Joint Force Harrier
Encyclopedia
STOVL
STOVL is an acronym for short take off and vertical landing.This is the ability of some aircraft to take off from a short runway or take off vertically if it does not have a very heavy payload and land vertically...
Harrier aircraft of the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
. It was sub-ordinate to RAF Air Command
RAF Air Command
Air Command is the only Command currently active in the Royal Air Force. It was formed by the merger of Royal Air Force Strike and Personnel and Training Commands on 1 April 2007, and has its headquarters at RAF High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire....
.
Upon its disbandment there were two operational Joint Strike Wing squadrons, one Fleet Air Arm and one Royal Air Force, plus an RAF Operational Conversion Unit
Operational Conversion Unit
An Operational Conversion Unit is a unit within an air force whose role is to support preparation for the operational missions of a specific aircraft type by providing trained personnel. OCUs teach pilots how to fly an aircraft and which tactics best exploit the performance of their aircraft and...
.
History
Joint Force Harrier was established on 1 April 2000 in response to the proposal brought by the British Government as part of Strategic Defence ReviewStrategic Defence Review
The Strategic Defence Review was a British policy document produced by the Labour Government that came to power in 1997. Then Secretary of State for Defence, George Robertson, set out the initial defence policy of the new government, with a series of key decisions designed to enhance the United...
. Originally called Joint Force 2000, it combined the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
's Sea Harrier FA2
BAE Sea Harrier
The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval VTOL/STOVL jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft, a development of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. It first entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980 as the Sea Harrier FRS1 and became informally known as the "Shar"...
squadrons with the RAF's Harrier GR 7/7A squadrons under a single command structure within RAF Strike Command
RAF Strike Command
The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007: it was merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air Command. It latterly consisted of two formations - No. 1...
. This force was to be deployable from both Invincible class aircraft carrier
Invincible class aircraft carrier
The Invincible class is a class of light aircraft carrier operated by the British Royal Navy. Three ships were constructed, , and . The vessels were built as aviation-capable anti-submarine warfare platforms to counter the Cold War North Atlantic Soviet submarine threat, and initially embarked...
s, Royal Air Force stations and deployed air bases.
BAE Sea Harrier
The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval VTOL/STOVL jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft, a development of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. It first entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980 as the Sea Harrier FRS1 and became informally known as the "Shar"...
previously part of Naval Air Command. With the retirement of the Sea Harrier in 2006, the force migrated entirely to the Harrier GR7
RAF Harrier II
The British Aerospace/McDonnell Douglas Harrier II is a second-generation vertical/short takeoff and landing jet aircraft used previously by the Royal Air Force and, between 2006–2010, the Royal Navy. Derived from the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II, which was a development of the Hawker...
, and the upgraded GR9.
In 2006, No 3 Squadron converted to the Eurofighter Typhoon
Eurofighter Typhoon
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole combat aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of three companies: EADS, Alenia Aeronautica and BAE Systems; working through a holding company, Eurofighter GmbH, which was formed in 1986...
, surrendering its aircraft to the Fleet Air Arm, and allowing No 800 NAS to reform. At the same time, the size of operational squadrons reduced from 12 aircraft to nine. Both No 1 and No 4 Squadrons, together with 800 NAS, surrendered three aircraft each. This allowed 801 NAS to convert from the Sea Harrier to the Harrier GR9. The Naval Air Squadrons operate but not own the aircraft.
On 9 March 2007, with the reformation of 801 NAS, the Naval Strike Wing
Naval Strike Wing
The Naval Strike Wing was a flying unit of the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was formed on 9 March 2007...
(NSW) was formed. This saw elements of both Fleet Air Arm squadrons amalgamate into a single operational squadron for deployment either on land (such as Afghanistan) or aboard the Royal Navy's two aircraft carriers (HMS Illustrious
HMS Illustrious (R06)
HMS Illustrious is the second of three Invincible-class light aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and is affectionately known as "Lusty" to her crew...
& HMS Ark Royal
HMS Ark Royal (R07)
HMS Ark Royal is a decommissioned light aircraft carrier and former flagship of the Royal Navy. She was the third and final vessel of Invincible-class...
) On 1 April 2010, NSW reverted to the identity of 800 Naval Air Squadron.
On 31 March 2010, the force was reduced by one squadron with the disbandment of No. 20 Squadron RAF
No. 20 Squadron RAF
No. 20 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was until March 2010, the OCU for the BAE Harrier GR9, and T12, operating from RAF Wittering...
, the Harrier Operational Conversion Unit
Operational Conversion Unit
An Operational Conversion Unit is a unit within an air force whose role is to support preparation for the operational missions of a specific aircraft type by providing trained personnel. OCUs teach pilots how to fly an aircraft and which tactics best exploit the performance of their aircraft and...
(OCU). No. 4 Squadron also disbanded and reformed as No. 4 (Reserve) Squadron at RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire....
, taking over as the OCU. At the same time, Joint Force Harrier was renamed Joint Strike Wing and all remaining Harrier GR7 aircraft were retired.
Until 2010, it was intended that the Harrier GR9 fleet would be replaced by 138 STOVL
STOVL
STOVL is an acronym for short take off and vertical landing.This is the ability of some aircraft to take off from a short runway or take off vertically if it does not have a very heavy payload and land vertically...
-capable F-35B Lightning II aircraft around 2018. However, on 19 October 2010, as part of the UK government's Strategic Defence and Security Review
Strategic Defence and Security Review
The Strategic Defence and Security Review was announced by the newly formed Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of the United Kingdom in May 2010, and published on 19 October 2010...
, it was announced that the Harrier was to be retired by April 2011. It is now expected to be replaced by a smaller number of non-STOVL F-35C Lightning IIs. These are scheduled to be introduced by 2020, when a CATOBAR
CATOBAR
CATOBAR is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier...
-capable CVF
Royal Navy CVF programme
The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers are a two-ship class of aircraft carrier being built for the Royal Navy. HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to enter service in 2016 and HMS Prince of Wales in 2020. HMS Queen Elizabeth will not be built to a CATOBAR configuration, but the second ship HMS...
aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
enters service.
HMS Ark Royal
HMS Ark Royal (R07)
HMS Ark Royal is a decommissioned light aircraft carrier and former flagship of the Royal Navy. She was the third and final vessel of Invincible-class...
, the final Royal Navy strike carrier, launched her final fixed wing aircraft on the 24th November 2010 when the four embarked Harrier GR9s left the ship to return to land. On the 15th December 2010, a 16 aircraft flypast from RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore was a Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. The station housed all the operational Harrier GR9 squadrons in the Royal Air Force, and No 122 Expeditionary Air Wing...
marked the final operational flights of British Harriers. 1(F) Squadron, 4(R) Squadron and 800 NAS were disbanded on the 28th January 2011.
Joint Strike Wing units
- No. 1 Squadron RAFNo. 1 Squadron RAFNo. 1 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It operated the Harrier GR9 from RAF Cottesmore until 28 January 2011.The squadron motto is In omnibus princeps , appropriate for the RAF's oldest squadron and one that has been involved in almost every major British military operation since...
- No. 4(R) Squadron RAF
- 800 Naval Air Squadron
Former Joint Force Harrier units:
- No. 3 Squadron RAFNo. 3 Squadron RAFNo 3 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Typhoon F2, FGR4 and T3 from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire.No 3 Squadron, which celebrated its 95th anniversary over the weekend of 11-13 May 2007, is unique in the RAF for having two official crests....
(until 2006) - No. 20(R) Squadron RAFNo. 20 Squadron RAFNo. 20 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was until March 2010, the OCU for the BAE Harrier GR9, and T12, operating from RAF Wittering...
(until 2010) - 801 Naval Air Squadron801 Naval Air Squadron801 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm squadron of the Royal Navy formed in 1933 which fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Falklands War.- Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force:...
, later merging with 800 NAS into the Naval Strike WingNaval Strike WingThe Naval Strike Wing was a flying unit of the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was formed on 9 March 2007...