One would be hard pressed to argue against the Harrier. It is an aircraft that, in its AV-8B form, has performed at or beyond the expectations of the Marine Corps. What was needed was an aircraft that did not need to be deployed on a large carrier as was capable of performing the mission required, which has always been support of the Marines on the Ground.

Its ability to take off from short runways or vertically from helo carriers as well as being able to carry a very useful warload, made from weapons that range from a 25mm gun to all of the latest air to ground weapons has proven its worth time and time again.

In this edition of Osprey's Combat Aircraft series, we look at the deployments during during Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in its various connotations from the invasion of Iraq in 2003 until the US left. As frequently happens nowadays when the US gets involved in the Middle East, things did not turn out as expected, but it was not from lack of effort. After the initial destruction of Iraq's military and much of its infrastructure, the remaining years were spent defending road convoys and attacking Iraqi insurgents where they could be found. Often times an air strike was the only viable way of getting to these people before they scattered into the population.

This book is on the various Harrier II deployments during this time and in several cases is separated into chapters by unit and time period. I dare say that just about all if not all USMC AV-8B units participated at some time or another. Some as part of a helo air group and some sent straight in. The major types used during this period were the Night Attack and the Plus versions, the latter being equipped with a proper radar system, something that US Harriers have never really had.

Typical of books like this, you are immediately immersed in jargon. Each time a work or phrase of jargon is used, you are told what it is, but for those of us who do not keep up with this sort of thing, it can very much detract from the complete understanding of what is going on. I guess it is just the nature of the beast as I run into this sort of thing whenever a modern aircraft is the subject of one of these books.

As with other books in this series, there is some background history on the AV-8B and the reason it was sent into combat. What follows is a diary format of each of the units and some of their more interesting missions. This is enhanced by photos, most of them in full color. There are also multiple pages of full color profiles of the aircraft that were involved with explanations that include units, bases and time periods.

In all, it adds to the growing collection of books in this series. I found it be an interesting read and anyone who likes the AV-8B or this period of history should pick this one up.

November 2013

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