100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
BOMBERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 95BAe/McDD HARRIER GR.5 TO 9
Above
A Sidewinder air-to-
air missile and rocket
pod-equipped GR.7
of 232 Operational
Conversion Unit,
Wittering, 1992.Left
GR.9A ZG477 in
commemorative 1
Squadron colours
at the RAF Museum,
Cosford.
RAF MUSEUM http://www.
rafmuseum.orgBelow
Harrier GR.9 ZD328
of 41 Squadron –
the Fast Jet and
Weapons Operational
Evaluation Unit –
Coningsby, 2004.
© ANDY HAY
http://www.fl yingart.co.ukOn April 1, 2000 Joint Force
Harrier, the combined Fleet Air Arm
and RAF operation of GR.7s and
GR.9s was established at Cottesmore.
By 2003 ZG477 had been upgraded
to GR.7A status; the following year it
became a GR.9A. During its time at
Cottesmore, ZG477 flew with
3 Squadron, the Naval Strike Wing,
4 and finally 1 Squadron.
From June 2008 ZG477 was
deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, as
part of Operation ‘Herrick’. A round-
the-clock readiness was maintained
for strikes using laser- or GPS-guided
weapons, or tactical recce sorties.
The Harriers were back at
Cottesmore in July 2009 and in
November of the next year ZG477
was transferred to 1 Squadron – the
very first frontline Harrier unit – to
take part in the retirement ceremonies.
On November 19, ZG477 was
deployed with three others on HMS
Ark Royal – also facing the axe – for its
final cruise. Five days later, ZG477,
flown by Lt Cdr James Blackmore,
was the last to depart from the vessel’s
ski-jump.
On the very last day, December 15,
ZG477 was part of a 16-aircraft final
‘thrash’ around former bases. After
that, it was placed in ‘overseen’ storage
at Cottesmore and, while ground-run,
in the end it was not flown
again. It made the road
journey to Cosford
on December 19,
2011.at Cottesmore and, while ground-run,
in the end it was not flown
again. It made the road
journey to Cosford
on December 19,
2011.second-generation Harriers. As such,
its story provides a great insight into
the operations of this sophisticated
warplane.
It was built as a GR.7 and first flew
at Dunsfold on September 3, 1990
before being taken on charge by the
RAF two days later. Serving initially
with 4 Squadron at Gütersloh, for
just a few days ZG477 was based in
West Germany as the country reunited
on October 3. It transferred to 3
Squadron at Laarbruch in 1992, but
by the following spring had returned
to 4 Squadron.
During 1993 and 1994 the RAF
Harrier units, 1, 3 and 4 Squadrons
provided crews and aircraft at Incirlik,
Turkey, policing the ‘no-fly’ zone
of northern Iraqi airspace under
Operation ‘Warden’.
From the spring of 1999 the force
was required for the interminably
complex and woefully brutal politics
of the Balkans and deployed to Gioia
del Colle in the ‘heel’ of Italy as part
of Operation ‘Allied Force’. Harriers,
including ZG477, were tasked to fly
across the Adriatic Sea against Serbian
forces during the Yugoslav civil war
until the campaign wound down in
late June 1999.“...ZG477 was deployed to Kandahar,
Afghanistan, as part of Operation ‘Herrick’.
A round-the-clock readiness was maintained
for strikes using laser- or GPS-guided
weapons, or tactical recce sorties.”