Hawker Siddeley Harrier cancelled after the release of the British Government's 1957 Defence White Paper, which advocated a policy shift away from manned aircraft and towards missiles. This policy resulted in the termination of the majority of aircraft development projects then underway for the British military. Hawker sought to quickly move on to a new project and became interested in Vertical Take Off/Landing (VTOL) aircraft, which did not need runways. According to Air Chief Marshal Sir Patrick Hine this interest may have been stimulated by the presence of Air Staff Requirement 345, which sought a V/STOL ground attack fighter for the Royal Air
Aircraft in fiction for the Decepticon Jetblade. A prototype Harrier was used in the TV series "The Saint" (1962–1969) in Season 5, Episode 13 "Flight Plan" (aired June 25, 1967). In the show Simon Templar has to retrieve a prototype aircraft called the "Osprey" that was stolen by its test pilot and flown to a middle eastern country. The "Osprey" is portrayed by a Hawker Siddeley P.1127 and a Hawker Siddeley Kestrel, both early versions of the Harrier. A Royal Air Force Harrier was used by MI6 in the 1987 James Bond film "The Living Daylights" to smuggle KGB defector Georgi Koskov out