Harrier GR.1

Harrier GR.1

Harrier GR.1

Britain

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.0	9.7	9.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Strike aircraft

Naval aircraft

Purchase:9 090

This page is about the British jet fighter Harrier GR.1. For other versions, see Harrier (Family).

Description

The Harrier GR.1 is a premium rank VI British jet fighter with a battle rating of 10.0 (AB) and 9.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "New Power".

General info

Flight performance

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 0 m - sea level)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	1,124	1,118	12192	32.5	33.9	63.0	61.5	550
Upgraded	1,143	1,133		31.5	32.0	98.5	80.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
X	✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
1191	648	N/A	833	556	~14	~6

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 648	< 950	< 790	N/A

Survivability and armour

The Harrier GR.1 has no armour. The engine and all fuel tanks are packed in a tight cluster in the centre of the fuselage.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Harrier GR.1 is armed with:

• 2 x 30 mm ADEN Mk.4 cannons, belly-mounted (200 rpg = 400 total)

Suspended armament

The Harrier GR.1 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 5 x 500 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.II bombs (2,500 lb total)
• 4 x 500 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.II bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 3 x 1,000 lb G.P. Mk.I bombs (3,000 lb total)
• 4 x 1,000 lb G.P. Mk.I bombs (4,000 lb total)
• 108 x SNEB type 23 rockets
• 4 x SRAAM missiles
• 4 x SRAAM missiles + 3 x 500 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.II bombs (1,500 lb total)
• 4 x SRAAM missiles + 3 x 1,000 lb G.P. Mk.I bombs (3,000 lb total)
• 4 x SRAAM missiles + 72 x SNEB type 23 rockets

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Compressor		Offensive 30 mm	2 500 LB GP
II	New boosters		Airframe		1000 LB GP
III	Wings repair	Engine		New 30 mm cannons	Matra SNEB
IV	G-suit		Cover		SRAAM
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Exceptional thrust to weight ratio
• Extremely good acceleration
• Is a thrust vectoring VTOL aircraft
  • Can take off / land vertically
  • Nozzles can be deflected in flight to help with manoeuvring
• Extremely powerful SRAAM missiles

Cons:

• Limited WEP duration
• Engine overheats if left at high throttle setting for too long
• Although deflecting nozzles in flight can help with manoeuvrability doing so bleeds a lot of speed

History

From Devblog:

In the late 1950’s, the Bristol company was conducting work on developing an engine featuring innovative thrust vectoring technology. Hawker, impressed with the new engine, began closely working with Bristol to develop an aircraft which could successfully harness the full potential of the Pegasus thrust vectoring engine. The basic idea was to design an aircraft with V/STOL capabilities. From that point, the project became known as the P.1127.

In the early 1960’s, a growing interest for V/STOL strike aircraft could be observed among most NATO member states. This resulted in an agreement between the US, Great Britain and West Germany in 1961 to order nine modified versions of the P.1127 - the first versions of which were test flown in the previous year - as evaluators. At the same time, the British evaluation aircraft received the designation Kestrel FGA.1.

Despite suffering setbacks with the P.1154 - a supersonic version of the aircraft developed by Hawker in parallel - evaluations of the Kestrel continued as planned during the early 1960’s and concluded in November of 1965. After the P.1154 was ultimately cancelled, the RAF, pleased with the evaluation results of the Kestrel, put up a requirement to modify the Kestrel and placed an order for six pre-production aircraft, designated P.1127 (RAF). Following its maiden flight in August of 1966, the RAF extended the purchase order to 60 production aircraft, now receiving the official designation Harrier GR.1.

The Harrier GR.1 undertook its maiden flight in December 1967 and officially entered service with the RAF in April of 1969. Being involved early on with the aircraft’s development, the US also expressed interest in procuring the Harrier. This ultimately resulted in a partnership agreement between Hawker Siddeley and McDonnell Douglas in the late 1960’s for a large delivery of Harriers to the USMC in the early 1970’s. In US service, the aircraft would receive the designation ‘AV-8 Harrier’.

The Harrier was initially deployed with British forces in West Germany in the early 1970’s. However, the Harrier saw the peak of its service career during the Falkland War in 1982, flying both ground attack as well as combat air patrol missions (modification Sea Harrier FRS.1) with great success, thus earning itself a high reputation. 

Apart from British and American service, variants of the Harrier were also operated by Spain, Thailand and India. In total, around 270 Harriers were produced across all variants with the last being decommissioned from active service in the early 2000’s. The original Harrier was subsequently succeeded by a further developed variant - the Harrier II - but more importantly, it had successfully proven the viability of V/STOL aircraft, thus generating a sustained interest in such designs which can still be seen today.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.