"Harrier" - a plane of vertical take-off and landing: characteristics, years of operation

Attack fighter-bomber "Harrier" - the aircraft that is produced in Britain. It features excellent characteristics, the possibility of vertical take-off and landing, as well as structural changes. The first flight on this unit was made in the distant nineteen hundred and sixtieth year. For many years it has been used in the armies of the United States, Spain, Thailand, Great Britain. The aircraft is constantly improving, has several modifications.

GR-1 series: description

In fact, "Harrier" - the aircraft, which for the first time in the history of aviation was able to make a vertical takeoff and landing. The first prototype took off in the autumn of 1960. The serial release began in seven years. In the year nineteen sixty-nine, the first squadron of the British air force was formed, consisting of twenty-one units of the aircraft under consideration.

The main purpose of the aircraft in this series is the support of the ground forces. This is due to high maneuverability and the ability to operate in different climatic regions. The range of heights to which the unit is oriented is from three to fourteen thousand kilometers. Materials of aluminum, titanium and magnesium alloys are used in the design. In addition, some parts of the body and components are made of composite components and high-strength steel.

Equipment

Combat aircraft Harrier GR-1 is equipped with a fuselage riveted structure with a pair of technological connectors. The bow includes the cockpit. Its rear line passes along an inclined edge, which serves to install the catapulted seat. Power and associated components are located in the central fuselage compartment. In front there are two fuel tanks, each of which accommodates two hundred and thirty liters of fuel.

Above the main rack there is another tank, with a capacity of four hundred and seventy-three liters. Between the nozzles are installed 177-liter containers, and under the caisson wing part - at 785 liters. It is possible to install additional tanks that guarantee long-term flights without refueling.

Features

The aircraft in question is one of the most popular vehicles operated by the US Air Force. The Marines use it to cover up and jointly storm the alleged targets. The fighter in the central section of the fuselage is equipped with a nose landing gear. The front element is regulated by a pair of hydraulic cylinders, providing a turn for forty-five degrees. The control unit is located in the rear compartment of the fuselage.

The whole pivoting tail and keel is made in the form of a standard horizontal structure. The steering wheel has a honeycomb filler, it extends in flight to a correction angle of up to sixty-six degrees. The wing of the plane-continuous aircraft to the fuselage is fixed in six places. In addition, each wing has four points, designed to install pylons for military weapons or additional fuel tanks.

Engine and associated units

US military jet fighters under the brand name "Harrier GR-1" are equipped with the turbine jet power unit Rolls Roys Bristol. It is fixed in four places to the frames of the central fuselage part. The nozzles are rotated by means of a pneumatic motor. The change in the braking and take-off index of the thrust vector is the ability to change the position in flight by at least ninety degrees.

The correction of the aircraft in space is as follows:

• Operating four compressors, aggregating with the air duct in the nose and tail;
• Three nozzles that are in the rear beam and serve as a tonnage control;
• A pair of exhaust elements intended for control over the channel.

The reactive inclusion system is activated during vertical take-off and landing in flight mode at low speeds (the nozzles of the motor are switched to a mode of twenty or more degrees).

Characteristics

"Harrier" - the military aircraft in the first series has such parameters:

• Year of manufacture - 1969;
• The range / area of the wing is 7700/1868 meters;
• Length / height - 13.87, 3.43 meters;
• Weight - five and a half tons;
• The maximum takeoff weight is 11, 34 tons;
• Engine - Pegasus Mk-101 with a thrust of 8160 kg / s;
• Speed indicators (cruising / maximum value) - 1185/1360 kilometers per hour;
• Resource flight without refueling - 3,700 km;
• The battle radius is one thousand two hundred kilometers;
• Crew composition - one pilot;
• Load in combat (maximum) - 2270.

The fighter-bomber Harrier is equipped with five suspension nodes, on which the standard armament is placed. It includes:

• A thirty-millimeter cannon "Aden";
• Two guided missiles AIM-9D;
• Similar air-to-surface missiles;
• Bomb cartridges, incendiary analogs, 450-kilogram bombs;
• Another ammunition, interchangeable with the said devices

In addition, the aircraft can be equipped with Type launchers, NUR type weapons or a block with reconnaissance system.

Harrier GR-3: Overview

Fighter multi-purpose design differs from its predecessor with an improved engine. Its takeoff thrust is within 9753 kilograms. The fuselage remained virtually unchanged. The fuel consumption for all classes of the aircraft in question is quite large, which is typical for similar vehicles with vertical take-off.

The standard equipment of the jet machine includes a system of refueling in the air, a laser range finder, front sensors. The features of the fighter include the following:

• In service - a pair of thirty-millimeter cannons "Aden", located under the fuselage;
• The possibility of installing the reactive ammunition "Matra";
• Sight-attachments Ferranti »;
• Equipment of radio stations with the reception of various waves.

In the United States, the marine infantry was manned by the aircraft under consideration from the year of the year nineteen seventy. In addition, this unit was mastered by air squadrons of Great Britain and Germany. In the serial production of machines stayed about two decades.

TTX of GR-3

Consider the tactical and technical parameters of the assault fighter:

• The year of adoption for service - 1970;
• Height / length - 3, 45 / 13.87 meters;
• Wing (swing / area) - 7.7 m / 18.68 square meters. M;
• Take-off weight to the maximum - eleven and a half tons;
• The combat load is 2300/3600 kg;
• Internal fuel (mass) - 2.29 tons.

Combat aircraft "Harrier GR-3" can accelerate more than one thousand three hundred kilometers per hour, with a practical range of 3425 km. The crew still includes one pilot, the possibility of combat damage is five hundred and twenty kilometers.

GR-5 Series

In the year nineteen eighty-nine, the British Air Force was replenished by the fifth version of the Harrier fighter aircraft. The main difference from the previous modification was increased combat load and range. The aircraft is intended for reconnaissance by air and direct assistance to land forces. Vertical takeoff and landing remained unchanged, as well as the overall structure of the machine.

The device is a monoplane of a free-bearing type, which is equipped with high-winged wings, a bicycle chassis, a single-keel tail trim. When creating this model, composites were actively used . The wing of the non-separable type has a thickened profile and is resistant to critical loads. The wing span and its area are increased. These elements aggregate with drooping ailerons, which are deflected according to the position of the nozzles.

Structural changes

The United States and Britain fighters of this series have an improved wing design that increases the frontal air resistance and reduces the maximum speed of the aircraft. However, this defect is compensated for by changing the elements associated with the fuselage and arranging air intake.

The main external parts are made of graphite, epoxy, aluminum alloys. The protection under the fuselage and the plane in front of the windshield have a titanium base. Between the chassis racks there is a place for mounting a special box, which consists of a transverse transforming flap, longitudinal fixed ridges. It serves as a reflector of exhaust gases during take-off. This solution allowed to increase the lifting force by almost half a ton. The cabin of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier is designed for one pilot, has an air-conditioning system, a high seating position and a spotlight.

Fuel and motor system

The considered modification is equipped with a turbine jet power unit, which has the option of changing the direction of the traction vector. Static thrust to the maximum is 9870 kg / s. The four-second interrupter of the engine operates in the case of a vertical landing at an elevated temperature. The airborne oxygen system, flight control unit and sealing are aggregated with a compressor operating on compressed air.

The United States and British fighters of the brand "Harrier" have a fuel block, which differs little from its predecessor. By increasing the capacity of tanks, tanks can accommodate up to four thousand liters each. Also on the model in question, additional provision of fuel in the air and the possibility of mounting additional tanks of suspension type are provided.

The technical side of the GR-5 aircraft

The fighter is equipped with a pair of underbody guns "Aden" 25-millimeter caliber (ammunition includes two hundred charges). The rest of the armament is placed on several suspension points. The kit may include bombs and missiles of various types.

Characteristics:

• Commissioning - one thousand nine hundred and eighty-seventh year;
• Wing parameters - span (9.25 m) / area (21.37 sq. M);
• Length / height - 14,1 / 3,5 meters;
• The maximum combat load is four tons;
• The weight of the empty aircraft is 6.25 tons;
• The combat radius is five hundred meters;
• The top speed is 1150 kilometers per hour;
• Range practical - 3,825 km.

The training aircraft of this brand have similar characteristics, except for the full combat kit.

Modification of GR-7

"Harrier-2" under the index GR-7 is the most common model, part of the armed forces of Great Britain. The machine is manufactured jointly by English and American companies.

Technical parameters of the aircraft:

• Length / height - 14,53 / 3,55 meters;
• Span / area of the wing - 9.25 m / 21.37 square meters. M;
• Engines - Rolls-Royce-Pegasus Mk-105;
• The maximum take-off weight is ten and a half tons;
• Practical movement - 15 and a quarter kilometers;
• Crew composition - one pilot;
• The combat range is 2.7 km;
• The fuel reserve is almost nine thousand liters.

In addition, the aircraft is armed with a pair of guns "Aden", nine suspension nodes for additional ammunition and launchers for guided missiles.

Harrier GR-9

This modification received two main differences from its predecessors. The integrated weapons program has been improved, which is designed to use a wide range of precision weapons of different calibers. In addition, there was a powerful engine from the same Rolls-Royce under the number Mk-107.

"Harrier" - the aircraft, which in the latest modification is built with the latest weapons and air defense systems, is equipped with an extremely informative instrument panel and an alert system for approaching the landing pad. The first flight on the aircraft under consideration was made in two thousand one in the first year. There are developments of two-seater machines equipped with a not so powerful motor with the IWP system.

GR-9 Features

This aircraft has the following parameters:

• Length / height - 14,3 / 5,5 m;
• The wing span is nine meters;
• The wing area is twenty-one square meters;
• The weight of the fighter (maximum) - fourteen tons;
• Tractive effort - 10.75 tons;
• The limiting speed at the maximum height is 1198 km / h;
• The combat range is two thousand seven hundred kilometers.

The aircraft is equipped with a standard for this class of weapons, as well as bombs with optical guidance and reconnaissance complexes such as PU NUR.

Finally

The assault fighter Harrier is rightfully included in the category "the best military aircraft in the world". It has a vertical take-off and landing, has a large reserve of direct flight and has excellent weapons. If you compare it with the domestic analogue "Yak-38". It can be noted that the British analog surpasses the opponent in many ways. If we take into account the first series of machines, then in some aspects, the Yak is more endurance and more maneuverable. Improved versions of the British aircraft practically do not compete among equals in the type of aircraft.

In favor of the aircraft in question is further evidenced by the interest of the most developed air forces in such countries as Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Multifunctionality, reliability, good equipment and high speed are the determining factors for the success of the Harrier fighter.