1980s, work had begun on a pair of new wide-body airliners, the biggest to be produced at this point under
2184-680: The AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, the first UK aircraft with this capability. An upgraded model of the Pegasus engine, the Pegasus Mk 106 , was used in the Sea Harrier FA2. In response to the threat of radar-based anti-aircraft weapons electronic countermeasures were added. Other improvements included an increased air-to-air weapons load, look-down radar, increased range, and improved cockpit displays. The Sea Harrier's cockpit includes
2275-514: The Al-Yamamah arms deal with BAe as prime contractor. The contracts, extended in the 1990s and never fully detailed, involved the supply of Panavia Tornado strike and air defence aircraft, BAe Hawk trainer jets, Rapier missile systems, infrastructure works and naval vessels. The Al Yamamah deals are valued at anything up to £20 billion and still continue to provide a large percentage of BAE Systems' profits. BAe acquired Royal Ordnance ,
2366-621: The Allison YT40 turboprop engine driving contra-rotating propellers . The British Hawker P.1127 took off vertically in 1960, and demonstrated conventional take-off in 1961. It was developed into the Hawker Siddeley Harrier which flew in 1967. In 1962, Lockheed built the XV-4 Hummingbird for the U.S. Army . It sought to "augment" available thrust by injecting the engine exhaust into an ejector pump in
2457-622: The British Aerospace EAP , ended up being primarily developed by BAe as a private venture; it formed the basis for the multinational Eurofighter Typhoon . In 1986, in conjunction Alenia Aeronautica , CASA and DASA , BAe formed Eurofighter GmbH for the development and production of the Eurofighter. The multinational organisation's head office was established in Hallbergmoos , Bavaria, Germany. The maiden flight of
2548-711: The Handley Page Jetstream . BAe placed the Jetstream 31 into production after the first flight of the prototype in March 1980. At the same time, production of Hawker Siddeley's HS 125 business jet, Harrier VTOL jet fighter and HS 748 turboprop airliner continued under BAe, as did that of the Trident jet airliner for a short time. Similarly, low-rate production of the BAC One-Eleven jet airliner,
2639-736: The Hawker Siddeley Harrier and the BAe Sea Harrier . Although technically a V/STOL aircraft, they are operationally STOVL aircraft due to the extra weight carried at take-off for fuel and armaments. The same is true of the B variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II , which demonstrated VTOL capability in test flights but is operationally a STOVL. In 1951, the Lockheed XFV and the Convair XFY Pogo tailsitters were both designed around
2730-603: The Lockheed Martin X-35 Joint Strike Fighter team. The following year, BAe acquired the UK operations of Siemens Plessey Systems (SPS) from Siemens , while DASA purchased SPS' German assets. In the 1990s, BAe was the largest exporter based in the United Kingdom; a Competition Commission report released in 2005 calculated a ten-year aggregate figure of £45 billion, with defence sales accounting for approximately 80%. In
2821-662: The MiG-29K/KUB fighters. Aircraft of both types performed an air display at the ceremony, marking the final flight of the Sea Harriers after 33 years of service in the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy operates MiG-29K/KUB STOBAR fighters from Vikramaditya . Several surviving Sea Harriers are held by museums and private owners, and some others are at the Royal Navy School of Flight Deck Operations at RNAS Culdrose and other military bases for training. The following
British Aerospace Sea Harrier - Misplaced Pages Continue
2912-558: The Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) consortium. UKAMS would become a wholly owned subsidiary of BAe Dynamics in 1998. In 1995, Saab Military Aircraft and BAe signed an agreement for the joint development and marketing of the export version of the JAS 39 Gripen . In 1996, BAe and Matra Defense agreed to merge their missile businesses into a joint venture called Matra BAe Dynamics . In 1997, BAe joined
3003-427: The Royal Navy ordered 24 Sea Harrier FRS.1 (standing for 'Fighter, Reconnaissance, Strike') aircraft, the first of which entered service in 1978. During this time, Hawker Siddeley became part of British Aerospace through nationalisation in 1977. By the time the prototype Sea Harrier was flown at Dunsfold on 20 August 1978, the order had been increased to 34. The Sea Harrier was declared operational in 1981 on board
3094-651: The Sea Eagle anti-ship missile, and the Matra Magic air-to-air missile. Other ordnance has included 68 mm rockets, runway-denial bombs, cluster bombs, and podded 30 mm cannons. There have been a significant number of accidents involving the Sea Harrier; this accident rate has caused approximately half the fleet to be lost with only 11 fighters remaining in service. Following a crash in August 2009, all Sea Harriers were temporarily grounded for inspection. Since
3185-543: The Strikemaster two-seat military jet trainer/attack aircraft, and the iconic Concorde supersonic airliner also continued. On 29 July 1976, less than a year prior to BAe's formation, the contract for production of the first batch of the Panavia Tornado , an advanced nuclear-capable fighter bomber, was signed. It was developed and produced via a multinational company, Panavia Aircraft GmbH , of which BAe
3276-574: The nationalisation and merger of the British Aircraft Corporation , Hawker Siddeley Aviation , Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation . On 29 April 1977, the new entity was formed in the United Kingdom as a statutory corporation. Under the provisions of the British Aerospace Act 1980 (c. 26), on 1 January the statutory corporation was transferred to a limited company, which then re-registered as
3367-586: The 1982 Falklands War , several of the lessons learnt from the conflict shaped a new upgrade programme for the fleet authorised in 1984, resulting in the Sea Harrier FRS.2 (later known as FA2 ). The first flight of the prototype took place in September 1988 and a contract was signed for 29 upgraded aircraft in December of that year. The Sea Harrier FA2 was fitted with the Blue Vixen radar, which
3458-651: The Airbus name; these would be launched in the 1990s as the Airbus A330 and the Airbus A340 . During the 1983 Paris Air Show , the launch of the Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP) to develop and fly an advanced fighter technology demonstrator was announced; at this point, the effort was intended to be a partnership between Britain and several of its European neighbours, including West Germany and Italy. The resulting aircraft,
3549-608: The Army of Republika Srpska while attempting to bomb two Bosnian Serb tanks. The pilot, Lieutenant Nick Richardson, ejected and landed in territory controlled by friendly Bosnian Muslims. It was used again in the 1999 NATO campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Operation Allied Force , where Sea Harriers operating from Invincible frequently patrolled the airspace to keep Yugoslavian MiGs on
3640-528: The British armaments manufacturer, for £190 million on 22 April 1987. The German armaments specialist Heckler & Koch was folded into this division after BAe acquired it four years later. In 1988, BAe purchased the Rover Group from the British government of Margaret Thatcher for £150 million. The sale was controversial due to opaque financial arrangements between the government and BAe; however
3731-573: The Chairman Professor Sir Roland Smith in a move described by The Independent as "one of the most spectacular and brutal boardroom coups witnessed in many years." Evans described the troubles as a confluence of events: "our property company [Arlington Securities] was hit with a lousy market. Sales of the Rover Group sank by about a fifth and losses mounted. The government's defence spending volumes underwent
British Aerospace Sea Harrier - Misplaced Pages Continue
3822-562: The Eurofighter prototype took place in Bavaria on 27 March 1994, flown by DASA chief test pilot Peter Weger. On 30 January 1998, the first production contract for the Eurofighter was signed between Eurofighter GmbH, engine manufacturer Eurojet and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency , the organisation set up to manage the procurement of the aircraft. On 26 September 1985, the UK and Saudi Arabian governments signed
3913-577: The Falklands as it was only used in emergencies against enemies unfamiliar with the aircraft. The British pilots noticed Argentinian pilots occasionally releasing weapons outside of their operating parameters. This is now thought to have been Mirages ( IAI Neshers ) releasing external fuel tanks to improve their maneuverability for air combat. British aircraft received fighter control from warships in San Carlos Water , although its effectiveness
4004-571: The Harrier GR7 upgrade and would have likely been an expensive and slow process. Furthermore, the Sea Harriers were subject to a generally more hostile environment than land-based Harriers, with corrosive salt spray a particular problem. A number of aircraft were retained by the School of Flight Deck Operations at RNAS Culdrose . The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm would continue to share the other component of Joint Force Harrier . Harrier GR7 and
4095-600: The Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.K. Royal Navy. Several propulsion methods were explored under ASTOVL and assigned to different contractors for research and development. These include the Shaft-Driven Lift Fan (SDLF) by Lockheed which had a forward lift fan powered by a shaft connected to the main engine's low-pressure spool and engaged by a clutch, the Lift-Plus-Lift/Cruise (LPLC) by Northrop (later Northrop Grumman ) which had
4186-603: The House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee was said to believe that "in spite of a catalogue of complaints, the committee concludes that the sale to BAe may well have been the best solution for the government." In 1991, BAe acquired a 30% interest in Hutchison Telecommunications through a stock swap deal, where Hutchison was given a controlling stake of 65% in BAe's wholly owned subsidiary Microtel Communications Ltd . In August 1991, BAe formed
4277-714: The RAF, which was known as the BAe Harrier II , featured many differences, including avionics fit, armaments and equipment; the wing of the GR5 featured a stainless steel leading edge, giving it different flex characteristics from the AV-8B. In December 1989, the first RAF squadron to be equipped with the Harrier II was declared operational. In 1979, BAe officially joined the multinational aircraft manufacturer Airbus and acquired
4368-667: The SDLF was eventually selected for full-scale development in 2001, with the production aircraft for operational service becoming the F-35B with the F135-PW-600 engine. NASA uses the abbreviation SSTOVL for Supersonic Short Take-Off / Vertical Landing, and as of 2012, the X-35B/F-35B are the only aircraft to conform with this combination within one flight. The experimental Mach 1.7 Yakovlev Yak-141 did not find an operational customer, but similar rotating rear nozzle technology
4459-423: The Sea Harrier allowed for the retirement of India's previous carrier fighter aircraft, the Hawker Sea Hawk , as well as for the Navy's aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant , to be extensively modernised between 1987 and 1989. India has operated Sea Harriers from both the aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Viraat . The Sea Harrier allowed several modern missiles to be introduced into naval operations, such as
4550-455: The Sea Harrier was demonstrated in an incident on 6 June 1983, when Sub Lieutenant Ian Watson lost contact with the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and had to land Sea Harrier ZA176 on the foredeck of the Spanish cargo ship Alraigo . In 1998, the UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency test-fitted an FA2 with AVPRO UK Ltd's Exint pods , small underwing compartments intended to be used for deployment of special forces. In 2005,
4641-462: The Sea Harrier was fitted with the Sea Eagle anti-ship missile. The Blue Fox radar was seen by some critics as having comparatively low performance for what was available at the time of procurement. The Sea Harrier FA2 was fitted with the Blue Vixen radar, which was described as one of the most advanced pulse doppler radar systems in the world. The Blue Vixen formed the basis of the Eurofighter Typhoon 's CAPTOR radar . The Sea Harrier FA2 carried
SECTION 50
#17327808335924732-469: The Tornado ended in 1998, the final batch being delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force , that had ordered a total of 96 IDS Tornados. Aviation author Jon Lake noted that "The Trinational Panavia Consortium produced just short of 1,000 Tornados, making it one of the most successful postwar bomber programs". In 1978, BAe relaunched the BAe 146 , a short-haul regional airliner that had been previously worked on by Hawker Siddeley. The company marketed it as
4823-411: The aircraft to Argentina and Australia were unsuccessful. A second, updated version for the Royal Navy was made in 1993 as the Sea Harrier FA2 , improving its air-to-air abilities and weapons compatibilities, along with a more powerful engine; this version was manufactured until 1998. The aircraft was withdrawn from service early by the Royal Navy in 2006, but remained in service with the Indian Navy for
4914-430: The available Argentinian aircraft and were, on occasion, deterred by the activities of the Escuadrón Fénix or civilian jet aircraft used by the Argentine Air Force. They had to operate without a fleet airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system that would have been available to a full NATO fleet in which the Royal Navy had expected to operate, which was a significant weakness in the operational environment. It
5005-562: The beginning of operational service in the Indian Navy, seven pilots have died in 17 crashes involving the Sea Harrier, usually during routine sorties. In 2006, the Indian Navy expressed interest in acquiring up to eight of the Royal Navy's recently retired Sea Harrier FA2s in order to maintain their operational Sea Harrier fleet. Neither the Sea Harrier FA2's Blue Vixen radar, the radar warning receiver or AMRAAM capability would have been included; certain US software would also be uninstalled prior to shipment. By October 2006, reports emerged that
5096-508: The construction of MI5 's Thames House and MI6 's Vauxhall Cross headquarters has been released, but the Al Yamamah report is still deemed too sensitive. The 2007 documentary film Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines contained evidence that vital data was withheld from a 1999–2000 Australian Senate Inquiry into the health and flight safety issues relating to oil fumes on the British Aerospace 146 . The film also contains an Australian Senator's speech about money being paid by BAe for silence on
5187-436: The deactivated Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov in 2004. After refurbishment and trials, the ship was formally inducted into the Indian Navy as INS Vikramaditya in June 2014. Sea Harriers operated from INS Viraat for the last time on 6 March 2016. On 11 May 2016, a ceremony was held at INS Hansa, Dabolim, Goa to commemorate the phasing out of Sea Harriers from INAS 300 "White Tigers" and their replacement by
5278-399: The deal had not materialised due to the cost of airframe refurbishment. In 2006, the Indian Navy started upgrading up to 15 Sea Harriers, installing the Elta EL/M-2032 radar and the Rafael 'Derby' medium-range air-to-air BVR missile. This enabled the Sea Harrier to remain in Indian service beyond 2012. By 2009, crashes had reduced India's fleet to 12 (from original 30). India purchased
5369-400: The failure of the Argentinian fighters to shoot down a Sea Harrier. Although the Mirage III and Dagger jets were faster, the Sea Harrier was considerably more manoeuvrable. Moreover, the Harrier employed the latest AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles and the Blue Fox radar . Contrary to contemporary reports that " viffing " proved decisive in dogfights , the maneuver was not used by RN pilots in
5460-583: The fall of the Soviet Union . Rockwell International built, and then abandoned, the Rockwell XFV-12 supersonic fighter which had an unusual wing which opened up like window blinds to create an ejector pump for vertical flight. It never generated enough lift to get off the ground despite developing 20,000 lbf of thrust. The French had a nominally Mach 2 Dassault Mirage IIIV fitted with no less than 8 lift engines that flew (and crashed), but did not have enough space for fuel or payload for combat missions. The German EWR VJ 101 used swiveling engines mounted on
5551-405: The first Invincible -class ship HMS Invincible , and further aircraft joined the ageing HMS Hermes aircraft carrier later that year. In 1984, approval was given to upgrade of the fleet to FRS.2 standard (later known as FA2 ) following the lessons learned during the aircraft's deployment in the 1982 Falklands War. The first flight of the prototype took place in September 1988 and
SECTION 60
#17327808335925642-430: The first three Sea Harriers arrived at Dabolim Airport on 16 December 1983, and were inducted the same year. Ten more Sea Harriers were purchased in November 1985; eventually a total of 30 Harriers were procured, 25 for operational use and the remainder as dual-seat trainer aircraft. Until the 1990s, significant portions of pilot training was carried out in Britain due to limited aircraft availability. The introduction of
5733-533: The fleet for only six years of service to meet the F-35s then planned in-service date. Both versions of Harrier experienced reduced engine performance (Pegasus Mk 106 in FA2 and Mk 105 in GR7) in the higher ambient temperatures of the Middle East, which restricted the weight of payload that the Harrier could return to the carrier in 'vertical' recoveries. This was due to the safety factors associated with aircraft landing weights. The option to install higher-rated Pegasus engines would not have been as straightforward as on
5824-416: The former Prime Minister's son Mark Thatcher may have been involved; he has strongly denied receiving payments or exploiting his mother's connections in his business dealings. The National Audit Office investigated the contracts and has so far never released its conclusions – the only NAO report ever to be withheld. The BBC's Newsnight observed that it is ironic that the once classified report analysing
5915-407: The fuselage and two outrigger landing gears on the wings. The Sea Harrier is equipped with four wing and three fuselage pylons for carrying weapons and external fuel tanks. The use of the ski jump allowed the aircraft to take off from a short flight deck with a heavier payload than would otherwise be possible, although it can also take off like a conventional loaded fighter without thrust vectoring from
6006-477: The fuselage. First flying vertically in 1963, it suffered a fatal crash in 1964. It was converted into the XV-4B Hummingbird for the U.S. Air Force as a testbed for separate, vertically mounted lift engines, similar to those used in the Yakovlev Yak-38 'Forger'. That plane flew and later crashed in 1969. The Ryan XV-5 Vertifan , which was also built for the U.S. Army at the same time as the Hummingbird, experimented with gas-driven lift fans. That plane used fans in
6097-491: The ground. They were also deployed on board Illustrious in 2000 as part of Operation Palliser , the British intervention in Sierra Leone . The UK is procuring the STOVL F-35B to be operated from the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth -class aircraft carriers . The Sea Harrier was withdrawn from service in 2006 and the last remaining aircraft from 801 Naval Air Squadron were decommissioned on 29 March 2006. The MoD argued that significant expenditure would be required to upgrade
6188-442: The late 1990s, European defence consolidation became a prevailing practice; European governments wished to see the merger of their defence manufacturers into a single entity, a European Aerospace and Defence Company. This ambition led to numerous reports linking various European defence groups – mainly with each other but also with American defence contractors. In July 1998, merger discussions began between BAe and DASA. Terms for such
6279-405: The lucrative defence market of the United States. The newly combined company, which was initially referred to as "New British Aerospace", was officially formed on 30 November 1999; it is named BAE Systems . There have been allegations that the Al Yamamah contracts were a result of bribes ("douceurs") to members of the Saudi royal family and government officials. Some allegations suggested that
6370-425: The mainland because airfields on the Falklands were only suited for propeller-driven aircraft. The bombing of Port Stanley airport by a British Vulcan bomber was also a consideration in the Argentinians' decision to operate them from afar. As most Argentine aircraft lacked in-flight refuelling capability, they were forced to operate at the limit of their range. The Sea Harriers also had limited fuel reserves due to
6461-427: The nose and each wing, covered by doors which resembled half garbage can lids when raised. However, it crashed twice, and proved to generate a disappointing amount of lift, and was difficult to transition to horizontal flight. Of dozens of VTOL and V/STOL designs tried from the 1950s to 1980s, only the subsonic Hawker Siddeley Harrier and Yak-38 Forger reached operational status, with the Forger being withdrawn after
6552-460: The original; changes included the replacement of the original Lycoming ALF 502 turbofan engines by higher-thrust LF 507 turbofan engines, which were housed in redesigned nacelles . The Avro RJ series also featured a modernised cockpit with EFIS replacing the analogue ADI, HSI, and engine instrumentation. Production of the Avro RJ ended with the final four aircraft being delivered in late 2003;
6643-516: The principal role of the subsonic Sea Harrier was to provide air defence for Royal Navy task groups centred around the aircraft carriers. The Sea Harrier served in the Falklands War and the Balkans conflicts ; on all occasions it mainly operated from aircraft carriers positioned within the conflict zone. Its usage in the Falklands War was its most high profile and important success, when it
6734-482: The regional aircraft division. Evans decided to sell non-core business activities, which included the Rover Group, Arlington Securities, BAe Corporate Jets, BAe Communications and Ballast Nedam . Although the rationale of diversification was sound (to shield the company from cyclical aerospace and defence markets) the struggling company could not afford to continue the position: "We simply could not afford to carry two core businesses, cars and aerospace. At one point Rover
6825-485: The tactical decision to station the British carriers out of Exocet missile range and the dispersal of the fleet. The result was that an Argentine aircraft only had five minutes over the islands to search for and attack an objective, while a Sea Harrier could stay near to 30 minutes waiting in the Argentine approach corridors and provide Combat Air Patrol coverage for up to an hour. The Sea Harriers were outnumbered by
6916-471: The term "aircraft carrier" to increase the chances of funding in a political climate hostile to expensive capital ships . The resulting Invincible -class carriers were considerably smaller than the CVA-01 design, but came to be widely recognised as aircraft carriers. Almost immediately upon their construction, a ski-jump was added to the end of the 170-metre deck, enabling the carriers to effectively operate
7007-420: The theatre. The Sea Harrier squadrons shot down 20 Argentine aircraft in air-to-air combat with no air-to-air losses, although two Sea Harriers were lost to ground fire and four to accidents. Out of the total Argentine air losses, 28% were shot down by Harriers. One Sea Harrier alone, flown by RAF Flight Lieutenant David Morgan , shot down two Skyhawks in a single encounter. A number of factors contributed to
7098-542: The upgraded Harrier GR9 were transferred to Royal Navy squadrons in 2006, but were retired in 2010 due to budget cuts. Although withdrawn from active Royal Navy service, Sea Harriers are used to train naval aircraft handlers at the Royal Navy School of Flight Deck Operations. In 1977, the Indian government approved plans to acquire the Sea Harrier for the Indian Navy. In November 1979, India placed its first order for six Sea Harrier FRS Mk 51 fighters and two T Mk 60 Trainers;
7189-414: The use of thrust vectoring , which may also be used in conjunction with a runway " ski-jump ". There are 14 aircraft carriers that operate these STOVL aircraft: United States (9), United Kingdom (2), Italy (2), and Spain (1). Use of STOVL tends to allow aircraft to carry a larger payload compared to vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), while still only requiring a short runway. The most famous examples are
7280-760: The wingtips with fuselage mounted lift engines, and the VJ 101C X1 reached supersonic flight (Mach 1.08) on 29 July 1964. The supersonic Hawker Siddeley P.1154 , which competed with the Mirage IIIV for use in NATO, was cancelled even as the aircraft were being built. In 1983, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ) initiated the Advanced STOVL (ASTOVL) program to develop a supersonic STOVL fighter (SSF) to replace
7371-399: Was "day one" for the new company, which became the world's second-largest aerospace company after Boeing and the second-largest European arms manufacturer after BAE Systems. The GEC merger to create a solely British company, compared to the prospective Anglo-German company that would have resulted from merging with DASA, was promoted as having superior prospects for further penetration of
7462-413: Was 5.4 times subscribed and the first day closing price was 11% above the initial offer price. The British Government maintained a £1 golden share , which allowed it to veto foreign control of the board or company. British Aerospace inherited a number of live development programmes from its predecessors. Scottish Aviation was working on a project for a 19-seat turboprop airliner, an upgraded version of
7553-741: Was a British aircraft , munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire . It purchased Marconi Electronic Systems , the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company , in 1999 to form BAE Systems . The company has its origins in the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 , which called for
7644-527: Was delivered to RNAS Yeovilton in 1979 to form an Intensive Flying Trials Unit, 700A Naval Air Squadron . In March 1980, the Intensive Flying Trials Unit became 899 Naval Air Squadron and would act as the landborne headquarters unit for the type. The first operational squadron, 800 Naval Air Squadron , was also formed in March 1980, initially to operate from HMS Invincible before it transferred to HMS Hermes . In January 1981,
7735-471: Was deployed in the 1992–1995 Bosnian War . It launched raids on Serb forces and provided air-support for the international taskforce units conducting Operations Deny Flight and Deliberate Force against the Army of Republika Srpska . On 16 April 1994, a Sea Harrier of the 801 Naval Air Squadron, operating from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal , was brought down by an Igla-1 surface-to-air missile fired by
7826-828: Was described as one of the most advanced pulse doppler radar systems in the world. In August 1981, BAe and the American aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II . Under this agreement, BAe was effectively a subcontractor rather than a full partner, receiving 40 per cent of the airframe's work-share in terms of man-hours. Production took place at McDonnell Douglas' facilities in suburban St Louis , Missouri , and manufacturing by BAe at its Kingston and Dunsfold facilities in Surrey , England. The variant procured for
7917-579: Was eating up about £2 billion of our banking capacity." BAe Corporate Jets and Arkansas Aerospace were sold to Raytheon in 1993. In 1994, the Rover Group was sold to BMW and British Aerospace Space Systems was sold to Matra Marconi Space . In 1998, BAe's shareholding of Orange plc was reduced to 5%. The Orange shareholding was a legacy of the 30% stake in Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd. In 1994, BAeSEMA, Siemens Plessey and GEC-Marconi formed UKAMS Limited as part of
8008-453: Was limited by their being stationed close to the islands, which severely limited the effectiveness of their radar. The differences in tactics and training between 800 Squadron and 801 Squadron have been a point of criticism, suggesting that the losses of several ships were preventable had Sea Harriers from Hermes been used more effectively. Both sides' aircraft were operating in adverse conditions. Argentine aircraft were forced to operate from
8099-449: Was one of several companies to be heavily involved. On 10 July 1979, the maiden flight of a production Tornado occurred. On 5 and 6 June 1979, the first aircraft were delivered to the RAF and German Air Force respectively. On 25 September 1981, the first Italian Tornado was delivered. The Tornado would be produced in large numbers, the 500th aircraft to be completed was delivered to West Germany on 19 December 1987. Production of
8190-602: Was that an American defence contractor would acquire MES and challenge both British Aerospace and DASA. Schrempp was angered by BAe's reversal, and opted to pursue other partner companies for DASA to merge with. On 11 June 1999, the Spanish aircraft company CASA a memorandum of understanding for such a merger. On 14 October 1999, DASA agreed to merge with Aérospatiale-Matra to create the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). 10 July 2000
8281-603: Was the only fixed-wing fighter available to protect the British Task Force. The Sea Harriers shot down 20 enemy aircraft during the conflict; 2 Sea Harriers were lost to enemy ground fire. They were also used to launch ground attacks in the same manner as the Harriers operated by the Royal Air Force . The Sea Harrier was marketed for sales abroad, but India was the only other operator after attempts to sell
#591408