Although the US Marine Corps was quick to recognise the potential of the V/STOL Harrier and eventually obtained more than 100 AV-8As, it was less than happy with the limited weapons payload and poor range and endurance of its Harriers. The USMC soon began pushing for a more capable version. This development was at first intended to be a joint venture between Hawker Siddeley Aviation (HSA) and McDonnell Douglas, but for various reasons both political and financial, the companies decided to go ahead independently.
The McDonnell Douglas AV-8B was designed with a new, bigger, composite-construction supercritical wing, incorporating advanced aerodynamic devices to give enhanced lift capabilities over the AV-8A. It also had a fully revised and raised cockpit.
Its new wing enabled higher take-off weights and additional ordnance to be carried, but despite a more powerful Pegasus engine the AV-8B Harrier II was about 50mph (80km/h) slower than its predecessor. With a FLIR (forward-looking infrared) new head-up and head-down displays, a colour moving map and the Hughes AN/APG-65 radar that enabled radar-guided air-to-air missiles to be fired, this second-generation Harrier proved to be very much more capable than the AV-8A.
The early experimental YAV-8Bs were converted from AV-8As and trials began in November 1978. It was some five years later that the first production AV-8B was delivered but it was not fully operational until January 1985. Delivery of the developed night-capable Harrier IIs followed in September 1989.
The ultimate version of the Harrier II, the AV-8B+ currently in service, is fitted with the same APG-65 radar system as the F/A-18 Hornet and is able to carry AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-7 Sparrow AAMs, which give the aircraft a considerable increase in anti-aircraft capabilities. It can also carry AGM-84 Harpoon anti-shipping missiles. The AV-8B Remanufacture Program converted older AV-8B day-attack aircraft to the later-production radar/night-attack configuration. The first AV-8B+ entered service in the summer of 1994, and the first remanufactured ‘plus’ followed in January 1996.
When it became clear that the handling characteristics of the Harrier II were significantly different from those of the AV-8A, McDonnell Douglas produced a two-seat version, the TAV-8B. The first of twenty-four TAV-8Bs for the USMC (the sixty-fourth Harrier II to be built) made its maiden flight on 21 October 1986 and entered service in July 1987.
In Operation Desert Storm in 1991, three AV-8B squadrons were involved and a total of eighty-six Marine Corps Harriers flew 3,507 missions against Iraqi targets in Kuwait and Iraq. Five Harriers were lost, four in combat – mainly because of their vulnerability to improved surface-to-air missiles.
During the Second Gulf War in 2003, the AV-8B+ saw extensive use operating from two USMC amphibious assault ships. Each carried twenty-four Harriers, about four times their normal complement of fixed-wing aircraft. Despite its unique ability, the Harrier remains subsonic and therefore slower than most fighters. The thrust-vectoring engine nozzles leave a large infrared signature for enemy missiles to lock on to, which puts the Harrier at a big disadvantage in close-quarter dogfights. AV-8Bs continue on the strength of eight USMC units.
After successfully operating the AV-8S from 1976, the Spanish Navy purchased 12 EAV-8Bs that were delivered in 1987–8, and a further twelve EAV-8B+ in 1996. The surviving early EAV-8Bs were later remanufactured to ‘plus’ standard. The Harrier IIs equip No. 009 Squadron at Rota and are operated from the aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias.
Another purchaser of the AV-8B+ was the Italian Navy. The Marina Militare Italiana initially ordered two TAV-8Bs to operate from the carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi in the late 1980s. AV-8B+ versions were ordered in the 1990s and currently fifteen AV-8B+ and two TAV-8Bs are based at Taranto/Grottaglie with the Gruppi Aerei Imbarcati.