Marines retire Harrier ‘jump jet’

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The U.S. Marine Corps this week celebrated the retirement of the AV-8B Harrier II, the fighter jet that can take off and land vertically and without a runway.

In a “sundown” ceremony on Wednesday at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., more than 5,000 people gathered to watch the last U.S. unit fly the aircraft, according to a service press release.

A Marine aircraft for 55 years, Harriers use a single turbofan engine with four rotating nozzles from which the thrust can allow it to hover and take off or land vertically. That allowed the jets to operate from places without runways or from the decks of Navy ships, staying closer to combat operations compared to fighter jets that required air bases or airports with full runways.

The Harriers flown at the ceremony were part of Marine Attack Squadron 223, from which a detachment deployed to the Caribbean last year as part of the U.S. military buildup in the region.

“As a platform that has continuously forward deployed across the globe, the Harrier will be remembered for its distinguished combat legacy, legendary Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL) capability, and the Marines and sailors that made the community special,” Lt. Col. John B. Cumbie, commanding officer of Marine Attack Squadron 223, said at the ceremony for the last U.S. unit to fly the Harrier.

The Harrier has been used in conflicts including operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the early 1990s; the 1999 NATO campaign against the former Yugoslavia; the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the 2011 intervention in Libya; the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria; in the 2023 Red Sea crisis involving the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen; and in the Caribbean Sea, prior to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.

At one point, the Marines operated some 280 Harriers, CNN reported.

“Time and again, the Harrier distinguished itself as a lethal, capable and versatile tactical air platform,” according to the Marine Corps release.

The Harriers are being switched out for the F-35B, the next generation of fighter jet that can take off and land vertically.

But the jet will remain in other NATO member fleets, including the Italian and Spanish militaries.

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Nicolas Maduro

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