The Harrier Still Serves…

With the sunsetting of the AV-8B in USMC service in May, it is refreshing to see these images from the recently concluded Neptune Strike 26-3 of Spanish AV-8Bs (the world’s youngest Harriers) of Novena Escuadrilla (9th Squadron, the Spanish Navy’s sole fixed-wing fighter aircraft unit), doing their thing in the Atlantic aboard the 26,000-ton carrier SPS Juan Carlos I (L 61). The last brand-new AV-8B Harrier was constructed for the Spanish Navy (Armada Española), SN VA.1B-39 (military code 01-927, serial # SR5), delivered in December 2003, marking the end of the global AV-8B manufacturing program. The final Harrier II Plus flying over St.Louis headed out for delivery in 2003. The country recently acquired five retired USMC Harrier airframes for spare parts cannibalization, and the Spanish intend to be the final user of the type, scheduled to sunset in 2032. The Italian Navy is set to retire its last Harriers by 2029, and could pass on its final cache of parts to the NATO ally at that…