Editing Hawker Siddeley Harrier (section)

===Royal Air Force===
The first RAF squadron to be equipped with the Harrier GR.1, [[No. 1 Squadron RAF|No. 1 Squadron]], started to convert to the aircraft at [[RAF Wittering]] in April 1969.<ref name= Jefford_13/><ref name="Mason harrier p84">Mason 1986, p. 84.</ref> An early demonstration of the Harrier's capabilities was the participation of two aircraft in the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' [[Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race|Transatlantic Air Race]] in May 1969, flying between [[St Pancras railway station]], London and central [[Manhattan]] with the use of aerial refuelling. The overall journey between the [[Post Office Tower]] and [[Empire State Building]] took 6 hours 11 minutes; the Harrier had a flight time of 5 hours 57 minutes.<ref name="Mason 91 p424">Mason 1991, p. 424.</ref><ref>"US Interest in British Harrier Jet". ''Glasgow Herald'', 8 May 1969, p. 11.</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=6 May 1969 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/05/06/archives/briton-sets-pace-in-transocean-race.html |title=Briton Sets Pace in Trans-ocean Race |work=The New York Times |page=93 |access-date=10 February 2025}}</ref> Two Harrier squadrons were established in 1970 at the RAF's air base in [[RAF Wildenrath|Wildenrath]] to be part of its [[RAF Germany|air force in Germany]]; another squadron was formed there two years later. In 1977, these three squadrons were moved forward to the air base at [[RAF Gütersloh|Gütersloh]], closer to the prospective front line in the event of an outbreak of a European war.  One of the squadrons was disbanded and its aircraft distributed between the other two.<ref name="Evans p22-23">Evans 1998, pp. 22–23.</ref>

[[File:Royal Air Force (RAF) Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR3A 'L' (Lima) and 'T' (Tango) of 1453 Flight RAF on the flight-line at RAF Stanley, Falklands, 1984 21.jpg|thumb|A No. 1453 Flight Harrier GR.3 at Stanley Airport in 1984|alt=Harrier at an airfield]]
In RAF service, the Harrier was used in [[close air support]] (CAS), reconnaissance, and other ground-attack roles. The flexibility of the Harrier led to a long-term heavy deployment in [[West Germany]] as a conventional deterrent and potential strike weapon against Soviet aggression; from camouflaged rough bases the Harrier was expected to launch attacks on advancing armour columns from [[East Germany]].<ref name= RAF_Museum/> Harriers were also deployed to bases in Norway and [[Belize]], a former British colony.<ref name=RAF_Museum>[http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/collections/aircraft/bae-harrier-gr3.cfm "BAe Harrier GR3 Aircraft History – Post-World War Two Aircraft".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105051311/http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/collections/aircraft/bae-harrier-gr3.cfm |date=5 January 2011 }} ''RAF Museum''. Retrieved: 4 March 2011.</ref> No. 1 Squadron was specifically earmarked for Norwegian operations in the event of war, operating as part of [[Allied Forces Northern Europe]]. The Harrier's capabilities were necessary in the [[No. 1417 Flight RAF#British Forces Belize|Belize deployment]], as it was the only RAF combat aircraft capable of safely operating from the airport's short runway;<ref>Jefford 2006, pp. 79–80.</ref> British forces had been stationed in Belize for several years due to tensions over a Guatemalan claim to Belizean territory; the forces were withdrawn in 1993, two years after Guatemala recognized the independence of Belize.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1tuZQlMu4UsC "Daily report. West Europe, Parts 1–15".] ''United States. Foreign Broadcast Information Service'', March 1993, p. 10. Retrieved 31 July 2011.</ref>

====Falklands War====
In the [[Falklands War]] ({{langx|es|Guerra de las Malvinas}}) in 1982, 10 Harrier GR.3s of No. 1 Squadron operated from the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Hermes|R12|6}}.<ref name= 'max.af.mil'>Duffner, Robert W. [http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1984/mar-apr/duffner.html "Conflict In The South Atlantic: The Impact of Air Power."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110214537/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1984/mar-apr/duffner.html |date=10 January 2010 }} ''Air University Review,'' March–April 1984. Retrieved 31 July 2011.</ref> As the RAF Harrier GR.3 had not been designed for naval service, the 10 aircraft had to be rapidly modified prior to the departure of the task force. Special sealants against corrosion were applied and a new deck-based inertial guidance aid was devised to allow the RAF Harrier to land on a carrier as easily as the Sea Harrier.<ref name= Braybrook_15/> [[Transponder]]s to guide aircraft back to the carriers during night-time operations were also installed, along with [[Flare (countermeasure)|flares]] and [[Chaff (countermeasure)|chaff]] dispensers.<ref>Jefford 2006, pp. 85–86.</ref>

As there was little space on the carriers, two requisitioned merchant container ships, {{SS|Atlantic Conveyor||2}} and {{SS|Atlantic Causeway||2}}, were modified with temporary flight decks and used to carry Harriers and helicopters to the South Atlantic.<ref name= 'corum'/> The Harrier GR.3s focused on providing close air support to the ground forces on the Falklands and attacking Argentine positions; suppressing enemy artillery was often a high priority.<ref name= 'time'>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080416131015/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951776-1,00.html "That Magnificent Flying Machine."] ''Time,'' 7 June 1982. Retrieved 31 July 2011.</ref><ref>Kemp, Leslie R. "Close Air Support Today and Tomorrow". ''Air War College, Maxwell AFB,'' May 1989.</ref> Sea Harriers were also used in the war, primarily conducting fleet air defence and [[combat air patrol]]s against the threat of attacking Argentine fighters.<ref name= 'corum'>Corum, James S. [http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj02/fal02/corum.html "Argentine Airpower in the Falklands War."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102191905/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj02/fal02/corum.html |date=2 January 2014 }} ''Air & Space Power Journal,'' 20 August 2002. Retrieved 31 July 2011.</ref> However, both Sea Harriers and Harrier GR.3s were used in ground-attack missions against the main airfield and runway at [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]].<ref>Jefford 2006, p. 89.</ref>

If most of the Sea Harriers had been lost, the GR.3s would have replaced them in air patrol duties, even though the Harrier GR.3 was not designed for air defence operations; as such the GR.3s quickly had their outboard weapons pylons modified to take air-to-air Sidewinder missiles.<ref name= Braybrook_15>Braybrook 1982, p. 15.</ref> From 10 to 24 May 1982, prior to British forces landing in the Falklands, a detachment of three GR.3s provided air defence for [[Ascension Island]] until three [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II|F-4 Phantom IIs]] arrived to take on this responsibility.<ref>Freedman 2007, p. 69</ref> During the Falklands War, the greatest threats to the Harriers were deemed to be surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and small arms fire from the ground.<ref>Jefford 2006, pp. 89–90.</ref> In total, four Harrier GR.3s and six Sea Harriers were lost to ground fire, accidents, or mechanical failure.<ref>Freedman 2007, pp. 788–789</ref> More than 2,000 Harrier [[sortie]]s were conducted during the conflict—equivalent to six sorties per day per aircraft.<ref>Feesey, John D.L. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zlt7e7nJwNEC "V/STOL: Neither Myth nor Promise – But Fact".] ''Air University Review'', 50(2). Retrieved 6 March 2011.</ref>

====Skyhook and post Falklands deployment====
[[File:BELIZE 90 23.jpg|thumb|An RAF Harrier GR.3 in Belize, 1990|alt=A Harrier stored at an airfield]]

Following the Falklands War, British Aerospace explored the Skyhook, a new technique to operate Harriers from smaller ships. Skyhook would have allowed the launching and landing of Harriers from smaller ships by holding the aircraft in midair by a crane; secondary cranes were to hold weapons for rapid re-arming. This would potentially have saved fuel and allowed for operations in rougher seas.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=h9QDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA181 "Skyhooks for Harriers".] ''Popular Mechanics'', October 1983, p. 181. Retrieved 31 July 2011.</ref> The system was marketed to foreign customers,{{refn|In the early 1990s, following Japanese interest in acquiring Harriers, Skyhook was suggested as a means to operate onboard their [[helicopter destroyer]]s.<ref>Jacobs, Gordon. "Reporting from the East, Japan continues to emphasis its sea defense forces". ''Jane's Defence Weekly'', 1990, p. 64.</ref>|group=N}} and it was speculated that Skyhook could be applied to large submarines such as the Russian {{sclass2|Typhoon|submarine|4}}, but the system attracted no interest.<ref>Treadwell, Terry. "Submarine Aviation", ''The Putnam Aeronautical Review'', 1991. pp. 46–54.</ref>

The first generation of Harriers did not see further combat with the RAF after the Falklands War, although they continued to serve for years afterwards. As a deterrent against further Argentine invasion attempts, [[No. 1453 Flight RAF]] was deployed to the [[Falkland Islands]] from August 1983 to June 1985.<ref name=Sturtivant123>Sturtivant 2007, p. 123.</ref> However the second generation [[British Aerospace Harrier II|Harrier II]]s saw action in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The first generation Hawker Siddeley airframes were replaced by the improved Harrier II, which had been developed jointly between McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace.<ref name=Jenkins_88-9>Jenkins 1998, pp. 88–89.</ref>