BAE Sea Harrier

British Aerospace · United Kingdom · first flew 1978 · fighter

A British vertical and short take-off naval fighter, developed from the Harrier to fly air defence and strike from small carriers.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, swept
E — Engines	1 × turbofan, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	14.5 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Raised 'bubble' cockpit with a stepped-up canopy for all-round view
Single Pegasus turbofan exhausting through four rotating vectoring nozzles
High swept wing with prominent outrigger landing-gear pods

Look for the small VSTOL fighter with a high stepped cockpit, the four vectoring nozzles on the fuselage sides, and the high swept wing with outrigger gear.

Specifications

The BAE Sea Harrier has a length of 14.5 m (48 ft).
It has a wingspan of 7.7 m (25 ft).
Its maximum speed is 1185 km/h (736 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

First flown in 1978, the Sea Harrier adapted the land-based Harrier with a raised cockpit and a nose radar for the maritime fighter role aboard the Royal Navy's small through-deck carriers. It won lasting fame in the 1982 Falklands conflict, where it defended the task force and downed numerous Argentine aircraft for no air-to-air losses.

Variants

The initial FRS.1 was followed by the radically upgraded FRS.2, later redesignated FA.2, which added a modern radar and beyond-visual-range missiles.

Where you'll see it

A genuine British type flown by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm from its carriers until retirement in 2006, so it was very much a UK aircraft; surviving examples are preserved in British museums and appear at heritage events.

Related aircraft

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