McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

This article is about the ground attack Harrier currently in United States Marine Corps operation. For the retired strike Harrier derivative previously flown by the British Armed Forces, see British Aerospace Harrier II. For the original ground attack Harrier introduced in 1969, see Hawker Siddeley Harrier. For the retired strike fighter Harrier introduced in 1978, see British Aerospace Sea Harrier.

The McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II, now the Boeing AV-8B Harrier II, is an American military V/STOL and attack airplane manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and later Boeing. The design was licensed to British Aerospace and later BAE Systems for manufacture and subsequent use in the British Armed Forces as the British Aerospace Harrier II, though later variants diverged to suit each country's specific needs.

It is planned to be replaced in the United States Marine Corps fleet by the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II in 2025.

Summary

“	The AV-8B project was born in the early 1970's as an effort to address the operational inadequacies of the AV-8A first generation Harrier, aimed to dramatically improve the capabilities and performance of the early AV-8A's. The AV-8B made its maiden flight in November 1981 and entered service with the United States Marine Corps in January 1985. It later evolved into the AV-8B N/A (Night Attack) and AV-8B Harrier II Plus. First flight of a modified AV-8B in the night attack configuration was on June 26th, 1987. Deliveries to the USMC began in September of 1989 to VMA-214 at Yuma, Arizona. Follow-up units based out of Yuma received their Night Attack AV-8Bs by the end of 1992. The AV-8B N/A variant (originally known as the AV-8D) had its first operational development in 1984 and included use of the NAVFLIR (Navigation Forward-Looking Infrared camera, consisting of a GEC-Marconi FLIR system mounted in the nose) for night operations. Additionally, GEC Cat's Eyes night vision goggles were provided to the pilot as well as a revised cockpit with color MFDs, a wider field-of-view HUD display, a color CRT digital moving map, and a complete "heads-down" operation capability. The AV-8B N/A also sports four Tracor ALE-39 countermeasures dispensers along the top of the rear fuselage, in addition to two ALE-39 dispensers along the lower rear of the fuselage. The AV-8B N/A also fields an updated version of the Rolls-Royce Pegasus 11-61 (F402-RR-408) vectored-thrust turbofan engine.	”
	~ Razbam on their DCS E-Shop listing

Simulator availability

Overview

This asset is available in the following simulators.

Sim
XP12
FGFS2020.3LTS
FS2020		1
XP11		1	1
DCS		1
P3D			1
XP10	1
FSX		1
FS2004		1	1

Package listing

The following packages are either included in the base sim or available for purchase/download. Note that the inclusion of packages below is not an endorsement of quality or fitness. Potential buyers are highly encouraged to research payware packages through reviews, videos, or other means before purchasing.

FS2020XP11DCSP3DXP10FSXFS2004

Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) [edit]
License	Variant	Creator	Notes
Payware	AV-8B Harrier II AV-8B Harrier II Plus	DC Designs @Just Flight	Also includes a GR.9 Harrier

X-Plane 11 [edit]
License	Variant	Creator	Notes
Payware	AV-8B Harrier II	X-Trident @X-Plane.org
Freeware	AV-8B Harrier II	Laminar Research & Sean McLeod @X-Plane.org

Digital Combat Simulator World [edit]
License	Variant	Creator	Notes
Payware	AV-8B Harrier II Night Attack	Razbam @DCS E-Shop

Prepar3D v4-v5[edit]
License	Variant	Creator	Notes
Freeware	AV-8B Harrier II	Sim Skunk Works @SimMarket	P3Dv5 only

X-Plane 10 [edit]
License	Variant	Creator	Notes
Included	AV-8B Harrier II	Laminar Research	Included in base sim

Microsoft Flight Simulator X / Prepar3D v1-v3[edit]
License	Variant	Creator	Notes
Payware	AV-8B Harrier II Plus	Razbam

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 [edit]
License	Variant	Creator	Notes
Payware	AV-8B Harrier II Plus	Alejandro Villa @Fly Away
Freeware	AV-8B Harrier II	Alpha Simulations @Simviation	Also includes Harrier GR.9 and T.10

Sim	Airplanes by simulator availability						Airplanes by source
XP12:	All •	Included •	Payware •	Freeware •	In development		Included •	Third-party
FGFS2020.3LTS:	All •	Included	•	Freeware •	In development		Included •	Third-party •	Launcher
FS2020:	All •	Included •	Payware •	Freeware •	In development		Included •	Third-party •	Marketplace
XP11:	All •	Included •	Payware •	Freeware •	In development		Included •	Third-party
DCS:	All •	Included •	Payware •	Freeware •	In development		Included •	Third-party •	Marketplace
P3D:	All •	Included •	Payware •	Freeware •	In development		Included •	Third-party
XP10:	All •	Included •	Payware •	Freeware			Included •	Third-party
FSX:	All •	Included •	Payware •	Freeware			Included •	Third-party
FS2004:	All •	Included •	Payware •	Freeware			Included •	Third-party