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The AV-8A was a beast to hover and transition to forward flight, thus the danger and bad reputation. Swing those nozels during combat, however, and NOBODY can outturn you. (including Argentinian AAM's)

The AV-8B Harrier II is a different beast, with many automated tasks. Some of the technologies in the AV-8B are in the new "Joint Strike Fighter", - hover mode is "hands-off". Try that in an AV-8A and your widow will thank you for the VA home loan at your grave.

As for combat, During the Desert Storm ground war, AV-8Bs were based as close as 35 nautical miles (40.22 miles) from the Kuwait border, making them the most forward deployed tactical strike aircraft in theater. The AV-8B flew 3,380 sorties for a total of 4,083 flight hours while maintaining a mission capable rate in excess of 90%. Average turnaround time during the ground war surge rate flight operations was 23 minutes.

source = Harrier

I think the rap on the Harrier is that it doesn't have particularly good "legs" and it typically doesn't carry a very big load of bombs. The main reason to buy Harriers, as opposed to say, A-6's, was that your air bases might be eliminated, and the Harriers -could- be based on a big parking lot say, or the autobahn.

The Viffing is neat and may help you dogfight, but if the bad guys don't play your game that may not matter. Viffing to dodge missiles is a good thing, no doubt about it.

I don't know the loss rate in Desert Storm was. I saw myself one coming back to King Abdul Aziz with a big hole in the vertical stabilizer.

Walt