All language subtitles for Air.Warriors.S05E01.Harrier.WEB.h264-CAFFEiNE[eztv]

♪ ♪

Narrator: They
call it the jump jet.

Capt. Cummins: It was
like riding a dragon.

Narrator:
The harrier is designed
to make runways obsolete.

Lon: The harrier is
right on the leading edge

Of military technology.

Narrator: Sleek,
powerful, and versatile,

It has the grace of a chopper...

Lt. Col. Herman: You're
able to stop like a hummingbird

And then fly like a
rocket ship at the same time.

Narrator: ...And the knock-out
punch of a fighter jet.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan:
It came off my wing and
just vaporized the aircraft.

Narrator: It's an aircraft
that sparked controversy

On both sides of the atlantic...

Roger: It came under
very intense scrutiny

About whether this was a
viable or a safe program.

Narrator: ...And pushed the
limits of aviation technology.

[explosion]

♪ ♪

[♪ theme music ♪]

[artillery fire]

♪ ♪

Narrator: June 2014. Iraq.

The islamic
state claims authority

Over much of the country.

Isis militants wage
a guerrilla-style war,

Taking iraqi civilians as
prisoners in their own homes.

Iraqi forces struggle to fight
back, but make little progress

Against isis fighters.

The united states
decides to intervene.

President obama
authorizes u.S. Airstrikes

To support troops on the ground.

The u.S. Marines send some of
their most experienced pilots

To the fight,

Along with their go-to
aircraft for close air support.

♪ ♪

The harrier: A marvel
of modern engineering.

The world's most famous vertical
takeoff and landing jet.

Capt. Cummins: This here
is the av-8b harrier ii.

It's the marine corps's go-to
aircraft for ground attack

And close air support missions.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The harrier is
only forty-seven feet long.

Empty, it weighs
just 15,000 pounds --

More than a chopper, but
less than half the weight

Of other modern jet fighters.

♪ ♪

23,000 pounds of thrust
let the harrier hover like

A helicopter, or blast forward
at near-supersonic speeds.

Capt. Cummins: On my first
flight my instructor told me

It was going to be
like riding a dragon.

He definitely was
telling the truth.

Narrator: Thirteen
thousand pounds of weapons

Give harrier pilots an
option for any kind of fight.

Capt. Cummins: The
harrier's capable of carrying

A wide variety of
weapons, everything from

Air-to-air missiles,
like the aim-9 sidewinder,

Both precision-guided
and conventional bombs,

As well as a 25mm gun

That's capable of shooting
up to 3,600 rounds per minute.

[artillery fire]

Capt. Cummins: When we
get there we need to be ready

To hit hard and
accomplish our mission.

♪ ♪

Narrator: To fight
isis, the marine corps

Positions its
harriers in the persian gulf,

Just a short flight from
iraq's most troubled spots.

Their mission: To locate and
suppress hostile isis forces.

Capt. Wickersham: Iraq can be
a very challenging battlefield

To work with.

Narrator: Captain tristan
wickersham was a harrier pilot

With the 15th marine
expeditionary unit in iraq.

♪ ♪

Capt. Wickersham: You never know

Where these guys
are going to pop up.

You can have some blocks that
are totally civilian population

And you can have another
block where it's clearly a guy

Digging an ied.

Narrator: A changing battlefield
calls for a fast response.

That's where the
harriers come in.

Capt. Wickersham: Our
ability to base off of

The amphibious
carrier puts us much closer

Than a lot of the
actual established airfields;

Allows us to get on
station fairly quickly.

♪ ♪

Narrator:
Wickersham and his wingman

Prepare their
harriers for flight.

Their wasp-class carrier is
one of the navy's smallest,

Almost 250 feet shorter
than a conventional carrier.

Capt. Wickersham:
The small deck carriers

Are designed around the
marine expeditionary unit.

They're big
enough for a harrier,

But there's nothing
unnecessary on there.

It's set up for
harriers to take off.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Most aircraft
must catapult to launch

From the deck of their ship.

For the harrier,
no catapult required.

Capt. Cummins: Short takeoffs
give the marines ability

To be airborne in a moment's
notice, and that's made possible

By these four
exhaust nozzles right here.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The four nozzles
steer the engine's exhaust.

Facing downwards, this
results in vertical lift.

When the nozzles rotate back,

They propel the
aircraft forward.

Capt. Wickersham:
We'll get the ship moving

As fast as it possibly
can, which increases the wind

Over the deck, which,
just every little bit of lift

As the wind goes
over the wings helps.

Capt. Wickersham: We back
up all the way to the back,

Because at that point
we'll have two fuel tanks,

Two bombs and a targeting
pod, plus a full load of gas,

And that's a pretty
significant amount of weight

For something trying
to take off in 750 feet.

Capt. Wickersham: It
takes every bit of power

That the engine has
to get off the deck.

We will basically run
the engine all the way up,

Try and get as much
thrust out of it as possible,

Let the brakes go,

And then as soon as we
get to the edge of the deck

We use those four nozzles,
and that's what pops us

Into the air, that's
what allows us to have

That just
incredibly short takeoff.

Narrator: In iraq, captain
wickersham and his wingman

Speed away from the ship.

Once in flight,
their surveillance mission

Turns into something more.

Capt. Wickersham: As
we checked in on station

They told us they had
some coalition forces

Taking fire up to the north

And directed us to head
that way to support that.

Narrator: Wickersham and
his wingman race over iraq

At six hundred
fifty miles an hour,

Preparing mentally
for what they might find.

Capt. Wickersham: I'm
getting myself in my,

The combat
mindset at that point

And we're starting to go through
all our pre-combat checks,

Making sure the
weapons are good,

Making sure that
the aircraft is good.

Narrator: As the harriers
fly, the ground controller

Radios in more detail.

The firefight is in a
residential neighborhood.

Isis militants hole up
in an abandoned building,

Hoping to make it a stronghold
to take over the neighborhood.

Capt. Wickersham: They're
setting up their weapons

In this courtyard,
launching a few projectiles

At the friendlies and
running back in the house

To hide themselves. They
were pretty well entrenched.

Narrator: Each harrier
carries two 500-lb. Bombs.

Attacking at close
range will be risky.

The presence of
civilians is likely, and

Isis forces have come prepared
for any incoming aircraft.

Capt. Wickersham: We knew that
they had light machine guns,

Heavy machine guns, and
up to some shoulder-mounted

Surface-to-air type missiles,

And that's what we
were mainly concerned with.

Narrator: The harriers quickly
close in on their target.

Down below, isis fighters
seem to have the upper hand.

Capt. Wickersham: As I'm
ingressing to the target,

I can see the house,
I can see the courtyard

Attached to the house there,
it's a walled-off courtyard,

And that's where they're kind
of coming out of the house,

Setting up their indirect
fire weapons in that courtyard,

Launching off a few projectiles,

And then running
back into the house

In order to hide
themselves again.

Narrator: Coalition
forces are running out of time.

If isis gets control
of the neighborhood,

Iraqi civilians
face certain death.

♪ ♪

Over iraq, captain tristan
wickersham and his harrier

Approach an isis firefight.

They radio down to the
controller on the ground.

Capt. Wickersham:
He is the one with the greatest
situational awareness of what's

Going on, so he's passing
you the enemy locations.

Narrator: Wickersham plugs
the insurgents' coordinates

Into his aircraft's computer.
The target appears on screen.

Capt. Wickersham:
First thing that is
running through your head

Is, does this look like
what they described to me?

Is this the right thing?
You want to make 100% sure

Before you drop that bomb

That that is going to
the absolutely right place.

Narrator: The harriers dive in
fast, and drop their payload.

Capt. Wickersham: It
takes about a second or so

For that bomb to
release from the jet.

You're just sitting
there watching the target

And just pretty much saying to
yourself over and over again,

I hope this things hits fast.

Narrator: Thirty
seconds later...

[explosion]

...A direct hit.

♪ ♪

Within minutes, coalition forces
move in to secure the area.

Capt. Wickersham:
It's a great feeling

Knowing that these guys
were relying on you for support

To get them out of a
potentially sticky situation,

And we're in position
to provide that support

And potentially
save a few lives.

Narrator: The harriers
turn back to the ship.

But their mission
is far from over.

Capt. Wickersham: Surprisingly
enough, landing at the boat

Is usually the most
dangerous phase of any mission.

Narrator: To land, the
pilot must slow his speed

To match the
speed of the carrier.

He rotates the nozzles down,
and descends in a slow hover.

Capt.
Wickersham: You've got winds

Which are hitting the side
of the ship and bouncing over,

Kind of pushing
your nose around, and

You're just basically balancing
on this fountain of air

Coming out of the
bottom of the jet.

Capt. Wickersham:
Trying to hover a harrier

Is kind of like trying
to balance an elephant

On the head of a pin.

Narrator: Jet-powered hovering
-- a futuristic technique

Mastered on the
modern battlefield

But forged over sixty years ago.

♪ ♪

1958. The cold war
is in full effect.

The soviet union has taken
over much of eastern europe.

Nato believes the
soviets want to conquer

The rest of the world too.

Roger: The soviet union
positioned large tank formations

And thousands of aircraft
very close to the border

Of nato-held western europe.

Narrator: Roger
connor is a curator

In the national air and space
museum's aeronautics department.

Roger: This meant that the nato
response had to be very fast.

There would very little warning
in the event of an attack.

Narrator: Nato has the
fastest airplanes in the world.

Their achilles
heel is their size.

Roger: As jet engine technology
matured, nato aircraft

Became bigger, they
carried larger payloads

And they were faster,

And they all required very long
runways from which to operate.

Narrator: These long
runways and large jets

Make vulnerable targets.

Roger: The soviets were seen
as targeting these airfields

In a potential first strike.

So there was an urgent need
to be able to disperse aircraft

Outside of those
concentrated airbases.

For a combat aircraft
to be truly effective,

They had to be able to
operate from anywhere.

The key to that
was vertical flight.

Narrator: Vertical flight.

A concept proven
with helicopters

But unheard of
for fixed-wing jets.

It's an idea that just might
give nato forces the edge.

Lon: The big advantage of
a vertical and short takeoff

And landing fighter aircraft
is that it can take off

From many different
kinds of short airfields.

Narrator: Lon nordeen
is a military historian

And author on the harrier.

Lon: They can take
off from the main base

And go to other
sites where the adversary

Probably would not
target those places.

Narrator: Nato countries
enlist their best and brightest

To design the
impossible: A jet aircraft

That doesn't need a runway.

Lon: Several companies
in britain, France, germany

And other places,
including the united states,

Invested money and
developed concepts

For this kind of new fighter.

The feeling was the technology
in aerospace had developed

At that time to the point
where we could try this concept

And it might become successful.

Roger: Vertical and short
takeoff and landing aircraft

Were definitely at the
exotic end of the spectrum,

So this was something that
really never been done before.

It was not obvious
how to do it effectively.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The united
states starts out in the lead.

Propeller-driven
aircraft like the convair xfy,

The lockheed xfv, and
the jet-powered ryan x-13

Turn conventional
designs on their head,

Or, rather, their tails.

Roger: The simplest approach to
a vertical takeoff and landing

Was the tail sitter.

These aircraft would
take off vertically,

And then pitch over
and fly horizontally.

Narrator: The
takeoffs are the easy part.

It's the vertical
landing that's a challenge.

Roger: It required the
pilot to literally back down

Into a landing position by
looking over their shoulder.

These types of tail sitting
aircraft were really impractical

Right from the outset.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Another
engineering brainstorm:

Hurling planes into the sky.

Roger: This meant strapping
a very large rocket booster

To a conventional jet fighter

And basically shooting
the aircraft off of a ramp

On the back of a truck.

If the rocket wasn't
positioned just perfectly,

The aircraft could go
violently out of control

And crash
immediately after takeoff.

Narrator: Across the pond,
america's allies experiment

With their own designs.

Roger: The
british, french and germans

Also had very
vigorous vertical and short

Takeoff and landing programs
through the 1950's and 60's.

Narrator:
Prototypes include aircraft
that use different engines

For vertical and
horizontal flight.

More engines mean more power.

But the added weight
does more harm than good.

Lon: You carry that weight
around and you only use it

During the vertical
and the landing phase.

You're dragging around a
lot of weight that's not used.

♪ ♪

Narrator: It looks like
an impossible code to crack:

How to construct a vertical
airplane with only one engine.

Roger:
One of the great aeronautical
achievements of the 1950's

Was going to be who
could crack the problem

Of an effective
vertical and short

Takeoff and landing aircraft.

Narrator: In 1959, engine
manufacturer bristol siddeley

Believes they have the solution:
A turbofan turbine engine

Called the pegasus.

Most jets push exhaust
out of just one nozzle.

The pegasus uses four.

The theory: That the
four nozzles can be guided by

The pilot, forcing the aircraft
forward, or straight up.

Roger: One of the most
difficult problems facing

A vertical and short
takeoff and landing aircraft

Is the transition.

Any sort of little hiccup with
the functioning of those nozzles

Could cause the aircraft to make
a hard landing or even crash.

Narrator: The technology
soon attracts the interest

Of british
aviation giant hawker.

Hawker comes up with a bold
plan: Build a new jet fighter

Around the pegasus engine.

♪ ♪

The aircraft they
come up with: The p.1127.

In 1961, it makes
its first attempt

At going from
vertical to horizontal flight.

♪ ♪

The plane lifts
off into a hover.

Slowly it begins forward flight.

It's a huge feat
for bristol siddeley.

But the technology
still has a long way to go.

Roger: The p.1127 was a
very ambitious program.

There was not
always a lot of confidence

That it was going to succeed.

♪ ♪

Narrator: France feels
the cold war pressure too.

Engineers at dassault develop
a rival vertical takeoff jet:

The balzac v.

Roger: Their
aerospace program was pursuing

Their own separate
line of development

Even as the united
states, germany and britain

Were beginning to partner
on their own configuration.

Narrator: The balzac
v sports nine engines

And flies at almost
700 miles per hour.

In great britain,
hawker engineers note

The balzac's progress.

It appears the
french are a worthy rival.

♪ ♪

June 20th, 1963. The
paris international airshow.

The p.1127 and french balzac
get ready to go head to head.

Roger: The paris airshow
was the crème de la crème

Of aeronautical expositions,
and it was the place

That both the nato allies
and the warsaw pact nations

Tended to try to
intimidate each other

With their aerospace technology.

Lon: Think about french
pride and british pride.

Here you are at
the paris airshow,

And there was a lot
of public attention

For short takeoff
and landing fighters.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The balzac v
takes to the air first.

It lifts into a hover and takes
off at high speed into flight.

It caps its performance
with a vertical landing.

♪ ♪

Next: The p.1127.

It takes off,
showing the large crowd

The power of the pegasus engine.

But as the p.1127
comes in for the landing,

It's clear something is wrong.

♪ ♪

June 20th, 1963.
The paris airshow.

Great britain's new
p.1127 vertical takeoff jet

Crashes hard onto
the ground below.

♪ ♪

The problem: A jam
in the engine nozzle,

Caused by a tiny speck of dirt.

The pilot survives.

Miraculously, so does
the aircraft's reputation.

Engineers believe
its single-engine design

Beats the more
complicated balzac v.

Roger:
The balzac with nine engines
was an impressive aircraft,

But operationally speaking
just not practical at all.

♪ ♪

Even with the
accident in paris, the p.1127

Still offered
the best opportunity

For a practical
operational vertical and short

Takeoff and landing aircraft.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Great
britain, the united states,

And west germany agree: The
p.1127 is just what they need

To defend against
the soviet attack.

Roger: Those nations really
saw that the capabilities

That they had been
working on for a long time

Were now being finally realized
in this british aircraft.

Narrator: The three
nations team up to invest in

What they call
the hawker kestrel,

A militarized
version of the p.1127.

♪ ♪

Roger: The tripartite evaluation
program subjected the kestrel

To all sorts of environmental
operating conditions,

So operating in wet weather,

Operating from
unimproved airstrips,

So little more than cow
pastures in some cases.

Lon: 10 pilots
flew over 1,300 sorties

During a year of testing.

It proved that this kestrel
program fulfilled the goals

Of the nato requirement.

Narrator:
The british air force is
especially hot for the kestrel.

It orders sixty right away,

And renames the
new jets the harrier,

After a low-flying bird of prey.

Across the atlantic, the
united states marine corps

Also sees possibilities
for the new aircraft.

They name their
version the av-8a harrier.

Lon: The marine corps wanted
to replace the a-4 skyhawk

Because you could
not fly an a-4 skyhawk

From an amphibious assault ship.

Roger: They realized
that here was an aircraft

That had essentially the
same capability as the a-4

But which could be
dispersed out into the field

For its close
air support mission.

♪ ♪

Narrator: At first, the
new aircraft looks promising.

But it isn't long before
things start going wrong.

♪ ♪

[explosion]

Roger: It was a difficult
aircraft to train for.

They were experiencing some
mechanical difficulties with it,

And this led to a
much higher loss rate

Than they would have desired.

[explosion]

Narrator: During its
first ten years of service,

The harrier claims the
lives of 17 u.S. Pilots,

Cursing it with the
reputation of a widow-maker.

Roger:
When the marine av-8a began
having a series of accidents,

It came under
very intense scrutiny

About whether this was a
viable or a safe program

For the marines to
continue to develop.

♪ ♪

Narrator: While the pentagon
questions the harrier's worth,

Great britain prepares to give
it the ultimate test: Battle.

♪ ♪

April 1982. The
falkland islands.

Nearly two hundred and twenty
years of territorial disputes

Finally come to a head.

Argentinian
president leopoldo galtieri

Invades the small british
island, claiming it for his own.

8,000 miles away, britain
mobilizes its fleet of carriers.

On deck, a brand-new
acquisition: The sea harrier,

Made especially
for the royal navy.

British pilots know going in
that the argentinian air force

Will be tough opponents.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan:
The argentines could field
about 180 fast jet aircraft

Against our
twenty-one sea harriers.

Narrator: Lieutenant commander
david morgan was a harrier pilot

During the falklands war.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan: The
argentines had the mirage 3,

Which had twice the
speed of the sea harrier,

Had 50% height
advantage and a missile

With a head-on shot twice
as long as the sidewinders

That we were carrying.

They also had a large number
of a-4 skyhawk fighter bombers.

We knew we were
going to have a hard job.

Roger: The harrier was still
very much an unknown quantity.

These aircraft had
never been tested in combat,

And it was kind of a
big mystery if all the hype

Surrounding their
maneuverability and

Their vertical takeoff
and landing capabilities,

Whether that was
just a showpiece

Or if that was actually
a real combat capability.

Narrator: June 8th. The hms
hermes, ten weeks into the war.

Morgan and his wingman take
off and head for the islands.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan:
As we got close I
called up the two aircraft

From 801 squadron
that we were relieving

And I said, "okay,
where's the action?"

They said, "you'll
see when you get closer."

♪ ♪

Narrator: Morgan and
his wingman arrive to find

A horrifying scene.

Two british ships have been
attacked by argentine skyhawks.

[explosion]

♪ ♪

Morgan's first thought: That
the argentines will be back

To finish the job.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan: All I could
do is just keep my eyes open,

Keep scanning and
try and make sure that

No other waves of
attacking aircraft got through.

Narrator: The harriers keep
watch for forty long minutes.

Then, out of the corner of
his eye, morgan spots trouble.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan:
To my absolute horror saw
about half a mile to the east

A line of four aircraft,
obviously running in to attack.

The only
imperative now is to try

To shoot down those aircraft.

Narrator: Morgan has
just seconds to react.

Years of training allow
muscle memory to kick in fast.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan:
Locked the missile onto him.

The missile locked straight
away, fired it immediately,

And it came off my port wing

And went straight
up the guy's jet pipe

And just vaporized the aircraft.

Narrator: That's
one skyhawk down.

But there's three more to go.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan:
As I rolled the aircraft back
upright after the first missile

Shot, I was pointing directly at
him. Locked my second missile.

The missile followed him
and took him out at 90 degrees.

[explosion]

Narrator: There's two
aircraft left, but morgan

Is out of missiles.

He turns to climb and hopes
that his wingman has his back.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan: I looked back
over my shoulder in the climb

And saw my
wingman fire a missile.

A few seconds later
there was a massive explosion

As it hit the skyhawk.

[explosion]

♪ ♪

Narrator: The last skyhawk
sees the writing on the wall.

When the harriers look around,
he's nowhere to be found.

Less than two
hours after takeoff,

The harriers are
back on their carrier

With three kills
under their belt.

Lt. Cdr. Morgan: By the
time the conflict was over

The whole world thought
the sea harrier was great.

In fact, the argentine
started referring to us

As the muerte
negra, the black death.

And if they knew sea
harriers were in the area

They would quite
often turn the raids back.

Narrator: The sea harrier
has a staggering success rate,

Downing twenty enemy aircraft
with no air-to-air losses.

The harrier proves
itself for the british.

In the u.S. It still
has to fight for survival.

The department of defense

Continues to view the
harrier as a costly experiment.

The u.S. Navy
pushes to end the program.

They want a fixed-wing
fighter already in development:

The f-18.

Lon: Since the funding
comes through the navy

For the marine corps,
the f-18 and the harrier

Were all in competition.

Narrator: Time is
up for the marines.

If they can't prove the
harrier is worth the money,

The program will be dead

Before the u.S.
Harriers ever see combat.

♪ ♪

The marine corps's new
harrier fights for survival.

Many in the pentagon would
rather focus on acquiring f-18s.

The marines push back, hard.

Lon:
Because of the marine corps
relationship with congress,

They were able to
state why they needed this,

And they showed through the
falklands and other testing

That the harrier did things
that an f-18 could not do.

Narrator: Congress
approves both the f-18

And an upgraded
harrier called the av-8b.

The harrier has larger
wings, greater weapons payload,

And state-of-the-art avionics.

In 1984, it finally joins
the ranks of the marines.

♪ ♪

Only the most qualified pilots
get a chance to fly the new jet.

Roger: One outcome from
the accidents on the av-8a

Was that the marines realized
that you could not have

Novice pilots
flying the aircraft,

That you needed to
have some experience.

Narrator: Training for a
harrier isn't like most jets.

Not every flight
school teaches you to hover.

Capt. Cummins: It
takes a lot of training.

So after initial flight
training the harrier pilots

Go through another
year of additional training

Specifically on the harrier

Where you learn to master
the vertical regime of flight.

Capt. Wickersham: It's sort of
an unnatural thing to be doing

And can definitely be
a little bit stressful,

And that's why a lot of
times when you're training

They tell you to wiggle
your fingers, wiggle your toes,

Just relax, and the more
relaxed you make yourself,

Actually the easier it is,

Because you don't tend to
over-exaggerate your movements

Or anything like that.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Pilots undergo heavy
evaluations and field testing,

Mastering the ins and outs
of fixed-wing vertical flight.

Capt. Cummins:
Vertical take offs and landings

Can be extremely hard
to master as a pilot.

It's definitely a balancing act.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The new
harriers may be the platform

The marine corps
has long hoped for.

To know for certain,
they must test it in combat.

♪ ♪

January 1991. Saudi arabia.

The united states and its
allies vow to liberate kuwait

From saddam
hussein's invading forces.

The u.S. Marines
station harrier squadrons

At king abdulaziz air
base, just ninety miles

From the kuwait border.

Lt. Col. Herman: King abdulaziz
air base was not an ideal place

For any tactical aviation.

Narrator: Lieutenant colonel
ted herman was a harrier pilot

And commanding officer
during operation desert storm.

♪ ♪

Lt. Col. Herman: The
runway was run down.

It was kind of a loose
asphalt that was coming apart.

But we were able to
build a fully operational base

For airplanes that
didn't need long runways.

Lt. Col. Herman: We had
an area where we could build

Our maintenance tents
right next to the runway,

We could park the aircraft
right next to the runway and

Arm them and make our turnaround
times no more than, say,

20 minutes to touch down,
refuel, rearm, and take off.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The harriers are
closest to the front lines,

Making them the obvious
choice to make a first attack.

At least, that's the
way the marines see it.

Lt. Col. Herman: The
mindset of the marine corps

For the harriers
going into desert storm

Was that we were at a point
where we were viable aircraft.

Narrator: Air commanders
see things differently.

They plan to make
the initial attack

With conventional aircraft.

Lt. Col. Herman: The
squadron was not real happy

About not being included
in the prime part of the war.

♪ ♪

Narrator: January 17th.
Just hours into the war,

A team of marines is cornered
by an iraqi artillery battery.

The trapped
marines are just 90 miles

From the sidelined harriers.

It's the chance the
harriers have been waiting for.

Finally, commanders give
av-8b pilots the green light.

♪ ♪

Within minutes,
lieutenant colonel herman

And three other
harriers are airborne.

Lt. Col. Herman:
There's two emotions
that go through your mind

When you realize that now
suddenly the balloon is up

And you're part of it.

It's where you've
always wanted to be,

And it's where
you don't want to be.

Narrator: Getting close to
the marines won't be easy.

The iraqi forces are armed
with state-of-the-art weapons.

Lt. Col. Herman:
We expected quite a
bit of activity against us

Going in that area.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Ten
thousand feet above iraq,

Herman scans the ground below.

He spots a cluster of six
iraqi artillery emplacements,

Firing heavily on
marines on the ground.

Lt. Col. Herman:
They were pretty obvious.

First off, the sand in the
desert was disturbed quite a bit

Every time they fired.
You'd see a big puff of dirt.

Narrator: To ensure
bombing accuracy, the harriers

Must dive right through
the enemy's line of fire.

Lt. Col. Herman:
Ground fire would reach
up to about 3,000 feet.

Surface-to-air
missiles would reach somewhere

In the
neighborhood of 15,000 feet.

By the time we
got the weapon off

We'd be somewhere down in the
three-to-4,000-foot area there.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Each second
of delay is life or death

To marines on the ground.

Herman takes one last look

And starts a
ten-thousand foot dive.

Lt. Col. Herman: We
deliver our weapons

Somewhere in the neighborhood
of 475 miles an hour

To 525 miles an hour, and
that's about the speed of

A .45 caliber bullet.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The iraqis
turn their fire upwards,

Turning their attention
from marines on the ground

To marines in the air.

Lt. Col. Herman: The iraqi
procedure for their troops

Was for them to point
their weapons at the sky

And just start putting a
barrage of 7.62 ammunition

Up into the air,
so there'd be a cloud

Of .30 caliber
ammo coming up at you.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Herman
releases his weapons.

Four 1,000-pound
bombs fly off the rails.

He quickly pulls
out of the dive.

The quiet on the
ground tells herman

That the bombs
have hit their target.

The surrounded marines are safe.

Fifteen minutes later, the
harriers are back on base.

Lt. Col. Herman:
After that first mission

They realized just how
effective we could be,

And we got tasked to
fly every day from then on.

♪ ♪

Narrator: U.S. General norman
schwarzkopf names the av-8b

One of the coalition's
most important weapons.

Roger: The marine corps
experience in desert storm

Really did
validate that this was

An effective close-air
support strike aircraft

For the marine
infantrymen on the front lines.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The
marines are riding high.

They ask boeing to give the
harrier another capability:

To attack at night.

The night attack harrier comes
with night vision goggles,

An improved
digital cockpit display,

And a forward-looking
infrared system.

The british order the upgraded
harriers for themselves,

And just in time.

♪ ♪

Narrator: 2008.
Helmand province. Afghanistan.

British forces
fight taliban insurgents.

Capt. Ward:
The enemy forces aren't
gonna make it easy for you.

They're gonna do things at
the most inopportune times.

Narrator: Captain kris
ward was a harrier pilot

With the royal
navy for ten years.

Capt. Ward: We had to
make sure that friendly forces

Were protected, and that's
why we worked 24 hours a day,

Day and night.

Narrator: Kandahar air
force base. Afghanistan.

Captain ward and his wingman
head out to a remote part

Of the province.

Their mission: To check up
on a team of british soldiers.

Capt. Ward: They
weren't expecting trouble,

But they wanted top cover
aircraft in the overhead,

Armed aircraft ready to
engage should anything happen.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Twenty
minutes into their patrol,

Soldiers below
report suspicious activity.

They believe the
taliban is preparing to attack.

Capt. Ward: The patrol clearly
knew something was up ahead,

But they didn't know what.

They needed us to
be able to establish

Exactly what the
threat was to them.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Ward points his
targeting pod at the ground.

He sees that the
soldiers' fears are valid.

Capt. Ward: There were
several people moving around,

All focusing their
attention out to the west,

Which was where the
friendly forces patrol

Was static at this time.

From our
position it's very clear

That the coalition
forces are about to walk

Straight into an ambush.

Narrator: Ward has to act fast.

The taliban are just 1,500
feet from the british soldiers.

Trying to deliver a
bomb so close is tricky,

Especially at night.

The pilots turn to the harrier's
new nighttime capabilities

To get it right.

Capt. Ward: The harrier
is one of the most capable

Night platforms in the world.

I can't go into specifics
on the exact resolutions

Of what we can see at night,
but suffice it to say that

You can see very clearly
people moving from 20,000 feet,

Five miles away.

Narrator: Ward and his wingman
decide to make what they call

A cooperative attack.

Capt. Ward: We were prepared,
and we were ready to drop,

And we had discussed the angle
of attack that we were going do.

Narrator: To work, the
timing must be perfect.

And they have to wait for the
enemy to make the first move.

Capt. Ward: At that point
they haven't been fired on.

We can't drop our stores until
they've actually been fired on,

Because there is no threat to
them or direct threat of life

At that stage. That
would be an offensive drop,

Which would be against
the rules of engagement.

Narrator: The taliban gets
ready to attack the soldiers.

Up above, the harriers have
the taliban in their sights.

The only question: Whose
weapon will get there first?

♪ ♪

In afghanistan, captain
kris ward and his wingman

Swoop in over a
squadron of british soldiers

About to be
ambushed by the taliban.

[explosions and artillery fire]

Capt. Ward: The enemy
forces opened up on them

With small arms fire, heavy
machine gun fire, and rpgs,

Which is classic
small arms munitions,

Man-carryable munitions
that the enemy forces had.

Narrator: Ward and his
wingman swoop down, take aim,

And unload.

Capt. Ward: My wingman calls
in hot, and then I hear a tone.

At that point I know that
the bomb has left his aircraft.

Narrator: Twenty seconds later,
ward sees the proof of his work

Flash across the screen.

Capt. Ward: At that point
we relayed to the friendlies

That the enemy
forces had been destroyed

And that we couldn't
see any further movement.

You can hear the relief
in the ground troop's voice

When they respond on the radio.

They asked us to remain in
the overhead for just support

For the next 20 minutes to make
sure nothing else happened.

Narrator: In
afghanistan, british harriers

Clock more than 22,000 flying
hours, many of them at night.

Capt. Ward: Without the night
capabilities on the harrier

And particularly the sniper pod
and the night vision goggles,

It would've been impossible
to conduct that mission.

Narrator: Despite
its success, afghanistan

Is the final operation
for the british harriers.

The aging aircraft
break down more often

And become harder to maintain.

Fox: Probably the
most difficult thing about

Maintaining the harrier
is just getting the parts

That we need when we need it.

The aircraft isn't new anymore,
it's been around for a while,

They're not making new parts,
they're not making new aircraft.

When jets go down, we have to
work with what jets are left.

♪ ♪

Narrator: In 2010 the
british royal air force retires

Its aging harrier squadron
after 40 years of service.

In the u.S., the marine
corps phases theirs out too.

Roger: It's still in
combat, it's been fighting,

But the harrier is going
to start to quickly fade

Into retirement.

Narrator: But the
harrier's legacy lives on

In a new generation of aircraft.

Roger: The
harrier has put a premium

On vertical and short
takeoff and landing capability

By showing that you
can successfully operate

Away from traditional airbases.

♪ ♪

This requirement has now
evolved into what is becoming

The marine corps' f-35b.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The lockheed martin
f-35b. It hovers. It's smart.

And it's supersonic.

Roger: The f-35b
includes all the capabilities

Available to the harrier,

Including vertical
takeoff and landing,

But also incorporates
advanced stealth features,

Internal weapons carriage

And the most advanced
avionics available today.

Narrator:
It's also the most expensive
weapons program in u.S. History,

Projected at one and a
half trillion dollars.

Lon: It is the major procurement
program for the future,

And in fact it's quite
exciting that you see now

5th-generation stealthy
airplanes that are hovering.

Narrator: Thanks to the harrier,

Short takeoff and vertical
landing is now a must-have.

Just like the harrier,
the f-35 has been plagued

By mechanical errors, pilot
error, and steep cost overages.

Roger: Unfortunately,
that's just an outcome

Of the complexity
and challenges of

Operating a vertical and short
takeoff and landing aircraft.

They were technologically a
very difficult type of aircraft

To implement.

Narrator: While the f-35
struggles for credibility,

The harrier has proven
itself for over 40 years,

In the air, at
sea, and on the ground.

Roger: One reason for
the harrier's success

And its longevity in service

Is that it has filled a niche
that no other aircraft can fill.

No other aircraft can
operate on the front lines

In the same way
that the harrier can.

Roger: The harrier series has
undergone constant evolution

Since it first came into
service over 45 years ago.

Advances have included
the ability to dogfight,

The ability to fight at night,
all-weather attack capability,

The ability to carry all
of the latest weapon systems.

Narrator: It's one
of the most successful

Weapons collaborations
between nato nations.

Lon: The italian navy
bought this airplane,

And same with the spanish navy,

So this was an
international program.

They actually collaborated
and worked together

To make this basic platform grow
and improve its capability.

Narrator: Fast,
powerful, and innovative.

Its days of service may
be numbered, but the harrier

Will always remain
an icon of aviation.

♪ ♪