58 The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017B
y the late 1970s when British
Aerospace came into being, the
Harrier was well-established in
service with the RAF, the US
Marines and in production for the
Spanish and Royal Navies.
The first prototype P1127 and the
forerunner of the Harrier XP831 had made
its first tethered hover on 21 October 1960.
A lengthy development programme
began, with six aircraft assigned to prove
the concept. The test programme
painstakingly evaluated the performance
of the aircraft in horizontal and vertical
flight and gradually approached the
complexities of a smooth transition
between the two. Naturally when
developing a new concept there were
many challenges, such as an optimum
engine intake shape for both hovering and
high speed flight. Another was refining the
operation of the reaction controls at the
wing tips, nose and tail and at the wing
tips during hovering to provide directional,
attitude and roll control. There were flight
test crashes during the test programme
but fortunately no fatalities.
In 1961 the United States funded
development of the airframe and engine
on condition a tripartite (UK/US/German)
operational evaluation unit was formed
which was equipped with nine additionalaircraft known as Kestrels. The unit was
formed in October 1964 and its aircraft flew
1,200 sorties until the completion of
evaluation flying in November 1965.Early Harriers with the RAF
In the wake of 1965 defence cuts and the
cancellation of the supersonic P1154 V/
STOL development of the P1127, the UK
ordered a military version of the P1127,
which was officially named the Harrier in- The Harrier GR1 was equipped with
twin 30mm Aden guns and had the ability
to carry a wide variety of stores on five
external pylons.
The Harrier GR1s joined No 1 Sqn at
Wittering and three squadrons with RAF
Germany, only three years after the first
development aircraft flew. The RAF also
received 13 T2s, twin-seaters which
retained full operational capability. An
additional squadron of Harriers was soon
ordered for the Royal Air Force bringing
total orders for this aircraft, (including the
US Marines’ order) close to 200. The RAF
found themselves in possession of a
uniquely flexible aircraft, which could be
dispersed close to the troops and provideXP836 and XP831, the second and first P1127 prototypes respectively. XP836 has the experimental high-speed engine lips and XP831 which is lacking
undercarriage doors and other fittings has the standard intakes. XP836 crashed when one of the engine exhaust nozzles detached in flight. (Hawker Archive)Harrier
conquering the vertical
XS694, one of the
nine Kestrels built
for the Tripartite
Squadron showing
how the aircraft
could be dispersed
in the event of
conflict.
(Hawker Archive)