Its usage in the Falklands War was its most high profile and important success, when it was the only fixed-wing fighter available to protect the British Task Force.

The Sea Harrier was marketed for sales abroad, but India was the only other operator after attempts to sell the aircraft to Argentina and Australia were unsuccessful.

[6] During this time, requirements within the Royal Navy began to form for a vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) carrier-based interceptor to replace the de Havilland Sea Vixen.

[11][12] Almost immediately upon their construction, a ski-jump was added to the end of the 170-metre deck, enabling the carriers to effectively operate a small number of V/STOL jets.

[10][13] The naval staff were able to build an effective political argument for acquiring V/STOL aircraft on the grounds that anti-submarine groups operating in the NATO Atlantic area, the intended main role of the through-deck cruisers, would be vulnerable to attack by Soviet anti-ship missiles.

These could be launched at a considerable distance by a submarine or surface ship but needed to be guided in by a maritime patrol aircraft; fast jets carried onboard would be able to shoot these down.

The Sea Harrier is equipped with four wing and three fuselage pylons for carrying weapons and external fuel tanks.

[22] The use of the ski jump allowed the aircraft to take off from a short flight deck with a heavier payload than would otherwise be possible, although it can also take off like a conventional loaded fighter without thrust vectoring from a normal airport runway.

[29][30] The utility of the vertical landing capability of the Sea Harrier was demonstrated in an incident on 6 June 1983, when Sub Lieutenant Ian Watson lost contact with the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and had to land Sea Harrier ZA176 on the foredeck of the Spanish cargo ship Alraigo.

[33][34] In 2005, a Sea Harrier was modified with an 'Autoland' system to allow the fighter to perform a safe vertical landing without any pilot interaction.

Despite the pitching of a ship posing a natural problem, the system was designed to be aware of such data, and successfully performed a landing at sea in May 2005.

[16] The first production aircraft was delivered to RNAS Yeovilton in 1979 to form an Intensive Flying Trials Unit, 700A Naval Air Squadron.

[36] One Sea Harrier alone, flown by RAF Flight Lieutenant David Morgan, shot down two Skyhawks in a single encounter.

This is now thought to have been Mirages (IAI Neshers) releasing external fuel tanks to improve their maneuverability for air combat.

[46] The bombing of Port Stanley airport by a British Vulcan bomber was also a consideration in the Argentinians' decision to operate them from afar.

[46] The Sea Harriers also had limited fuel reserves due to the tactical decision to station the British carriers out of Exocet missile range and the dispersal of the fleet.

[54][55] On 16 April 1994, a Sea Harrier of the 801 Naval Air Squadron, operating from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, was brought down by an Igla-1 surface-to-air missile[56] fired by the Army of Republika Srpska while attempting to bomb two Bosnian Serb tanks.

[57] The pilot, Lieutenant Nick Richardson, ejected and landed in territory controlled by friendly Bosnian Muslims.

[62][63][64] The Sea Harrier was withdrawn from service in 2006 and the last remaining aircraft from 801 Naval Air Squadron were decommissioned on 29 March 2006.

[65][66] The MoD argued that significant expenditure would be required to upgrade the fleet for only six years of service to meet the F-35s then planned in-service date.

The option to install higher-rated Pegasus engines would not have been as straightforward as on the Harrier GR7 upgrade and would have likely been an expensive and slow process.

[68] The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm would continue to share the other component of Joint Force Harrier.

[82] In 2006, the Indian Navy started upgrading up to 15 Sea Harriers, installing the Elta EL/M-2032 radar and the Rafael 'Derby' medium-range air-to-air BVR missile.

[86] On 11 May 2016, a ceremony was held at INS Hansa, Dabolim, Goa to commemorate the phasing out of Sea Harriers from INAS 300 "White Tigers" and their replacement by the MiG-29K/KUB fighters.

Aircraft of both types performed an air display at the ceremony, marking the final flight of the Sea Harriers after 33 years of service in the Indian Navy.

[citation needed] Several surviving Sea Harriers are held by museums and private owners, and some others are at the Royal Navy School of Flight Deck Operations at RNAS Culdrose and other military bases for training.