How It Works-Amazing Vehicles

Sea Harrier FA2

Crew: 1

Length: 14.2m

Wingspan: 7. 6 m

Height: 3.71m

Max take-off weight:

11,900kg

Powerplant: 1 x Rolls-Royce

Pegasus turbofan (21,500lbf)

Max speed: 735mph

Combat radius: 1,000km

Max range: 3,600km

Max service ceiling:

16,000m

Guns: 2 x 30mm ADEN cannon

pods (100 rounds per cannon)

Rockets:

72 SNEB 68mm rockets

Missiles: AIM-9 Sidewinder,

AIM-120 AMRAAM, R550 Magic,

ALARM anti-radiation missile,

Martel missile, Sea Eagle

anti-ship missile

Cost: $18 million

The statistics...

Powerplant

The Sea Harrier was fitted

with the Rolls-Royce

Pegasus 11 turbofan, an

engine capable of producing

9,750 k ilograms of force. This

delivered a massive amount

of power, which while not

tak ing the jet to supersonic

speeds did allow it to lif t off

vertically, spreading the

output over multiple outlets

positioned over the aircraf t.

Electronics

Equipped according to generation by

the Fer ranti Blue Fox or Blue Vi xen

radars respectively, the Sea Harrier

carried at the time some of the most

advanced militar y radar systems in

the world. It is suggested by military

historians that the Blue Fox radar was

one of the key reasons why the Sea

Harrier performed so successfully in

the Falk lands War.

Crew

The first-generation Sea Harrier FRS1

and second-generation FA 2 were both

single-seat fighters. However, the T4N

and T60 varieties were built w ith t wo

seats as they were used for land-based

pilot conversion training.

Armament

A s a strike fighter the Sea Harrier was equipped w ith

a broad arsenal, ranging from conventional,

unguided iron bombs – including WE.177 nuclear

options – to rockets and laser-guided missiles such as

the A IM-9 Sidew inder. The second generation FA 2

was famously equipped with deadly AIM-120

A MR A A M air-to-air, fire and forget missiles.

Degrees of power

The real showpiece and reason for the

lengthy success of the Sea Harrier was its

utilisation of the Harrier’s revolutionary

Pegasus engine partnered with thrust

vectoring nozzles. These nozzles could

be rotated by the pilot through a 98.5

degree arc, from the conventional aft

(horizontal) positioning as standard on

aircraft, to straight down, allowing it to

take off and land vertically as well as

hover, to forward, allowing the Harrier

to drift back wards. A ll nozzles were

moved by a series of shafts and chain

drives, which insured that they operated

in unison (crucial for maintaining

stability) and the angle and thrust was

determined in-cockpit by the pilot.

This flexibilit y of control and

placement meant that the Sea Harrier

was highly manoeuv rable while in the

air and could be landed and launched

from almost anywhere.

Giving the Sea Harrier lift off

The Sea Harrier’s vectoring

nozzle in aft position

© Wyrd Light Photography

Some Harriers were fitted with

the A IM-120 A MR A A M missile

DID YOU KNOW? During the Falkland’s conflict the Sea Harrier shot down 20 Argentine aircraft with no air-to-air losses