Sea Harrier FA 2

This page is about the British jet fighter Sea Harrier FA 2. For other versions, see Harrier (Family).

Sea Harrier FA 2

Sea Harrier FA 2

Description

By the end of the Falklands War, the Sea Harrier FRS.1, while venerable, had been found to have many shortcomings. Shortly after, a few new ideas were brought up, and by 1984, the order was signed for the development of a new Sea Harrier, then dubbed the FRS.2. By 1988, after a few requirement changes, the new Harrier, now renamed to the FA.2 model, as the R (Recon) and S (Strike) were dropped from its requirements, serving primarily as a fleet defence fighter. The main upgrade in the new Sea Harrier FA.2 was the Blue Vixen radar, a very powerful radar system for its size class that allowed the Sea Harrier FA.2 to utilise the new AIM-120 AMRAAM, which was in development at the time. After a few years of testing, the first operational Sea Harrier FA.2s would enter service upon delivery on April 2nd, 1993.

The Sea Harrier FA 2 is a British VTOL fleet defence fighter introduced in Update "Seek & Destroy". While objectively worse in pretty much every way compared to the American equivalent at the same battle rating, the AV-8B+, the FA.2 is still a very lethal aircraft when left unchecked. Thanks to the IRCCM-equipped AIM-9M, the powerful AIM-120 AMRAAM and the Blue Vixen radar, and especially thanks to its BOL countermeasure dispenser sets, the FA.2 is capable of punching well above its weight class in air combat. The new upgraded engine allows the Sea Harrier to utilise VIFFing (Vector In Forward Flight) manoeuvres to greatly enhance its dogfighting potential, a necessary trick due to the underwhelming flight performance of the airframe; being essentially a first-generation Harrier body (unlike the Harrier GR.7 or the AV-8B (NA) which utilise the upgraded "Harrier 2" body and wing design, allowing for far superior flight performance). Notably, the Sea Harrier FA.2 possesses an ability which no other Harrier has: the ability to replace its gun "pods" under the fuselage with extra missiles. It is up to the player to decide if sacrificing one (or even both) of their guns for extra missiles is worth the trade-off, however; further adding another layer of strategy to playing this Harrier.

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

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	1,126	1,121		33.1	34.1	65.0	63.3	550
Upgraded	___	___		__._	__._	__._	__._

Details

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

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
		___	___	___	~__	~__

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< ___	< ___	< ___	-

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
Rolls-Royce Pegasus Mk.106		1	_,___ kg		___ kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Gross Weight
Weight (each)	Type		_m fuel	__m fuel	__m fuel
1,710 kg	Vectored-thrust low-bypass turbofan		_,___ kg	_,___ kg	_,___ kg	_,___ kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (___%/WEP)
Condition	100%	___%/WEP	_m fuel	__m fuel	__m fuel	MGW
Stationary	___ kgf	___ kgf	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Optimal	___ kgf (_ km/h)	___ kgf (_ km/h)	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__

Survivability and armour

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)	EEGS

Offensive armament

The Sea Harrier FA 2 is armed with:

• 60 x countermeasures

Suspended armament

The Sea Harrier FA 2 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
30 mm ADEN Mk.4 cannons (130 rpg)			1		1
1,000 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.13 No.117 bombs	1	1		1		1	1
1,000 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.13 bombs	1	1		1		1	1
SNEB type 23 rockets	18	18				18	18
AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles	1†, 2						1†, 2
AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles	1†, 2						1†, 2
AIM-120B missiles	1†		1		1		1†
Countermeasures	160†						160†
†Single air-to-air missiles can be carried in conjunction with countermeasure pods on the same hardpoint

Default weapon presets

2 x 30 mm ADEN Mk.4 cannons (130 rpg = 260 total) 2 x AIM-120B missiles + 2 x AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles 320 x countermeasures 320 x countermeasures + 2 x AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles 320 x countermeasures + 2 x AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles 4 x AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles 4 x AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles 4 x AIM-120B missiles 2 x AIM-120B missiles + 320 x countermeasures 72 x SNEB type 23 rockets 5 x 1,000 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.13 bombs (5,000 lb total) 5 x 1,000 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.13 No.117 bombs (5,000 lb total)

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).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 4x AIM-120B, one of the best ARH missiles
• Access to 4x AIM-9M IRCCM missiles
• VTOL can catch opponents off-guard in a dogfight
• Excellent radar set
• Access to BOL Countermeasure dispenser rails

Cons:

• Subsonic
  • Lacklustre flight performance
  • Limits the range of the AIM-120s
• Worse RWR than most competition at the BR
• BOL rail can only mount singular AIM-9, not in double
• Main gun is optional, overlapping with a AIM-120 slot

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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

British Aerospace plc
Strike Aircraft	Harrier GR.7 · Sea Harrier FRS.1 (e) · Sea Harrier FRS.1 · Sea Harrier FA 2
See also	British Aircraft Corporation · Hawker Aircraft Limited