The first-generation AV-8A entered Marine Corps service in 1971.
Marine Attack Squadron 223 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
In a ceremony today at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, the Marine Corps formally retired its final operational AV-8B Harrier II squadron, Marine Attack Squadron 223 (VMA-223), the “Bulldogs.” The event closed an era in which the Harrier was a signature platform of Marine aviation. VMA-223 carried the Harrier banner through its last operational deployment aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.
V/STOL design and operational flexibility
The Harrier’s defining technical feature was its vertical and short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capability, enabled by swiveling engine nozzles. That design let the aircraft operate from short runways, improvised sites, roads, damaged airfields, and the decks of relatively small ships. The AV-8B Harrier II updated the earlier AV-8A with a larger composite wing, greater payload, improved performance and avionics, and later upgrades that added night-attack capability and radar-equipped AV-8B Plus variants.
Combat record from Desert Storm to counterinsurgency
The Harrier accrued extensive combat experience. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991 Marine Harriers flew thousands of sorties, demonstrating the platform’s capacity to sustain a high operational tempo. In the decades that followed the AV-8B participated in operations over the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and against ISIS. In the post-9/11 era the Harrier became especially important in counterinsurgency settings: equipped with advanced targeting pods and precision-guided munitions, it could remain close to ground forces and provide timely close air support.
Maintenance, avionics, and limits that shaped retirement
The Harrier’s service life extended for more than four decades, but age and maintenance demands, together with limited growth potential, contributed to its retirement. The single-seat Harriers that remained in Marine service were “radar birds” fitted with AN/APG-65 radars that had been ported over second-hand from F/A-18A/B Hornets, giving them notable air-to-air capability. The aircraft also required a unique training syllabus and placed distinct demands on pilots and maintainers; those demands fostered a close-knit community but underscored the platform’s limits as planners looked toward high-end future conflicts.
Transition to the F-35B, F-35C procurement, and the 2022 plan
Marine aviation planners determined the service’s next jump jet had to combine short takeoff and vertical landing with stealth, advanced sensors, networked warfare capabilities, and enhanced survivability. The F-35B Lightning II was selected as the Harrier’s designated successor, preserving expeditionary flexibility while adding stealth, sensor fusion, electronic warfare capabilities and broader networking roles. The Marine Corps is also procuring F-35C versions capable of operating from big-deck carriers and land bases. The transition away from the Harrier was outlined in the 2022 Marine Aviation Plan; squadrons converted, aircraft were retired, maintainers retrained, and pilots transitioned to the new platform. By 2024 the final two Marine pilots completed AV-8B qualification training, marking the end of new Harrier pilot designations.
What this means for Marine aviation planners, VMA-223 personnel, and allied operators Italy and Spain
- Marine aviation planners: The retirement marks a doctrinal shift from a legacy V/STOL solution toward stealthy, sensor-rich STOVL (short takeoff and vertical landing) platforms intended for contested environments, in line with the 2022 Marine Aviation Plan.
- VMA-223 pilots and maintainers: For the squadron’s aircrew and maintainers the Harrier’s retirement is bittersweet — it ends a demanding but distinctive operating culture that required specialized training and intensive maintenance practices built over decades.
- Allied operators — Italy and Spain: The AV-8B remains in frontline service in smaller numbers with Italy and Spain, leaving those operators as the last nations flying a type now retired by the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Harrier did more than fly missions; it proved a concept. By enabling fixed-wing aviation to operate from amphibious assault ships and austere locations, the AV-8B reinforced the Corps’ expeditionary identity and foreshadowed later concepts such as distributed operations and expeditionary advanced bases. As the last Marine Harriers make their final flights, they leave a record of innovation, intense operational use from Desert Storm through recent counter-narcotics and regional operations, and a legacy that the F-35B is intended to preserve in a very different technological envelope. Whether buyers will step forward for former Marine Corps Harriers remains an open question; for now, the jump-jet era in the Corps has come to its official end.
Original story: https://www.twz.com/air/marines-av-8-harrier-jump-jet-takes-its-final-bow
