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
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