INTRODUCTION

The Sea Harrier aircraft is a jet fighter designed for naval use. It is intended for both reconnaissance missions and attack.

The Sea Harrier is an aircraft designed by the British Hawker Siddeley Harrier company. The FRS1 Sea Harrier, as this aircraft is known, was primarily used in an air defense role while operating from aircraft carriers since most air superiority fighter aircraft currently in use today tend to be significantly larger and capable of supersonic flight.

A second variant of the aircraft, known as the Sea Harrier FA2. This newer version of the aircraft, created in 1993, had superior air to air capabilities and it was compatible with a greater range of weapons. The FA2 also had an engine that was more powerful than that of the original Sea Harrier. The Sea Harrier FA2 remained in production until 1998.

PROCUREMENT

Despite attempts to sell Sea Harriers to other countries, India was the only foreign country to purchase the Sea Harrier by 1983. The India required aircraft for use on its naval aircraft carriers, the INS Viraat and Vikrant.

India procured 30 Sea Harrier aircraft for its navy in 1983, five of which were intended for training purposes while the rest would enter operational service. India purchased an additional batch of ten Sea Harriers in 1985. The Sea Harrier is currently still in active service in the Indian Navy, but India plans to eventually replace its Sea Harriers completely with the MiG-29K. The Indian Navy’s Sea Harriers are today operated from the INS Viraat aircraft carrier since the INS Vikrant has been retired from service in the navy.

IN SERVICE

India has experienced a high accident rate with its Sea Harrier aircraft. It has suffered the loss of more than half of the aircraft. The Sea Harrier has been involved in 17 accidents during its service in the Indian Navy, with seven fatalities to pilots. All of India’s Sea Harriers had to be grounded for inspection following a crash in 2009. Only 11 Sea Harriers remain in service in the Indian Navy today.

UPGRADES

India considered beginning a significant series of mid-life upgrades to the Sea Harriers in 1999 which were to cost about 200 million dollars. However, these plans were not completed because the Navy decided to buy MiG-29K aircraft for use on the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier rather than continuing to use the Sea Harriers. The plan was changed so that the Sea Harriers would be retired from the Navy at the same time as the aircraft carrier, the INS Viraat, in 2010.

It was announced in 2005 that the Sea Harriers would be gradually phased out from service in the Indian Navy, probably by 2012, but certainly by 2015 at the latest. In 2007, despite the planned phase out of the Sea Harriers, the Indian Navy decided to perform upgrades on its Sea Harrier aircraft. These updates were to be completed by 2008 and they would increase the service lifetime of the aircraft by another 15 years. These updates enable the Sea Harrier aircraft to be in service up until 2023, which will be an additional 11 to 12 years later than their originally planned retirement date. The upgrades will include the fitting of new avionics, radar and sensor systems. These updates were to be performed by the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Upgrades to the Sea Harriers would include the fitting of new multimode Elta EL/M-2032 radar systems, Derby BVRAAM air to air missiles, digital cockpit voice recorders and combat maneuvering flight recorders. A 25 million dollar deal was made between India and the Israeli company Rafael, which would provide the Derby air to air missiles. The deal included the provision of Rafael personnel to work on the Sea Harriers in Goa, equipment for operating and maintaining the missiles, and a batch of 20 Derby BVRAAM missiles and six training rounds.

INTEREST

Despite the Indian Navy’s intention to eventually replace its Sea Harrier aircraft with MiG-29K aircraft, India has still shown an interest in purchasing another eight Sea Harrier FA2s as they were retired from the British Royal Navy. These additional aircraft would help the Indian Navy to maintain its fleet of Sea Harrier FRS51 Pegasus 104 aircraft. However, this new deal between India and Britain fell through in 2006 because of the cost that would have been involved for India to re-equip the Sea Harrier airframes, from which a lot of the equipment used by the Royal Navy would have been removed prior to the sale. For example, the deal would not have included the aircraft’s radar system or certain elements of its software belonging to the United States.

MAINTENANCE

The Indian Navy’s Sea Harrier aircraft are currently maintained by the Kochi based Project Ashok facility, but before this maintenance facility was set up in 1994, the aircraft had to be sent back to the UK when they required work. The 7.14 million dollar facility is expected to help to keep the Sea Harriers in service for the rest of their lifetime.

SQUADRONS

The Indian Navy has two squadrons that use the Sea Harrier. These are the INAS 552 and 300 squadrons. The 552 unit is a training squadron where pilots can learn to fly the Sea Harrier. Training with the Sea Harrier aircraft originally took place in SHOFTU, Sea Harrier Operational Flying Training, which was formed as part of squadron 300 in 1990. SHOFTU became part of another squadron, the 551, in 1991. A new squadron, 552, was formed for Sea Harrier training in 2005.

DESIGN

Sea Harriers are designed to fulfill a number of roles, as fighters, strike and reconnaissance aircraft. The Sea Harrier is a subsonic aircraft, unlike some of the newer aircraft that are currently being used in similar naval roles.

The Sea Harrier is based on a modified Harrier GR3. The adjustments made in the Sea Harrier include a bubble canopy and a raised cockpit that help to increase the pilot’s visibility. The Sea Harrier also features a longer forward fuselage, which enables the accommodation of the Ferranti Blue Fox radar systems. In order to prepare the Sea Harrier for use in the marine environment where it would be operating on aircraft carriers, certain parts of the aircraft were changed to make use of alloys that would be resistant to corrosion, or they were coated with protective materials.

The aircraft use a single turbofan Pegasus engine that has four vectorable nozzles and two intakes.

The Sea Harrier has two sets of landing gear mounted on the fuselage as well as two sets of outrigger landing gear fitted to the wings. Three pylons are fitted to the fuselage and four pylons are available on the wings in order to carry the weapons or for extra fuel tanks. The use of a ski jump enables the Sea Harrier to take off with a greater payload weight than would otherwise be possible. Sea Harriers may carry Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles.

The Sea Harrier variants used by the Indian Navy are known as the Sea Harrier Mk51. These aircraft are similar to the British Navy’s variant the Sea Harrier FRS1, but there are a few differences, including that the Indian Navy’s aircraft are typically fitted with R550 air to air missiles. The Sea Harriers also carry Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles

India is currently upgrading its remaining Sea Harrier aircraft. This project is being performed in conjunction with Israel. The updates to the aircraft will include the addition of a new radar system, the Elta EL/M-2032 and the capacity to arm the aircraft with a new medium range Rafael Derby air to air missile. The planned upgrades to the Sea Harrier will make it possible for these aircraft to remain in the service of the Indian Navy until beyond the year 2012, so that it will be operated from the country’s new aircraft carriers.