Combat duties , 1990 The first squadrons to receive the Harrier II were based in
Royal Air Force Germany, a standing force maintained to deter Soviet aggression against the West and, in the event of war, to carry out ground attacks. As the Harrier II had significantly greater range and survivability than its predecessor the
Hawker Siddeley Harrier, a new emphasis was placed on
interdiction operations. By the end of 1990, the Harrier II was approaching full operational status with several squadrons. During the 1991
Gulf War, the Harrier II was considered to be too immature to be deployed. However, several aircraft were dispatched to patrol
no-fly zones over
Iraq from 1993 onwards. In 1994, the last of the RAF's first generation Harriers was retired, the Harrier II having taken over its duties. Both attack and reconnaissance missions were carried out by the Harriers, which had been quickly modified to integrate
GPS navigation for operations in the theatre. More than 126 strike sorties were carried out by Harrier IIs, often assisted by Jaguar fighter-bombers acting as designators for laser-guided bombs such as the
Paveway II. Bosnia was reportedly the first air campaign in which the majority of ordnance expended was precision-guided. and Royal Navy Sea Harrier FA2s. The
Invincible-class carriers also received multiple adaptations for greater compatibility with the Harrier II, including changes to the communications, lighting and flight deck. Cooperative operations between the two services was formalised under the
Joint Force Harrier (JFH) command organisation, which was brought about following the 1998 Strategic Defence Review. Under JFH, RAF Harrier IIs would routinely operate alongside the Royal Navy's Sea Harriers. The main JFH operating base was
RAF Cottesmore, a great emphasis was placed on inter-service interaction across the organisation. The combined Joint Force Harrier served as the basis for future expeditionary warfare and naval deployments. In the long term, JFH also served as a pilot scheme for the joint operation of the
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. During
Operation Allied Force, the NATO mission over Kosovo in 1999, the RAF contribution included 16
Panavia Tornados and 12 Harrier GR7s. On 27 April 1999, during a mission to attack a Serbian military depot, RAF Harriers came under heavy anti-aircraft fire, but did not suffer losses as a result. In April 1999, the
rules of engagement were changed to allow Harriers to use GPS navigation and targeting during medium-altitude bombing missions. A total of 870 Harrier II sorties were carried out during the 78-day bombing campaign. In 2003, the Harrier GR7 played a prominent role during
Operation Telic, the UK contribution to the U.S.-led
Iraq War. When war broke out, Harriers flew reconnaissance and strike missions inside Southern Iraq, reportedly to destroy
Scud missile launchers to prevent their use against neighbouring Kuwait. Prior to the war, the Harriers had been equipped with a new armament, the
AGM-65 Maverick missile, which reportedly was a noticeable contribution to the Harrier's operations over Iraq; a total of 38 Mavericks were launched during the campaign. During the
Battle of Basra, a key Iraqi city, Harriers conducted multiple strike missions against Iraqi fuel depots to cripple enemy ground vehicles; other priority targets for the Harriers included tanks, boats, and artillery. According to Nordeen, roughly 30 per cent of all RAF Harrier operations were
close air support missions, supporting advancing allied ground troops. In April 2003, the Ministry of Defence admitted that RAF Harriers had deployed controversial
RBL755 cluster bombs in Iraq. Both the British and American Harrier squadrons were withdrawn from operations in Iraq during Summer 2003. RAF Harriers would be a regular element of Britain's contribution to the
War in Afghanistan. In September 2004, six Harrier GR7s were deployed to
Kandahar, Afghanistan, replacing a US detachment of AV-8Bs in the region. On 14 October 2005, a Harrier GR7A was destroyed and another was damaged while parked on the tarmac at Kandahar by a Taliban rocket attack. No one was injured in the attack; the damaged Harrier was repaired, while the destroyed aircraft was replaced. While initial operations in Afghanistan had focused on intimidation and reconnaissance, demand for
interdiction missions using the Harrier II spiked dramatically during the
Helmand province campaign. The Harrier IIs had also switched to 24-hour availability, having formerly operated mostly during the day. Following five years of continuous operations in Afghanistan, the last of Britain's Harriers were withdrawn from the Afghan theatre in June 2009, having flown over 22,000 hours on 8,500 sorties, they were replaced by several RAF Tornado GR4s.
Rundown In 2005, allegations emerged in Parliament that, following the transfer of servicing duties to
RAF Cottesmore, the standard and quality of maintenance on the Harrier fleet had fallen dramatically; several airframes had been considerably damaged and one likely destroyed due to mistakes made, the time taken to perform the servicing had risen from 100 days to 155 days, and the cost per aircraft had also risen to more than ten times that of the prior arrangements performed by
Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA). In 2006, the Sea Harrier was retired from
Fleet Air Arm service and the Harrier GR7/9 fleet was tasked with the missions that it used to share with those aircraft. The former Sea Harrier squadron
800 Naval Air Squadron reformed with ex-RAF Harrier GR7/9s in April 2006 and joined by the re-formed
801 Naval Air Squadron in 2007. These later expanded and become the
Naval Strike Wing. On 31 March 2010,
No. 20 Squadron RAF, the Harrier
Operational Conversion Unit (OCU), was disbanded; No. 4 Squadron also disbanded and reformed as No. 4 (Reserve) Squadron at
RAF Wittering. All Harrier GR7 aircraft were retired by July 2010. 2008 The Harrier GR9 was expected to stay in service at least until 2018. However, on 19 October 2010 it was announced in the
Strategic Defence and Security Review that the Harrier was to be retired by April 2011. In the long term, the
F-35B Lightning II, would operate from the Navy's two new s. The decision to retire the Harrier was controversial, with some senior officers calling for the Panavia Tornado to be retired as an alternative; the decision having left Britain without any fixed-wing aircraft capable of flying from the navy's aircraft carriers. On 24 November 2010, the Harrier made its last flight from a carrier, incidentally also the last flight from the carrier prior to retirement. The fleet's last operational flights occurred on 15 December 2010 with fly pasts over numerous military bases. In November 2011, the Ministry of Defence sold 72 Harrier IIs, According to a report by
Air Forces Monthly, some of the 72 Harrier IIs were to fly again, as the USMC planned to equip two squadrons with GR.9/9A models due to the well-maintained condition of the airframes when inspected at RAF Cottesmore, where the aircraft were stored and maintained by a skeleton crew of technicians following their retirement. This was contradicted by the
US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in June 2012, who stated that the USMC never planned to operate ex-RAF Harriers. ==Variants==