Hawker Siddeley Harrier Harrier GR.3

The RAF had its GR.1 fleet upgraded to GR.3 standard, which brought improved sensors, a nose-mounted laser tracker — hence the characteristic long nose — the integration of electronic countermeasures and a further uprated Pegasus Mk 103. In that configuration the British single-seater reached its definitive first-generation form.

In RAF service the Harrier flew close air support, reconnaissance and other ground-attack roles. Its flexibility led to a long deployment in West Germany as a conventional deterrent: from camouflaged rough sites it was expected to strike armoured columns advancing from the east. Aircraft were also sent to Norway — No. 1 Squadron was earmarked for Norwegian operations within Allied Forces Northern Europe — and to Belize, where it was the only RAF combat aircraft able to operate safely from the airport's short runway; British forces withdrew in 1993.

In 1982 ten GR.3s of No. 1 Squadron operated from the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes. As the type had not been designed for naval service, the ten aircraft were hurriedly modified before the task force sailed: special anti-corrosion sealants, a new deck-based inertial guidance aid to ease carrier landings, transponders for night recovery, and flare and chaff dispensers. Two requisitioned container ships, Atlantic Conveyor and Atlantic Causeway, were fitted with temporary flight decks to carry aircraft and helicopters to the South Atlantic.

The GR.3s were used mainly for close air support of ground forces, with particular emphasis on suppressing Argentine artillery, and joined attacks on the airfield and runway at Stanley. Their outboard pylons were rapidly modified to carry Sidewinder missiles in case they had to be reassigned to air defence. Between 10 and 24 May 1982 a detachment of three GR.3s provided air defence for Ascension Island until three F-4 Phantom IIs took over. The main threats were surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft artillery and small arms fire; four GR.3s and six Sea Harriers were lost.

The first-generation Harrier saw no further RAF combat, though it served for years afterwards. As a deterrent against another invasion attempt, No. 1453 Flight was deployed to the Falkland Islands from August 1983 to June 1985. The last production delivery of the GR.1/GR.3 series came in December 1986, and the type was replaced by the Harrier II developed jointly by McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace.