Hawker Siddeley P.1127 GR.1" designation. The Harrier went on to become a successful aircraft in British service, and was exported to several nations, often seeing usage as a carrier-based aircraft. The P.1127/Kestrel was an experimental V/STOL aircraft, which served as the forerunner for the production of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and the wider Harrier Jump Jet family. It served to demonstrate an entirely original technique of flight, as well as to trial a brand new type of engine in the form of the Pegasus turbofan engine. Despite this, the aircraft employed a principally conventional structure which, according to Mason, lent itself favourably to
Hawker Siddeley Harrier overcome efforts to obstruct its procurement. The AV-8A entered service with the Marine Corps in 1971, replacing other aircraft in the Marines' attack squadrons. The service became interested in performing ship-borne operations with the Harrier. Admiral Elmo Zumwalt promoted the concept of a Sea Control Ship, a 15,000-ton light carrier equipped with Harriers and helicopters, to supplement the larger aircraft carriers of the US Navy. An amphibious assault ship, , was converted into the "Interim Sea Control Ship" and operated as such between 1971 and 1973 with the purpose of studying the limits and possible obstacles for operating such a