Marine Corps Ends All Harrier Jump-Jet Operations With Retirement of Final AV-8B Squadron

S. ” The ceremony closed more than 50 years of Marine Corps jump-jet operations that began when the first-generation AV-8A Harrier entered service in 1971. The AV-8B Harrier II, introduced later, featured a larger composite wing, improved performance, greater payload capacity, and enhanced avionics compared with the AV-8A.

Later upgrades added night-attack capabilities and radar-equipped AV-8B Plus variants, with all remaining single-seaters fitted with the AN/APG-65 radar ported from F/A-18A/B Hornets. Marine AV-8Bs flew thousands of sorties during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and participated in combat operations over the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and against ISIS. Lt.

Col. Thomas D. Gore, former commanding officer of VMA-223, piloted an AV-8B over the Kajaki Dam in Helmand province, Afghanistan, between November 2011 and May 2012 while providing close air support.

The final two Marine pilots completed AV-8B qualification training in 2024. VMA-223 conducted the last operational deployment of Marine Corps Harriers aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) as part of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group.

During that deployment the squadron took part in Operation Southern Spear, striking boats suspected of carrying illicit narcotics in the Caribbean.

U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier in 2026. Maj. Eric Shiebe, an AV-8B Harrier pilot and executive officer of VMA-223, and Sgt.

Tatiana Rios, a fixed-wing aircraft airframe mechanic with VMA-223, participated in an incentive flight at MCAS Cherry Point on May 19, 2026. S. Marine Corps AV-8Bs with VMA-223 flew over the coast of North Carolina on May 15, 2026.

The transition from the AV-8B to the F-35B was outlined in the 2022 Marine Aviation Plan. An F-35B attached to VMFA-211 was directed to take off from the USS Essex (LHD-2) on April 22, 2026. The AV-8B remains in frontline service in smaller numbers with Italy and Spain.

VMA-223 is based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. An AV-8B from VMA-223 was observed at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho, in April 2021. An AV-8B assigned to VMA-311 landed aboard the USS Peleliu (LHA-5) in the South China Sea in June 2008.

Two Marine Corps AV-8Bs received final preflight checks aboard the USS Nassau (LHA-4) during Operation Desert Shield. An AV-8B from VMA-223 was photographed on the flight deck of the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) while radar work was performed. The change of command and redesignation ceremony for VMFA-214 involving an AV-8B and F-35B occurred at MCAS Yuma, Arizona, in March 2022.