The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is the second member of the Harrier family developed. It first entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980 as the Sea Harrier FRS1 and became informally known as the "Shar".Unusual in an era in which most naval and land-based air superiority fighters were large and supersonic, the principal role of the subsonic Sea Harrier was to provide air defense for Royal Navy task groups centred around the aircraft carriers.

The Sea Harrier served in the Falklands War and the Balkans conflicts; on all occasions it mainly operated from aircraft carriers positioned within the conflict zone. Its usage in the Falklands War was its most high profile and important success, when it was the only fixed-wing fighter available to protect the British Task Force. The Sea Harriers shot down 20 enemy aircraft during the conflict; 2 Sea Harriers were lost to enemy ground fire. They were also used to launch ground attacks in the same manner as the Harriers operated by the Royal Air Force.

The Sea Harrier was marketed for sales abroad, but India was the only other operator after attempts to sell the aircraft to Argentina and Australia were unsuccessful. A second, updated version for the Royal Navy was made in 1993 as the Sea Harrier FA2, improving its air-to-air abilities and weapons compatibilities, along with a more powerful engine; this version was manufactured until 1998. The aircraft was withdrawn from service early by the Royal Navy in 2006, but remained in service with the Indian Navy for a further decade until its retirement in 2016.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale RAF British Aerospace Harrier GR7A jump jet that was attached to No.1 (F) Squadron, which participated in Operation Herrick, and deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, during November 2006. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 5-inches
Length: 7-3/4-inches

Release Date: August 2019

Historical Account: "Operation Herrick" - Operation Herrick is the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and support to the American-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). Since 2003, Operation Herrick has increased in size and breadth to match ISAF's growing geographical intervention in Afghanistan.

Operation Herrick superseded two previous efforts in Afghanistan. The first of these was Operation Veritas, which consisted of support to the War in Afghanistan in October 2001. The last major action of this was a sweep in east Afghanistan by 1,700 Royal Marines during Operation Jacana, which ended in mid-2002. The second was Operation Fingal, which involved leadership and a 2,000 strong contribution for a newly formed ISAF in Kabul after December 2001. Command was subsequently transferred to Turkey several months later and the British contingent was scaled back to 300. Since then, all combat operations in Afghanistan have been conducted under Operation Herrick.

In December 2012, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that 3,800 troops - almost half of the force serving in Helmand Province - would be withdrawn during 2013 with numbers to fall to approximately 5,200. The UK ceased all combat operations in Afghanistan and withdrew the last of its combat troops on October 27th, 2014. Between 2001 and July 24th, 2015, a total of 454 British military personnel have died on operations in Afghanistan.

All training from 2015 is carried out under the operation name of Toral.