Deep Dive into the Harrier
The Harrier is an iconic fighter jet used by the British Air Force, Navy and U.S. Marines. It has starred in films such as True Lies (where it is flown by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and has seen action in conflicts around the world.
The Harrier, informally referred to as the Harrier jump jet, is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations (V/STOL). Named after the bird of prey, it was originally developed by British manufacturer Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s. The Harrier emerged as the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many attempted during that era. It was conceived to operate from improvised bases, such as car parks or forest clearings, without requiring large and vulnerable air bases. Later, the design was adapted for use from aircraft carriers.
If you look at the sides of the Harrier, you will see four slotted thrusters (two on each sides). These rotate 90 degrees so that the plane can take off or land vertically (when the thrusters are pointing down) or turn so that they are pointing backwards and can accelerate the jet up to 1,145 km/h.
This requires a very unique engine design. Unlike traditional jet engines, where the thrust is pushed out of the back, the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine for the Harrier splits the air up and pushes it out of the sides through holes that line up with the moveable thrusters.
The air coming out of the front thrusters is cool air (shown in blue on the above cutaway), but the air in the rear thrusters is hot (shown in red in the above picture). That is why if you look at the rear thrusters, they have heat shields to prevent the aircraft body from being burned. The engine is also unusual in that the blades in the front of the engine spin in the opposite direction from the rear section. This is to reduce the gyroscopic effect of rotating equipment.
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 46 ft 6 in (14.17 m)
Wingspan: 25 ft 3 in (7.70 m)
Height: 12 ft 2 in (3.71 m)
Wing area: 201.1 sq ft (18.68 m2)
Empty weight: 14,585 lb (6,616 kg)
Maximum fuel weight Internal: 5,182 lb (2,351 kg)
2× 455 L combat drop tanks: 6,762 lb (3,067 kg)
2× 864 L combat drop tanks: 8,184 lb (3,712 kg)
2× 1,500 L ferry drop tanks: 10,396 lb (4,716 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 26,200 lb (11,884 kg) STO / 17,620 lb (7,992 kg) VTO
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Pegasus 106 vectored thrust turbofan engine, 21,500 lbf (96 kN) thrust with water injection
Maximum speed:
618 kn (711 mph, 1,145 km/h) / Mach 0.94 at sea level
578 kn (665 mph; 1,070 km/h) / Mach 0.97 at altitude
Combat range:
400 nmi (460 mi, 740 km) high-altitude intercept with 3 minutes combat and reserves for VL250 nmi (288 mi; 463 km) for ground attack missions
Combat profiles: from carrier with 12° ramp at ISA + 15°C, with 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h) WOD
Combat air patrol: Up to 1 hour 30 minutes on station at 100 nmi (115 mi; 185 km) carrying 4× AMRAAM or 2× AMRAAM + 2× ADEN cannon + 2× 864 L combat drop tanks;
Deck run 450 ft (137 m)
Reconnaissance:Low-level cover of 130,000 sq nmi (172,158 sq mi; 445,888 km2) at a radius of 525 nmi (604 mi; 972 km), out and return at medium level carrying 2× ADEN cannon + 2× 864 L combat drop tanks; Deck run 350 ft (107 m)
Surface attack:(hi-lo-hi) Radius of action 200 nmi (230 mi; 370 km) to missile launch carrying 2× BAe Sea Eagle + 2× ADEN cannon; Deck run 300 ft (91 m)
Interception:Deck-launched against M0.9 target at 116 nmi (133 mi; 215 km), or a M1.3 target at 95 nmi (109 mi; 176 km), with initial radar detection at 230 nmi (265 mi; 426 km), at 2 minute alert status carrying 2× AMRAAM.
Ferry range: 1,740 nmi (2,000 mi, 3,220 km)
Service ceiling: 51,000 ft (16,000 m)
g limits: +7.8 −4.2
Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (250 m/s)
Wing loading: 130.28 lb/sq ft (636.1 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.822
Take-off run STO: 1,000 ft (305 m) at MTOW without ramp
Armament
Guns: 2× 30 mm (1.18 in) ADEN cannon pods under the fuselage, with 130 rounds each
Hardpoints: 4× under-wing pylon stations, and 1 fuselage pylon on centerline plus 2 attach points for gun pods with a total capability of 8,000 lb (3,630 kg) of payload.
Rockets: 4× Matra rocket pods with 18 SNEB 68 mm rockets each
Air-to-air missiles: AIM-9 Sidewinder / AIM-120 AMRAAM
Air-to-surface missiles: ALARM anti-radiation missile (ARM) / Martel missile ARM
Anti-ship missiles: Sea Eagle
Bombs: A variety of unguided iron bombs / WE.177A
Others: Reconnaissance pod or 2× auxiliary drop tanks for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time
Ferranti Blue Vixen all-weather airborne radar
BAE Systems AD2770 Tactical Air Navigation System
Thales MADGE Microwave Airborne Digital Guidance Equipment
Allied Signal AN/APX-100 mk12 IFF
Marconi Sky Guardian 200 RWR
2× BAE Systems AN/ALE-40 chaff/flare dispensers
