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
McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II of funds for a replacement aircraft. Following the decommissioning of "Príncipe de Asturias" in February 2013, the sole naval platform from which Spanish Harrier IIs can operate is the amphibious assault ship . During its service with the USMC, the Harrier has had an accident rate three times that of the Corps' F/A-18s. , approximately 110 aircraft have been damaged beyond repair since the type entered service in 1985, the first accident occurring in March that year. The "Los Angeles Times" reported in 2003 that the Harrier family had the highest rate of major accidents among military aircraft in service