Hawker Siddeley AV-8C Harrier

British Aerospace · United Kingdom · first flew 1979 · fighter

The AV-8C is a mid-life upgraded version of the USMC AV-8A Harrier, incorporating Lift Improvement Devices (LIDS) and an updated Angle-Rate Bombing System to extend the type's operational utility.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, swept
E — Engines	1 × turbofan, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	13.87 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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

Spot it by:

Upgraded USMC AV-8A with LIDS lift-improvement devices and ARBS weapons system
Vectored-thrust VSTOL with four rotating nozzles
Small combat aircraft with kinked leading-edge wing extensions

Distinguished from the AV-8A by the addition of underwing LIDS strakes; otherwise identical with the characteristic cropped-delta swept wing and four-nozzle Pegasus installation.

Specifications

The Hawker Siddeley AV-8C Harrier has a length of 13.87 m (46 ft).
It has a wingspan of 7.7 m (25 ft).
Its maximum speed is 1176 km/h (731 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

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

History

The U.S. Marine Corps upgraded 47 surviving AV-8As to AV-8C standard in the late 1970s and early 1980s, adding under-fuselage strakes (LIDS) to reduce hot gas ingestion and improve hovering performance, plus the ARBS targeting system. The aircraft served until replacement by the AV-8B Harrier II.

Variants

The AV-8C is the sole upgraded variant of the AV-8A; the subsequent AV-8B is a substantially new aircraft built by McDonnell Douglas.

Where you'll see it

Operated exclusively by the USMC; not flown by the RAF or Royal Navy, who operated the original Harrier GR.1/3.

Related aircraft

AircraftIQ — the aircraft field guide: 5,024 recognition guides, live overhead identification, works offline.