Boeing (McDonnell Douglas)/BAE AV-8B Harrier II

Updated: October 2026 – A gray fighter jet hangs seemingly motionless in the air, nose slightly raised, and a deep roar rolls across the field. Then it turns on the spot and slowly sinks to the ground: only one aircraft can deliver a demonstration like that, the Harrier. The second generation, the AV-8B Harrier II, was the US Marine Corps’ ground-attack aircraft for more than four decades. In June 2026, that chapter ends there. In Spain and Italy, though, it keeps flying. Here you’ll learn how to recognize the Harrier II, how to tell the variants apart and where you can still get it in front of your lens.

What is the AV-8B Harrier II?

The AV-8B is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft that can take off vertically or with a very short run and land vertically. Experts call this V/STOL. In the US designation system, the abbreviation AV stands for an attack aircraft with vertical takeoff capability. The concept is needed where no long runway is available: on amphibious assault ships, small aircraft carriers or improvised landing sites near the front.

The heart is a single Rolls-Royce Pegasus, designated F402 in the USA. This turbofan blows its thrust not through a nozzle at the tail but through four rotating nozzles on the sides of the fuselage. The front two emit cold air from the fan, the rear two the hot exhaust. When all four point down, the jet lifts off vertically. When the pilot swivels them aft, it accelerates like a normal aircraft. In late versions, the Pegasus F402-RR-408 delivers around 105 kilonewtons of thrust.

The Harrier II can only take off vertically at limited weight: according to the usual data sheets, it’s around 9.4 tonnes for a vertical liftoff but around 14.1 tonnes with a short rolling takeoff. In everyday operations, it therefore usually takes off with a run or over a ski jump at the ship’s bow and then lands vertically.

From the British original to the Harrier II

The idea comes from Britain. In the 1960s, Hawker Siddeley developed the first operational vertical-takeoff fighter jet, the first-generation Harrier. The US Marine Corps bought it as the AV-8A and used it from 1971. The Marines liked the concept but wanted more range and more payload.

That led to a joint program: McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis took the lead, British Aerospace – today BAE Systems – was the partner, and Rolls-Royce supplied the engine. The converted YAV-8B prototype flew on November 9, 1978, the first true AV-8B on November 5, 1981. In January 1985, squadron VMA-331 reported operational readiness as the first Marine Corps unit.

What is new compared with the original? Mainly the wing. It is one-piece, larger, less swept and made largely of carbon-fiber composite – yet lighter than the smaller metal wing of the AV-8A. Added to that were leading-edge root extensions, auxiliary surfaces under the fuselage that create extra lift when hovering near the ground, a cockpit set about 27 centimeters higher and around 50 percent more internal fuel.

After the merger of McDonnell Douglas with Boeing in 1997, the program continued under the new roof. New aircraft were built until the end of the 1990s, followed mainly by conversions of existing jets to the latest standard. Boeing delivered the last AV-8B built for the Marine Corps, with Bureau Number 166288, in September 2003. The page on the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II also sheds light on the development history from McDonnell Douglas’s point of view.

How to recognize the Harrier II

The Harrier is one of the most distinctive military aircraft of all. At a quick glance, the risk of confusion can still be high, especially with the first generation. These features help you:

• The nozzles: Two thrust nozzles on each side of the fuselage, one ahead of and one behind the wing root. On the ground, they usually point slightly aft; in a hover, straight down.
• The landing gear: Nose and main landing gear sit one behind the other under the fuselage. So the jet doesn’t tip over, it has a small outrigger wheel under each wing. On the Harrier II it sits roughly at mid-span, on the first Harrier at the wingtips.
• The wings: Mounted high on the fuselage and drooping noticeably. Three pylons hang under each wing; the original Harrier has two.
• The cockpit: The teardrop canopy sits high and clear, and the pilot literally thrones above the fuselage.
• The fuselage pods: Two elongated pods hang under the belly. The 25-millimeter cannon is in the left one, the ammunition in the right. Without the cannon, strakes sit there that improve lift when hovering.

Feature	First-generation Harrier (AV-8A, GR3)	AV-8B Harrier II
First flight	1960s	1981
Wing	smaller, metal, more swept	larger, composite, less sweep
Outrigger wheels	at the wingtips	roughly at mid-span
Wing stations	4	6
Cockpit	lower in the fuselage	higher, with a large teardrop canopy
Air intakes	smaller	larger

Day Attack, Night Attack or Plus?

For spotters in Europe, the question is quickly answered: Spain and Italy fly almost exclusively the Plus and the two-seater. If you’re sorting old photos or identifying museum aircraft, though, you need the whole range.

The end at the US Marine Corps

The Marines were by far the largest operator. The AV-8B flew in the 1991 Gulf War, over the Balkans, in Afghanistan, in Iraq and over Libya. In the Gulf War, according to common reference works, 86 aircraft flew more than 3,000 sorties, and five were lost to surface-to-air missiles. The Taliban attack on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2012, in which several Harriers were destroyed on the ground, also became well known. At the same time, the type had a difficult reputation: the accident rate was high for decades, and vertical-takeoff jets forgive little in a hover.

To keep the fleet flying longer, the USA bought the Harrier GR7s and GR9s retired by Britain in 2011 – mainly as a source of spare parts. The replacement by the F-35B, the short-takeoff and vertical-landing version of the F-35, went ahead steadily anyway.

On June 3, 2026, the Marine Corps bid farewell to the Harrier with a ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina. The last flight was flown by squadron VMA-223 “Bulldogs,” which had returned shortly before from a ten-month deployment with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. Five Harriers flew over the field together one last time at the ceremony. The Corps’ last built AV-8B, BuNo 166288, was handed over to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, and is shown there as an exhibit.

Spain: the Matadors of Rota

The Armada Española ordered twelve aircraft in March 1983, which it calls the VA-2 Matador II. The first three landed on October 6, 1987 at the Rota naval base near Cádiz, where the 9th Escuadrilla took them in. In 1993, eight Harrier II Plus and a two-seater were added, delivered from 1996. Some of the older aircraft were later converted to the Plus standard.

For a long time, the Spanish Harriers flew from the aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias. Since its retirement in February 2013, the amphibious assault ship Juan Carlos I has been their only platform at sea. Spain used the Matadors, among other things, in the NATO operation Deny Flight to monitor the no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Because there was no successor, Spain decided in 2014 to extend the service life beyond 2025. The F-35B has been discussed in Spain for years as a possible successor. With the Marines’ farewell, the question of spare parts also becomes much sharper, because the largest user and spare-parts pool disappears.

Spotting at Rota is a special case: the base is shared by the Spanish Navy and the US Navy. Before you turn up there with a telephoto lens, read the article Spotting in Spain: the rules and the guide Photographing military airfields.

Italy: the “Wolves” of Grottaglie

The Marina Militare was long barred from operating its own fighter aircraft because of a 1937 law. Only when it was changed in 1989 did Italy order two TAV-8Bs and then 16 AV-8B Plus. After the first three built in the USA, Alenia assembled the rest in Italy from delivered kits. The two-seaters arrived in August 1991 at Grottaglie near Taranto, home of the Gruppo Aerei Imbarcati.

The Italian Harriers have an eventful service history: off Somalia in 1995, over Kosovo in 1999, in the Indian Ocean in 2001 and 2002 and over Libya in 2011. There, eight aircraft dropped around 160 precision-guided bombs from the carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi. Later the larger carrier Cavour was added as a platform.

Italy is betting on the F-35B as the successor, which is intended as the shipboard fighter of the Cavour. The switch is happening step by step; in 2025, the Navy still showed both types together at airshows. How much longer the last AV-8B Plus will fly at Grottaglie is something you should check in current sources before a trip.

Where you can still see the Harrier II

With the end at the Marine Corps, your chances concentrate on southern Europe. These situations are the best:

• Home bases: Rota in Andalusia and Grottaglie in Apulia are the places where you’re most likely to see AV-8B Plus in regular flight operations. Military restricted areas and local photography rules always take priority there.
• Ship visits and exercises: During NATO maneuvers in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, the Harriers operate from Juan Carlos I or Cavour. Occasionally they also land ashore.
• Airshows: Spanish and Italian Harriers are more often guests at home airshows; international appearances are rare. A hover display is among the most impressive demonstrations of all. You’ll find dates and tips in the article Airshows in Europe for plane spotters.
• Museums: In the USA, numerous retired AV-8Bs stand in aviation museums, for example at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola and the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

How to track military flights without transponder data is explained in the guide Tracking military aircraft online. You decode the serials of US aircraft with the article on US military serials – in the Marine Corps, they are six-digit Bureau Numbers on the tail.

Photo tips for the jump jet

The Harrier behaves differently from any other fighter jet – that opens up shots you wouldn’t get otherwise.

More tips for airshows are in the guide Photographing airshows.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

The most obvious mix-up is the first Harrier including the Sea Harrier – the outrigger wheels at the wingtips give it away. The F-35B can also land vertically, but it has two canted vertical stabilizers, an angular stealth shape, a large door behind the cockpit for the lift fan and one swiveling nozzle at the tail instead of four nozzles on the sides. And the V-22 Osprey, which is also flown by the Marine Corps, is hard to mistake with its huge tilting rotors. The article Identifying fighter jets in Europe explains more distinctions.

Logging the Harrier II in Planetrack

A Harrier sighting is something special by now, and it deserves to be documented. In Planetrack, you post it with photo, aircraft type, serial, operator, airport and spot and then have it permanently in your hangar. On your wish list, you note which variant you’re still missing – such as the TAV-8B two-seater or the Italian Plus. In the community, you share your hover pictures, collect likes and comments and chat with other military spotters about current airshows at Rota or Grottaglie.

Conclusion

The AV-8B Harrier II is the mature second generation of the legendary jump jet: larger composite wing, higher cockpit, more fuel and more weapon stations. After more than four decades, the US Marine Corps retired it in June 2026, while in Spain and Italy it stays in service for now. For you as a spotter, that means: if you want to see a flying Harrier, look to southern Europe – and don’t wait too long.