The BAE Systems FA2 Sea Harrier fighter aircraft, which was in account with the British Royal Navy and charcoal in account with the Indian Navy, provided air defence for the carrier fleet, decidedly adjoin low-flying advance aircraft armed with all-embracing air-to-surface missiles. The FA2 aboriginal flew in 1988 and entered account in 1993. 56 aircraft were congenital for the Royal Navy. The Sea Harrier was retired from the UK Royal Navy in March 2006. The architecture of the aircraft was optimised for air-to-air action with accessory missions of surveillance, air-to-sea and air-to-ground attack. The aircraft was able to ascertain and abort threats afore the barrage of an advance application continued ambit weapon systems with look-down and shoot-down appropriate capability.
The FA2 is able with the Raytheon AIM-120A AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missile, which is an all-weather, fire-and-forget missile, able with an alive alarm appellant and ambit of over 50 miles. The AIM-9 M/L Sidewinder air-to-air missile provides the Harrier with adequacy for battlefront abutting ambit at an abutting adversary aircraft in a dogfight. The Lockheed Martin / Raytheon Sidewinder M/L has an all-aspect alive optical seeker.
The Sea Harrier's anti-ship missile is the MBDA (formerly Matra Bae Dynamics) Sea Eagle, a fire-and-forget sea-skimming missile with alive alarm homing and a ambit of over 50 miles.
The Sea Harrier can backpack the MBDA ALARM anti-radiation missile, which can be deployed in absolute advance mode, adjoin a alarm target, or in amble mode, area the missile is launched in the around of the blackmail and waits for the adverse alarm to emit.
The FA2 Harrier is adapted with a BAE SYSTEMS Blue Vixen beating Doppler all-weather radar. Blue Vixen is a multi-mode alarm which performs arena mapping and apparent ambition apprehension and tracking, in accession to all-embracing look-up and look-down apprehension and tracking of aircraft. The alarm aswell interfaces to the AMRAAM missile system.
