The AV-8B is the only tactical aircraft that can deploy with Marine forces on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support separate from large deck aircraft carriers. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, a coalition of nations launched Operation Desert Shield in order to defend Saudi Arabia, and the Harrier II was among the first tactical air assets to be deployed to the region. During Operation Desert Storm, the five units flying the AV-8B in-theatre became some of the top tactical squadrons of choice by air mission planners because of the pilots' skill as well as the plane's vertical take-off ability. The previously untold story of the AV-8B in this conflict is vividly brought to life by the author through first-hand accounts and period photography sourced from those that were there and official archives. This will be the first of three volumes on USMC Harrier IIs in combat, with follow-on titles covering the jet's operations in Iraq in 2003–08 and Afghanistan in 2001–2009.
This book is the third of three volumes on US Marine Corps Harrier IIs in combat, and it is the first volume in print to cover the whole story of the AV-8B's service employment during peacekeeping operations and then in Afghanistan. In the 1970s the USMC bought the AV-8A Harrier from the UK to test V/STOL (vertical and/or short take-off and landing) concepts for close air support. A successful funding battle was subsequently fought in the 1980s to secure military, political, and economic support to expand this concept to develop and field the second generation AV-8B Harrier II from the late 1980s onward. The AV-8B was, and still is, the only tactical aircraft that could deploy with Marine forces on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support separate from large deck aircraft carriers. Having seen action in-theater during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the Harrier II was heavily involved in peacekeeping operations in Balkans in the 1990s, as well as in Africa from 1992 to 2002. From late 2001, the jet took part in the 'War on Terror" during the early phase of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Units equipped with the aircraft initially flew from amphibious assault ships off the Pakistani coast, before becoming land-based in-theater from early 2002 following the occupation of Afghanistan by Coalition troops. Harrier II squadrons have maintained a presence in-theatre supporting anti-Taliban and al-Qaeda operations ever since.
The McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II--vertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL)--is the US Marine Corps' current frontline close-air-support aircraft. A variant of the famed British Aerospace Harrier II, the AV-8B is noted for its ability to hover in place, ideal for operating on smaller carriers and in less-than-ideal landing zones. This book provides a concise overview of VSTOL capabilities and the development of the Harrier jump jet in the UK, followed by the use of this aircraft by the US Marine Corps. USMC Harrier II units' first combat missions were during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, followed by extensive deployments in eastern Europe, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
The AV-8B Harrier was, and still is, the only tactical aircraft that can deploy with the US Marine Corps on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support separate from large deck aircraft carriers. Having seen action during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the Harrier II returned to the theatre from March 2003 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the initial conflict some 76 AV-8Bs were deployed, providing more than 40 per cent of the 3rd Marine Air Wing's fixed-wing offensive firepower. Around 60 of these aircraft were sea-based aboard four 'Harrier Carriers', while a unit flew jets from Ahmed al Jaber, in Kuwait. Unlike in 1991, when Harrier IIs employed unguided weapons, 79 per cent of the ordnance dropped was precision-guided. This was primarily due to the AV-8B's upgrading to Night Attack or radar-equipped configuration, and the introduction of the Litening II targeting pod. Following the occupation of Iraq by Coalition troops, Harrier IIs remained in-theatre supporting anti-insurgent operations through to 2008 as part of OIF II-VI.
In the 1970s the USMC bought the AV-8A Harrier from the UK whose VTOL capabilities allowed it to serve as a tactical aircraft that could deploy with Marine forces on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support from large deck aircraft carriers. Third in a trilogy on US Marine Corps Harrier IIs in combat, it will be the first volume to cover the whole story of the AV-8B's service employment during peacekeeping operations and then in Afghanistan. With profile artwork for all frontline AV-8B units detailing the unique colours and markings applied by each squadron, this volume presents the widest variety of first-hand accounts of AV-8B air operations and missions by pilots and ground forces involved in Operation Enduring Freedom published to date.
The AV-8B is the only tactical aircraft that can deploy with Marine forces on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support separate from large deck aircraft carriers. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, a coalition of nations launched Operation Desert Shield in order to defend Saudi Arabia, and the Harrier II was among the first tactical air assets to be deployed to the region. During Operation Desert Storm, the five units flying the AV-8B in-theatre became some of the top tactical squadrons of choice by air mission planners because of the pilots' skill as well as the plane's vertical take-off ability. The previously untold story of the AV-8B in this conflict is vividly brought to life by the author through first-hand accounts and period photography sourced from those that were there and official archives. This will be the first of three volumes on USMC Harrier IIs in combat, with follow-on titles covering the jet's operations in Iraq in 2003–08 and Afghanistan in 2001–2009.
Mark A. Chambers charts the history and output of Hawker Aircraft Ltd from Sopwith onwards, through the Harrier's development, production, flight testing and operational and combat history, and also considers its future replacement, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The AV-8B Harrier was, and still is, the only tactical aircraft that can deploy with the US Marine Corps on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support separate from large deck aircraft carriers. Having seen action during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the Harrier II returned to the theatre from March 2003 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the initial conflict some 76 AV-8Bs were deployed, providing more than 40 per cent of the 3rd Marine Air Wing's fixed-wing offensive firepower. Around 60 of these aircraft were sea-based aboard four 'Harrier Carriers', while a unit flew jets from Ahmed al Jaber, in Kuwait. Unlike in 1991, when Harrier IIs employed unguided weapons, 79 per cent of the ordnance dropped was precision-guided. This was primarily due to the AV-8B's upgrading to Night Attack or radar-equipped configuration, and the introduction of the Litening II targeting pod. Following the occupation of Iraq by Coalition troops, Harrier IIs remained in-theatre supporting anti-insurgent operations through to 2008 as part of OIF II-VI.
Winner of the 2012 Colby Award and the first Afghanistan memoir ever to be written by a Marine Harrier pilot, A Nightmare’s Prayer portrays the realities of war in the twenty-first century, taking a unique and powerful perspective on combat in Afghanistan as told by a former enlisted man turned officer. Lt. Col. Michael “Zak” Franzak was an AV-8B Marine Corps Harrier pilot who served as executive officer of VMA-513, “The Flying Nightmares,” while deployed in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003. The squadron was the first to base Harriers in Bagram in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. But what should have been a standard six-month deployment soon turned to a yearlong ordeal as the Iraq conflict intensified. And in what appeared to be a forgotten war half a world away from home, Franzak and his colleagues struggled to stay motivated and do their job providing air cover to soldiers patrolling the inhospitable terrain. I wasn’t in a foxhole. I was above it. I was safe and comfortable in my sheltered cocoon 20,000 feet over the Hindu Kush. But I prayed. I prayed when I heard the muted cries of men who at last understood their fate. Franzak’s personal narrative captures the day-by-day details of his deployment, from family good-byes on departure day to the squadron’s return home. He explains the role the Harrier played over the Afghanistan battlefields and chronicles the life of an attack pilot—from the challenges of nighttime, weather, and the austere mountain environment to the frustrations of working under higher command whose micromanagement often exacerbated difficulties. In vivid and poignant passages, he delivers the full impact of enemy ambushes, the violence of combat, and the heartbreaking aftermath. And as the Iraq War unfolded, Franzak became embroiled in another battle: one within himself. Plagued with doubts and wrestling with his ego and his belief in God, he discovered in himself a man he loathed. But the hardest test of his lifetime and career was still to come—one that would change him forever. A stunning true account of service and sacrifice that takes the reader from the harrowing dangers of the cockpit to the secret, interior spiritual struggle facing a man trained for combat, A Nightmare’s Prayer brings to life a Marine’s public and personal trials set against “the fine talcum brown soot of Afghanistan that permeated everything—even one’s soul.”
In the 1970s the USMC bought the AV-8A Harrier from the UK whose VTOL capabilities allowed it to serve as a tactical aircraft that could deploy with Marine forces on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support from large deck aircraft carriers. Third in a trilogy on US Marine Corps Harrier IIs in combat, it will be the first volume to cover the whole story of the AV-8B's service employment during peacekeeping operations and then in Afghanistan. With profile artwork for all frontline AV-8B units detailing the unique colours and markings applied by each squadron, this volume presents the widest variety of first-hand accounts of AV-8B air operations and missions by pilots and ground forces involved in Operation Enduring Freedom published to date.
