No. 1 (F) Squadron was the world’s first operational V/STOL combat unit when it formed at RAF Wittering on 1 October 1969. The second to form was No. 4 Squadron in March 1970, moving to RAF Wildenrath, West Germany, three months later. Subsequently Nos 3 and 20 Squadrons also became operational with Harriers in Germany.
No. 1 Squadron continued with training for its wartime operations, making its first overseas deployment to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus in March 1970 and to Bardufoss in Norway the following September. The first carrier deployment was made when two Harriers were flown to HMS Ark Royal in May 1971.
RAF Germany’s Harrier Wing was tasked with providing battlefield air interdiction, close air support and tactical reconnaissance for the 1st British Corps, although NATO plans also allowed them to support the German Army on the northern flank, or the Belgians to the south, depending on the location of an expected Warsaw Pact thrust.
The Harrier squadrons began the development of a ‘dispersed’ concept that would allow them – given only the shortest of warnings – to survive any level of air attack on their peacetime base. The broad plan was that the thirty-six Harriers would be dispersed to six preselected sites, supported by 400 ground vehicles and 440 servicing and maintenance personnel, and protected by detachments of the RAF Regiment. Operating over a relatively short radius of action, the Wing was able to maintain a wartime daily rate of approximately 200 sorties over several days. Sometimes straight sections of road in wooded areas were temporarily closed to traffic for use by the Harriers.
By the mid-1970s the RAF Harrier force had worked up to an effective standard, maintaining a two-year lead over its conventional counterpart, the Jaguar. A crisis in Belize, formerly British Honduras, provided the opportunity for the Harrier’s first operational ‘out-of-area’ deployment. Responding to the threat that Belize might be invaded by Guatemala, on 5 November 1975 six Harriers of No. 1 Squadron were flown to Belize City Airport. This became a semi-permanent detachment (as No. 1417 Flight) until July 1993. Occasional deployment exercises were continued to remind Guatemala that Belize could be reinforced very quickly.
The Harrier itself was being progressively improved. Introduced in 1971, the Pegasus 10 or Mk 102 of 20,500lb st became standard for the upgraded GR1A, together with various engineering modifications. With a noticeable change in its appearance, the Harrier GR3 that appeared in 1976 was powered by the 21,500lb st Pegasus 11 or Mk 103. This had a rebladed low-pressure compressor to increase mass flow, an improved combustion chamber, increased cooling for the high-pressure turbine, and a fuel system that allowed manual reversion in an emergency.
The GR3 was distinguished externally from the GR1/1A by its ‘thimble’ nose housing a Ferranti Laser Ranger and Marked-Target Seeker (LRMTS). This permitted more accurate ground attacks and allowed battlefront targets designated by friendly troops or helicopters to be more easily detected. The GR3 also introduced improved sensors, including the ARI.18223 radar warning receiver, with its distinctive aerial on the fin leading edge. Most of the surviving GR1As were converted to GR3 standard.