Compass Points - Harrier Goodbye
Marine aircraft is replaced.
Compass Points - Harrier Goodbye
Marine aircraft is replaced.
June 5, 2025
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The Marine Corps is saying goodbye to the venerable AV-8B Harrier II. The Harrier was one of the first great VSTOL aircraft and did great things for the Marine Corps around the world for four decades.
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According to information published by the U.S. Department of Defense on May 29, 2025, U.S Marines Attack Squadron 231 (VMA-231) conducted its final AV-8B Harrier II, a vertical or short takeoff and landing flight ground-attack aircraft during a formal ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The historic event marked the closing chapter of the Harriers’ service in the unit, as the squadron prepares for deactivation in September 2025 and reactivation in 2026 as Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 231 (VMFA-231) operating the F-35B Lightning II fighter jet. This transition not only represents the end of an era but also symbolizes a significant tactical and strategic leap forward for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviation forces.
-- Defense News Aerospace
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The Harrier was a revolutionary aircraft that did not need a long runway. It could land and takeoff almost anywhere. Back in the day, the Marine AV8B was so famous, Hollywood came calling. In 1994 the Marine Harrier had a starring role in the James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster, True Lies. As the years went by, however, newer military jets got faster and better while the Marine AV8B stayed much the same. The Harrier was subsonic and had limited payload capacity for weapons and fuel compared to newer fighters.
Even after all these years, the AV8B still has one last lesson for the Marine Corps before the F35B takes over.
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Three JSF variants have been developed for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy- the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C respectively. The Marine Corps’ variant notably became the first supersonic, radar-evading stealth fighter in history to possess short take-off/vertical landing capabilities when it entered service.
The F-35B is designed to operate from austere bases and an array of air-capable ships while it can also takeoff and land from longer runways and conventional bases.
As detailed by the platform’s manufacturer Lockheed Martin, “STOVL operation is made possible through the patented shaft-driven LiftFan propulsion system. This propulsion approach overcomes many of the temperature, velocity and power challenges of direct-lift systems.”
The platform’s STOVL capability makes the F-35B variant the most mechanically complex version of the Lightning II in service. Due to its lifting fan position, the F-35B has less internal storage capacity than its counterparts.
The Marine Corps’ F-35B variant may be the most complex, however, all three Lightning II types are equally formidable and will undoubtedly remain a critical component of America’s aerial prowess for decades to come.
-- F35.com
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It was ten years ago this summer in 2015 when the F35B Lighting first flew for the Marine Corps. Now, in 2025 there are more than one-thousand F35s in service in the US military.
If the F35B is so revolutionary and the Harrier has so many limitations, why did the Marine Corps wait so long to get rid of the Harrier? The Marine Corps received its first F35B in 2015. Why not just get rid of the Harrier in 2015? In 2015 the Marine Corps could have used the "divest to invest" approach. Simply divest the Harrier, not spend another dime on it. Instead, put all the money in the F35B. There are several answers. The chief answer is that while the Marine Corps received its first F35B in 2015, the F35B was not available in sufficient numbers until ten years later. If the Marine Corps had not had the Harrier from 2015 - 2025 then the Marine Corps would not have had the capabilities it needed to complete missions around the world. Real world Marine Corps missions are not completed by capabilities that are on the way, the Marine Corps must have capabilities today to complete missions today.
The Harrier was not a perfect aircraft -- there are no perfect aircraft -- but it was a proven capability that the Marine Corps used effectively around the world. As the Harrier says goodbye to the Marine Corps, it has one final lesson. The lesson for Marine Corps leaders is to stop trading proven capabilities for capabilities that have not arrived yet. Maybe someday, the Marine Corps will have missiles and drones on every island off the coast of China, but that day is not today. Those units do not exist.
What the Marine Corps does have is the remains of a worldwide global crisis response force that desperately needs to be restored and enhanced. The Marine Corps must stop degrading and destroying Marine Corps combined arms capabilities that are still needed around the world today. Not one more infantry regiment should be turned into a missile-less missile unit.
Compass Points salutes all the Marines in the air and on the ground who distinguished themselves for decades by keeping the AV8B Harrier in the air accomplishing mission after mission around the world.
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Defense News Aerospace - 2025
Breaking News: U.S. VMA-231 squadron ends Harrier vertical takeoff jet legacy to modernize with F-35B fighter jet.
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F-35B: The Incredible Fighter Jet the U.S. Marines Love
https://www.f35.com/f35/news-and-features/f35b-fighter-jet-marines-love.html
Divest to invest is a “witches brew.” It is a failed approach to transforming a military force for the future. Don’t take my word for it. Consider the following:
1. A May 2025 article in Military Times titled “Ill-fated Gaza pier mission lacked sufficient training, equipment: IG.” According to the article, the DoD IG report cited numerous reasons the Gaza Pier was essentially a failed mission. One of the reasons was the divestment of needed equipment, i.e. “Between 2018 and 2023, the Army and Navy had completed major divestments of equipment the JLOTS system required… including roughly half the Army’s watercraft, or 64 out of 134, [and] one of the Navy’s two JLOTS-capable unites, Amphibious Construction Battalion 2.” To read the full article, refer to: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2025/05/06/ill-fated-gaza-pier-mission-lacked-sufficient-training-equipment-ig/
2. In his April 2025 Posture Statement, Admiral Samuel Paparo (Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command) stated: “To enable effective, all domain fires across the vast Pacific theater, USINDOPACOM must implement a comprehensive modernization strategy that adheres to the “make-before-break” principle. This means that combat-relevant capabilities should not be divested until their replacements are ready. To read the full statement, refer to: https://armedservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/indopacom_posture_statement_2025.pdf
3. In a November 2022 article in Defense News titled “US Air Forces ‘divest to invest’ plan is too risky, General John Loh, USAF (ret) and former Vice COS of the Air Force provided a multitude of reasons why the "divest to invest" approach to modernization is a recipe for disaster. His summary could not be more clear: “’Divest to invest’ may have been a workable strategy years ago when global threats were less severe. Today, however, divesting now in the hope of recapitalizing years later is too risky and can invite attacks by adversaries in the interval when our forces are weaker.” To read the full article, refer to: https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2022/11/16/us-air-forces-divest-to-invest-plan-is-too-risky/
The underpinning of Force Design was “divest to invest.” You can judge for yourself if this was a prudent action or not.
I was watching them fly around New Bern on a sunny day about two months ago. I am glad I got that last chance. The pilots and maintainers for the AV-8B were a unique (in a very good way) crew. I am sure as much as the airplane was loved, it is nice to put the headaches to rest. Still bittersweet when we say goodbye to these teams of Marines and machines after such good and faithful service. I had the good fortune, on my very first CASEX, to be able to call in the last A-4s in the Pacific. I remember seeing the last RF-4s at Kadena (air show). And I'll never forget when an SR71 (obviously not a Marine bird) flew over Schwab on final shortly before they retired. Even the UAVs; got to see a Pioneer on the Missouri when she came through Subic in '90. Years later, I thought someone ND'd a TOW when a Pioneer did it's little rocket launch thing in Diwaniyah next to our pos. All good. Time moves on; I just get younger and better looking.