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Half of Sea Harrier fleet gone in 20 years KP Narayana Kumar and Rahul Chandran New Delhi, November 26, 2007 When a Sea Harrier naval fighter aircraft crashed, killing its pilot, off the Goa coast in April, it appeared to be another tragic footnote to a string of isolated crashes involving India's fleet of combat aircraft. Not so, if you connect the dots. In the last three years, India, has logged at least 30 such accidents involving various fighter aircrafts. But, what was much more revealing about the April 6 crash, which killed Lt Commander Saurabh Tewari, was that it...

HMS Illustrious has become the first Royal Navy ship to embark a US Marine Corps Bell/Boeing MV-22 Osprey aircraft onto its deck during a joint exercise in the United States. The landing, which comes ahead of a US-led Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFX) on the Eastern seaboard of the United States, was the first time that an Osprey has embarked in a non-US vessel anywhere in the world. The MV-22 Osprey, the world's first tilt-rotor aircraft, has a unique vertical take-off and landing capability. It is ideally suited to working from the deck of HMS Illustrious, which is currently the...

A builder is celebrating after snapping up a model plane with a difference. Neil Banwell, 39, bought a full-size Sea Harrier Jump Jet on the internet auction site eBay for just £10,000. Father-of-three Mr Banwell from Wedmore, Somerset, has now given the 26-year-old fighter plane pride of place in his back garden. The Harrier Jump Jet XZ494, which would have cost around £35 million new, is believed to have seen action in the Falklands War, 25 years ago. Mr Banwell saw the plane, which has no engine, up for auction on eBay and decided to enter a bid. He said...

Updated Ark Royal sails back to sea with new muscle SHÂN ROSS THE Royal Navy's biggest warship passed under the Forth Bridge and headed out for sea trials yesterday after a comprehensive £25 million refit to transform her into the service's only combined troop and aircraft carrier. HMS Ark Royal has had an internal refurbishment which will enable her to transport up to 600 Royal Marines to any flashpoint in the world. The impressive aircraft carrier is now considered "one of a kind" following the £25 million upgrade at Babcock's shipyard in Rosyth, Fife. The upgrade includes a third mast...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Mar. 16, 2006) -- An AV-8B Harrier screams loudly as it slowly lowers itself to the runway. Four other Harriers circle above, waiting for their turn to land - the Flying Nightmares have arrived. While the main body of Marine Attack Squadron 513, originally from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., arrived here a few weeks ago, the actual aircraft arrived March 7 to a unit ready to get to work. "The main body arrived prior to the aircraft in order to unpack and have the work centers established," said Gunnery Sgt. Travis A. White, quality assurance...

ABOARD THE USS PELELIU (May 8, 2006) -- Geared with live ordnance, Marines and aircraft from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), conducted operations in Iraq May 8. AV-8B Harrier aircraft from Fighter Attack Squadron 214, attached to HMM-166 (Rein), from Yuma, Ariz., have been launching from the USS Peleliu and into hostile territory since mid-April in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, while the entire 11th MEU (SOC) was conducting training exercises in Udairi Range, Kuwait. “It was more than a six-hour mission,” said Capt. Casey D. Elam, AV-8B pilot, VMA-214, of the...

AL ASAD, Iraq (April 9, 2006) -- Sweat slowly drips off of the Marines as they carefully raise the 500- and 1000-pound munitions to the weapons carriage on the AV-8B Harrier - the Flying Nightmares are readying for action. Marine Attack Squadron 513, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, is the first Harrier squadron to employ the Joint Direct Attack Munitions in a combat zone. "With this new feature on our jets, we will be able to hit targets more accurately, therefore making us a more effective squadron," said Lt. Col. Willis E. Price, commanding officer, VMA-513. The...

AL ASAD, Iraq(Jan. 5, 2006) -- The Bulldogs of Marine Attack Squadron 223 are taking a bite out of the insurgency in western Iraq. The AV-8B Harrier squadron deployed to Al Asad, Iraq, from its home at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., during August. Since arriving, the squadron's pilots and maintainers have worked hand in hand to ensure the squadron's bite is worse than its bark. "These Marines have been busting their butts," said Capt. Marc F. Arnold, a '223 pilot and Auburn, Ohio, native. "Witnessing all the work they do to keep the squadron up and running...

A Marine fighter jet based in North Carolina crashed Tuesday and the Coast Guard and Navy were searching for the pilot. The Marine AV-8B Harrier crashed about 9:20 a.m. about 20 miles off the coast of St. Augustine, said Donnie Brzuska, a Coast Guard spokesman. The Coast Guard located an oil slick from the aircraft, but so far have not found the pilot. Another aircraft pilot reported that the pilot ejected, but he was not seen touching down, Brzuska said. The name of the missing pilot had not been released early Tuesday. The airplane was based at Marine Corps Air...

Release A050916b CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – Coalition Forces conducted an air strike Sept. 15 against a known terrorist safe house and weapons cache in the western Al Anbar Province border town of Karabilah . The target was an abandoned school used by al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists to carry out attacks against local civilians and Coalition Forces. At the time of the strike, terrorists were also observed firing mortars from outside of the building. Two AV8-B Harrier jets destroyed the building using precision-guided 500 lb. bombs. Multiple secondary explosions were observed by Coalition Forces after the strike. Nine...

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz.(July 21, 2005) -- People all over the world can get thrills from the video arcade flight simulators found in nearly any mall, and these games might be the closest these people will get to flying a multi-million dollar jet. The Marine Corps, however, has spent top dollar on flight simulators that people at the mall could not even imagine. The Radar Night Attack Weapons System Trainer is used to train station AV-8B Harrier pilots. It is a fully functional Harrier cockpit and canopy, which works the exact same as the actual aircraft, said Capt....

YUMA - As Marine base workers walked a neighborhood Thursday searching for stray ammunition from a crashed Harrier jet, the possibility that the Wednesday crash could have caused serious injuries or death began to set in for those living nearby. Donna Boelts has lived at the end of the runway at the Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma since 1993 and operates her business, Property Damage Appraisers Inc., from her home. She said it was a miracle the plane fell from the sky where it did: squarely in the back yards of four homes. "I'm thankful that it turned out the way...

Marine Harrier Jet Crashes in Arizona Associated Press June 16, 2005 YUMA, Ariz. - A Marine Harrier jet carrying four 500-pound bombs crashed Wednesday in a residential neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of 1,300 residences. There were no reports of injuries and the pilot ejected safely, authorities said. The jet was coming in for a landing at Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma when it crashed in the backyard of a home about a mile from the base, said Marine Cpl. Michael Nease. It was also carrying 300 rounds of 25-milimeter ammunition, he said. The Marines were investigating the accident but had not...

Just breaking: Harrier, probably Marine Corps, crashed in Yuma, AZ - possibly within the city.

Marine Harrier pilots fly into history over Fallujah Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Story Identification #: 2004111222824 Story by Cpl. Paul Leicht AL ASAD, Iraq (Nov. 12, 2004) -- Since Alfred A. Cunningham first flew in 1912, the tradition of Marine aviation has had a singular, versatile focus: supporting the Marine on the ground. As U.S. Marines make their assault through the narrow streets of Fallujah against anti-Iraqi forces and terrorists, the physical and mental demands of Marine pilots flying overhead are proving no less intense. Whether flying convoy escorts, close air support or aerial reconnaissance in conjunction with...

 22nd MEU (SOC) Harriers join the fight against Taliban insurgentsSubmitted by: 22nd MEUStory Identification #: 20046105260Story by Gunnery Sgt. Keith A. Milks KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (June 10, 2004) -- AV-8B Harrier II attack jets from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) recently conducted ground attack missions against anti-coalition militia in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province in support of the MEU's ground forces. Based out of Kandahar Air Field, the Harriers have seen extensive use flying escort and reconnaissance missions, but the missions beginning on June 2 marked their first true combat sorties since the MEU's arrival in Afghanistan...

A REVOLUTIONARY new fighter needed to protect the Royal Navy from attack has been ordered back to the drawing board because it weighs too much, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. The American-made Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings (STOVL) and has been ordered by the MoD as a replacement for a number of jets, including the hugely successful Harrier. But it has now emerged that the JSF has a serious weight problem which means it will not fly fast enough to protect warships from aerial attack. The revelation that the enormously expensive jet must...

Making a 'Smooth' TransitionSubmitted by: 13th MEUStory Identification Number: 2003123112712Story by Capt. Bill Pelletier ABOARD USS PELELIU(Dec. 3, 2002) -- It?s been a busy year for Maj. Barry Dowell and some of his comrades. In October 2002, Dowell, a Harrier pilot by trade, was doing refresher training at VMAT-203, a training squadron at MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., after serving as a flight instructor in Texas for two years. Fast forward to three weeks ago, and Dowell had completed more than a dozen combat missions, most of them north of Baghdad. "It's pretty wild," said the 34-year-old Lexington, Ky., native,...

A RAF Harrier GR7 ground-attack aircraft conducted the UK's first operational firing of an AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missile on 21-22 March, when the aircraft attacked a mobile 'Scud' surface-to-surface missile launch site in Iraq. The strike took place at an undisclosed location some 320km inside Iraq, according to a Ministry of Defence statement issued on 22 March. This reported that the Maverick had "successfully engaged and destroyed the target." The UK awarded Raytheon of the US a £42 million ($65.6 million) contract for the AGM-65G2 variant of the Maverick missile in the wake of targeting difficulties experienced during Operation 'Allied...

UK Royal Air Force (RAF) officials have announced the completion of its deployment of 100 fixed-wing aircraft and 27 support helicopters to aid a possible US-led invasion of Iraq. The strength of the UK build-up was underlined early last week, when RAF Harrier GR7 ground-attack aircraft were in action for the first time over Iraq’s southern ‘no-fly zone’, striking two targets that “threatened US and British aircraft”, according to service sources in the Middle East. UK air assets positioned at a spread of bases in the region include: • Tornado GR4 strike aircraft at Ali Al Salem, Kuwait • Harrier...