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New Harrier Takes Up The Fight Against The Taleban
New Harrier Takes Up The Fight Against The Taleban - Tuesday 30 January 2007
Two Harrier GR9A aircraft have arrived in Afghanistan from the UK after a journey of more than 3500 miles - and just under two hours later they were ready for action flying over UK ground forces combating the Taleban.
The 2 Harrier GR9As are replacing 2 of the current Harrier GR7A fleet in Afghanistan and over the coming year the Harrier detachment – operating from Kandahar Airfield - will move to a 100% Harrier GR9A fleet.
The upgraded Harriers – which flew from the home of the Joint Force Harrier at RAF Cottesmore in Rutland and stopped over at Cyprus and the Middle East - brought with them enhanced avionics that includes a better navigation suite and more sophisticated weapon aiming systems, improving the ability of Joint Force Harrier (JFH) pilots to support British and coalition troops on the ground.
On arrival the 1(F) Sqn engineers ensured the new aircraft were armed and declared 100% ready for tasking within the shortest possible time – despite having to deal with a GR7A Harrier ‘scramble’ half-way through the initial Harrier GR9A preparations.
The new arrivals came at the end of 1(F) Sqn’s first 2 weeks in theatre since last Spring. One of the strengths of the Harrier is its versatility and this was demonstrated when on a recent day of thunderstorms and extremely low cloud a pair of Harrier GR7As were scrambled to support British Soldiers in Helmand Province. Under fire the troops called for support and it came in the form of GPS guided munitions through dense cloud and, equally significantly, 1000lb bombs released from ultra low level in poor conditions.
The arrival of the GR9As was a significant event for 1(F) Sqn as, back in Oct 2005, the Sqn accepted the challenge of bringing the upgraded aircraft into Service. Sgt Danny Ashwell commented : ”Being part of the first Joint Force Harrier Squadron to accept, trial, successfully prove and operate the GR9A in an operational theatre has given us a high degree of job satisfaction.”
Sqn Ldr Jason Shipley, the Senior Engineering Officer on 1(F) Sqn, added: “we have been preparing for this for the last 15 months. The introduction of the GR9A has not been achieved without encountering a few technical challenges; Not surprisingly, the aircraft’s reliability and enhanced capability has resulted in the GR9A being universally declared as ‘the weapon platform of choice’ by all 1(F) Sqn pilots.”
Wing Commander Andy Lewis, Officer Commanding No 1(F) Sqn, flew the first operational mission. He said: “The sortie went extremely smoothly. I am very proud of my team and their hard work over the past 15 months – they wholeheartedly deserved the opportunity to see the Harrier GR9A through from introduction to Service to its first operational mission.
“Now this milestone has been reached 1(F) Sqn is focussed on continuing to provide total support for troops on the ground and the new capability the Harrier GR9A offers will only enhance our ability to continually achieve this.”