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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; the second member of the Harrier Jump Jet 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''".〔Ward, p. 50.〕 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 defence of Royal Navy aircraft carriers. The Sea Harrier served in the Falklands War, both of the Gulf Wars, 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, where 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 with one 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 by 1983 India was the only operator other than Britain after sales 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 continued manufacture until 1998. The aircraft was withdrawn early from Royal Navy service in March 2006 and replaced in the short term by the Harrier GR9, now itself retired, although the intended long term replacement is the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. The Sea Harrier is in active use in the Indian Navy, although it will eventually be replaced by the Mikoyan MiG-29K. Although withdrawn from active Royal Navy service, Sea Harriers are used to train naval aircraft handlers at the Royal Navy School of Flight Deck Operations. ==Development== In the post-war era, the Royal Navy began contracting in parallel with the break-up of the British Empire overseas and the emergence of the Commonwealth of Nations, reducing the need for a larger navy. By 1960 the last battleship, HMS ''Vanguard'', was retired from the Navy, having been in service for less than fifteen years.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= No V for the Mighty Vanguard )〕 Perhaps the biggest sign of the new trend towards naval austerity came in 1966, when the planned CVA-01 class of large aircraft carriers destined for the Royal Navy was cancelled. During this time requirements within the Royal Navy began to form for a vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) carrier-based interceptor to replace the de Havilland Sea Vixen. Afterward the first V/STOL tests on a ship began with a Hawker Siddeley P.1127 landing on in 1963.〔Jenkins 1998, p. 51.〕〔Bull 2004, p. 119.〕 A second concept for the future of naval aviation emerged in the early 1970s as the first of a new class of "through deck cruisers" was planned. These were very carefully and politically designated as cruisers to deliberately avoid the term "aircraft carrier",〔Nordeen 2006, p. 11.〕 in order to increase the chances of funding from a hostile political climate against expensive capital ships,〔Grove 1987, pp. 319–320.〕 they were considerably smaller than the previously sought CVA-01.〔Moore 1987, pp. 22.〕 These ships were ordered as the ''Invincible'' class in 1973,〔Moore RN, Capt. John E. ''Warships of the Royal Navy''. Jane's Publishing, 1981, ISBN 0-7106-0105-0.〕 and are now popularly recognised as aircraft carriers. Almost immediately upon their construction, a ski-jump was added to the end of the 170-metre deck, enabling the carriers to effectively operate a small number of V/STOL jets.〔〔 The Royal Air Force's Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR1s had entered service in April 1969. A navalised variant of the Harrier was developed by Hawker Siddeley to serve on the upcoming ships, this became the Sea Harrier. In 1975 the Royal Navy ordered 24 Sea Harrier ''FRS.1'' (standing for 'Fighter, Reconnaissance, Strike'〔Bull 2004, p. 120.〕) aircraft,〔 the first of which entered service in 1978.〔 During this time Hawker Siddeley became part of British Aerospace through nationalisation in 1977.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Hawker Siddeley )〕 By the time the prototype Sea Harrier was flown at Dunsfold on 20 August 1978 the order had been increased to 34.〔 The Sea Harrier was declared operational in 1981 on board the first ''Invincible'' class ship HMS ''Invincible'', and further aircraft joined the ageing HMS ''Hermes'' aircraft carrier later that year. Following their key role in the 1982 Falklands War, several lessons were learned from the aircraft's performance, which led to approval for an upgrade of the fleet to ''FRS.2'' (later known as ''FA2'') standard to be given in 1984. The first flight of the prototype took place in September 1988 and a contract was signed for 29 upgraded aircraft in December that year. In 1990 the Navy ordered 18 new-build FA2s,〔''Flight International'' 1990, p. 9.〕 at a unit cost of around £12 million, four further upgraded aircraft were ordered in 1994. The first aircraft was delivered on 2 April 1993. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「British Aerospace Sea Harrier」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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