For an aircraft that’s seen its share of high-flying sunsets, the Marine Corps AV-8 Harrier jet has had a sunset of its own. The jet, known for its unique ability to take off and land vertically without ever needing a runway, has been decommissioned in an official sunset ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina.
“The Harrier will be remembered for its distinguished combat legacy, legendary Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL) capability, and the Marines and sailors that made the community special,” Lt. Col. John B. Cumbie, commanding officer of Marine Attack Squadron 223, said in his remarks shared with Military.com.
An icon of Marine aviation for 55 years, the first version, the AV-8A, was developed by British engineers in the 1960s, according to a Marine Corps news release shared with Military.com. The Marines began using the jets in 1971, and had an upgraded version, the AV-8B, built by McDonnell Douglas, beginning in 1985.
In all those years, the Harrier jet has been a favorite of air show spectators and military aviators, who have marveled at its speed and maneuverability under the tightest and most harrowing of circumstances.
“I have loved the Harrier from the very beginning. I wanted to fly it in flight school, and was fortunate that I got to live that dream,” Lt. Col. Mike Rountree, a retired Marine Corps pilot and Harrier jet expert, who spoke to Military.com. “It’s a pilot’s dream aircraft.”
Rountree retired from the Marine Corps in 2022, after 22 years of service. His assignments, including his last as commanding officer at the Marine Corps Naval Station in Iwakuni, Japan, involved flying the Harrier jet.
“The Harrier allowed the Marine Corps to achieve its mission during Operation Iraqi Freedom. We had air, ground, and logistics in one package, one aircraft. The Harrier brought that vision to bear,” Rountree said. “The vision was revolutionary, and the Harrier brought the technology and logistics to achieve it.”
Harrier Jet’s Unique Design Enabled Closer Combat Missions
Harrier jets are powered by a single turbofan engine that thrusts vectored air out through four nozzles that can rotate from horizontal to vertical. That design enabled the jets to operate from places without runways or from the decks of U.S. Navy amphibious assault ships. It meant they could stay closer to actual combat than other fighter jets operating from air bases or airports with full runways.
The Harrier didn’t need an airfield. All it needed was a Marine flying it and a small support crew to fill it with gas and load weapons.
According to the Marine Corps, the jets cost around $23.6 million each in the 1990s, which is about $50 million today when adjusted for inflation. The corps once operated around 280 Harriers, but the numbers have dwindled as the military began updating and modernizing its aircraft options.
As for weaponry, the Harrier jets had plenty of room. There were six underwing mounts for bombs or rockets as well as a 25-millimeter cannon that can fire 300 rounds, according to the ‘Wings Over the Rockies’ aviation museum website. Fully loaded, a Harrier jet carries more firepower than a World War II B-17 ‘Flying Fortress’ bomber.
“It’s like everything. Anytime you see a legacy technology be sunned down, it is wistful. It’s nostalgic, and you’re very grateful for having been a part of it,” Rountree said. “But I’m also glad that there’s new technology that’s even better.”
The Marine Corps has already commissioned the Harrier’s official replacement, a Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II aircraft, at a cost of $110 million each. It was selected as the Harrier’s direct successor, with the same standard Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) technology military aviators have come to rely on for combat missions.
It’s easier to let go knowing we have follow-up technology that’s just better. Yes, the aircraft retired, but the technology lives on in newer aircraft with a number of improvements that were made over the years.
According to the Marine Corps, the F-35B retains the flexible, vertical-landing capabilities of the Harrier, allowing it to operate from amphibious assault ships and non-standard runways all over the world. It combines STOVL flexibility with fifth-generation stealth, advanced sensor fusion, and supersonic speeds for an aircraft that is widely considered a force to be reckoned with.
“With the Harrier’s ability to provide close air support, I don’t want to say it was unmatched, but it was very much a game changer,” Rountree said. “It was seamless, it was excellent, and we had the ability to turn back to base if the runway wasn’t available, or if the winds were too much, we could land anywhere. We can still do those things, but even better with the F-35B.”
Rountree says he will miss the Harrier, an aircraft he has loved and had to master from the very start of his military career.
“It was complicated to fly. We actually had a grade cutoff in flight school where you had to have good enough grades to fly the Harrier,” he said. “There was no flight control system; it was all pilot. It took a high level of skill to be able to take off and land, more so than any other aircraft.”
Memorable Missions With Pop Culture Connection
Among the Harrier jet’s more memorable operations was the 1991 Operation Desert Storm in Iraq, where commander General Norman Schwarzkopf praised the Harrier as one of the seven most critical weapons of the campaign. Other conflicts the Harrier jet has seen were the 1999 NATO campaign against the former Yugoslavia; the war in Afghanistan; the war in Iraq; the 2011 intervention in Libya; the fight against ISIS across the Middle East; and most recently in the Caribbean Sea as part of the U.S. flotilla that was operating off Venezuela before the capture of President Nicolás Maduro in January.
“Time and again, the Harrier distinguished itself as a lethal, capable and versatile tactical air platform,” says a Marine Corps release to Military.com.
Besides making history in conflict, the Harrier also has a place in pop culture. In the 1990s, Pepsi ran a promotion and a Super Bowl commercial that featured the Harrier as a prize for reaching seven million points by drinking Pepsi products.
John Leonard, a 21-year-old business student, figured out that meant he could get the Harrier for just $700,000 and secured investors to pay for it.
But Pepsi denied the deal, as did a federal court.
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