WOW273 Sea Harrier Falklands War

Description

The Harrier, informally referred to as the Harrier Jump Jet, is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations (V/STOL). Named after a bird of prey, it was originally developed by British manufacturer Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s. The Harrier emerged as the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many attempted during that era, despite being a subsonic aircraft, unlike most of its competitors. It was conceived to operate from improvised bases, such as car parks or forest clearings, without requiring large and vulnerable air bases. Later the design was adapted for use from aircraft carriers and has been adopted by several naval air forces including Spain, India and the United States.

The Harrier made its combat debut during the Falklands war in 1982 and our 1/32 scale Harrier in muted colour scheme and markings, is one flown by Lt Cdr Dave Braithwaite amongst others of 809 Sqn, flying from HMS Invincible in 1982.

Harrier pilots were told they were up against odd of 4-1 against Argentinian jets which were much faster at higher altitudes. However due to the high level of training and new low level flying tactics developed, the Royal Navy and RAF Harriers were able to significantly reverse these odds and scored some notable successes with something like 40 Argentine aircraft succumbing to British Naval and air fire. This being said the Argentinians were fighting at the extreme edge of their range and delivered some heavy blows to the Royal Navy’s ships, with 6 of them being sunk during the course of the conflict.

This is a limited edition model of 3 pieces worldwide.