Hawker Siddeley Harrier and better equipped for air defence, to replace their AV-8S Harriers; this investigation did not progress to a purchase. The last first-generation Harriers were retired by Thailand in 2006. Hawker Siddeley Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, developed in the 1960s, is the first of the Harrier Jump Jet series of aircraft. It was the first operational close-support and reconnaissance fighter aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities and the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many that arose in that era. The Harrier was developed directly from the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel prototype aircraft, following the cancellation of a
De Havilland Marine the parent company, with assembly, repair and spares facilities for its range of aircraft. Aircraft design and full manufacture by de Havilland Australia (DHA) did not take place until the Second World War. Following the end of the war, the Australian company diversified into an aircraft sales agency and engineering and marine craft manufacturing. In 1960, following the takeover of the parent company de Havilland Holdings Ltd of England by the Hawker Siddley Group, de Havilland Australia was renamed Hawker de Havilland. The company is now owned by Boeing Australia, who announced on 6 February 2009 that Hawker de Havilland