The Hawker Siddeley Harrier Jump Jet, the origin of the VTOL Vertical Take-Off and Landing, and things you might not know about it.

The Harrier, informally referred to as the Harrier jump jet, is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations (V/STOL). Named after a bird of prey, it was originally developed by British manufacturer Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s. The Harrier emerged as the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many attempted during that era. It was conceived to operate from improvised bases, such as car parks or forest clearings, without requiring large and vulnerable air bases. Later, the design was adapted for use by aircraft carriers.

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is the first generation version and is also known as the AV-8A or AV-8C Harrier; it was used by multiple air forces, including the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The Sea Harrier is a naval strike/air defense fighter derived from the Hawker Siddeley Harrier; it was operated by both the Royal Navy and the Indian Navy. During the 1980s, a second-generation Harrier emerged, manufactured in the United States as the AV-8B and in Britain as the British Aerospace Harrier II respectively. By the start of the 21st century, the majority of the first generation Harriers had been withdrawn, and many operators have chosen to procure the second generation as a replacement. In the long term, several operators have announced their intention to supplement or replace their Harrier fleets with the STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II, designated as the F-35B.

A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing aircraft and other hybrid aircraft with powered rotors such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and gyrodynes.

Some VTOL aircraft can operate in other modes as well, such as CTOL (conventional take-off & landing), STOL (short take-off & landing), or STOVL (short take-off & vertical landing). Others, such as some helicopters, can only operate as VTOL, due to the aircraft lacking landing gear that can handle taxiing. VTOL is a subset of V/STOL (vertical or short take-off & landing).

Some lighter-than-air aircraft also qualify as VTOL aircraft, as they can hover, takeoff, and land with vertical approach/departure profiles.

Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs, are being developed along with more autonomous flight control technologies and mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) to enable advanced air mobility (AAM), that could include on-demand air taxi services, regional air mobility, freight delivery, and personal air vehicles (PAVs).

Besides the ubiquitous helicopters, there are currently two types of VTOL aircraft in military service: tiltrotor aircraft, such as the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, and thrust-vectoring airplanes, such as the Harrier family and new F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). In the civilian sector currently, only helicopters are in general use (some other types of commercial VTOL aircraft have been proposed and are under development as of 2017). Generally speaking, VTOL aircraft capable of STOVL use it wherever possible, since it typically significantly increases takeoff weight, range, or payload compared to pure VTOL.

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 46 ft 10 in (14.27 m)
Wingspan: 25 ft 5 in (7.75 m)
29 ft 8 in (9 m) with ferry tips fitted
Height: 11 ft 11 in (3.63 m)
Wing area: 201.1 sq ft (18.68 m2)
216 sq ft (20 m2) with ferry tips fitted
Aspect ratio: 3.175
4.08 with ferry tips fitted
Airfoil: root: Hawker 10%; tip: Hawker 3.3%
Empty weight: 13,535 lb (6,139 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 25,200 lb (11,431 kg)
Fuel capacity: 5,060 lb (2,295 kg) internal
2× 100 imp gal (120 US gal; 450 L), 790 lb (358 kg) drop tanks for combat
2× 330 imp gal (400 US gal; 1,500 L), 2,608 lb (1,183 kg) drop-tanks for ferry
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Pegasus 103 vectored-thrust high-bypass turbofan engine, 21,500 lbf (96 kN) thrust with water injection
Performance

Maximum speed: 635 kn (731 mph, 1,176 km/h) at sea level
Maximum diving speed: Mach 1.3
Combat range: 360 nmi (410 mi, 670 km) ho-lo-hi with 4,400 lb (1,996 kg) payload
200 nmi (230 mi; 370 km) lo-lo with 4,400 lb (1,996 kg) payload
Ferry range: 1,850 nmi (2,130 mi, 3,430 km) with 330 imp gal (400 US gal; 1,500 L) drop-tanks
3,000 nmi (3,500 mi; 5,600 km) with one AAR
Endurance: 1 hour 30 minutes combat air patrol 100 nmi (120 mi; 190 km) from base.
7 hours plus with one AAR
Service ceiling: 51,200 ft (15,600 m)
g limits: +7.8 −4.2
Time to altitude: 40,000 ft (12,192 m) in 2 minutes 23 seconds from a vertical take-off
Take-off run CTOL: 1,000 ft (300 m) at max. TO weight

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