British Aerospace Sea Harrier British Aerospace Sea Harrier The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft; the second member of the Harrier Jump Jet family developed. It first entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980 as the Sea Harrier FRS1 and became informally known as the ""Shar"". Unusual in an era in which most naval and land-based air superiority fighters were large and supersonic, the principal role of the subsonic Sea Harrier was to provide air defence for Royal Navy task groups centred around the aircraft carriers. The
Harrier Jump Jet the type, receiving 102 AV-8A and 8 TAV-8A Harriers between 1971 and 1976. The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval V/STOL jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft; it was a navalised development of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. The first version entered service with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in April 1980 as the "Sea Harrier FRS.1", and was informally known as the "Shar". Sea Harriers played a high-profile role in the Falklands War of 1982, flying from the aircraft carriers HMS "Invincible" and HMS "Hermes". Wartime experiences led to the production of an improved model in the form