1/72 British Aerospace Sea Harrier FA.2 from HOBBY MASTER.

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I am the airplane expert/, HIDEKI !
Today/, We are going to review/ a die-cast model.
It is a 1/72 British Aerospace Sea Harrier FA.2 from HOBBY MASTER.

The British Aerospace(BAe) Sea Harrier has been improved based on the Royal Air Force Harrier.

It was developed in the 1960s as the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities and the only truly successful V/STOL design of that era.

The Sea Harrier FRS1 first entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980.

Sea Harriers took part in the Falklands War of 1982, flying from the aircraft carriers HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes.

A total of 28 Sea Harriers were deployed in the Falklands War.
The Sea Harrier squadrons shot down 20 Argentine aircraft in air-to-air combat with no air-to-air losses.

Following the 1982 Falklands War, several lessons were learned from the aircraft's performance, which led to approval for an upgrade of the fleet to FRS.2 standard(later known as FA2) to be given in 1984.

The main change from FRS.1 to FA.2 is the enhancement of avionics.

It was fitted with the Blue Vixen radar, which was described as one of the most advanced pulse doppler radar systems in the world.
The Blue Vixen formed the basis for development of the Eurofighter Typhoon's CAPTOR radar.

Radar warning receiver has also been updated to Marconi Sky Guardian. The HOTAS concept was introduced into the cockpit, and it became a digital type with two multifunction displays.

Also it’s carried the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, the first UK aircraft to be provided with this capability.

The upgraded engine, Pegasus 11 Mk 106, was used in the RAF Harrier GR5/7.

The radome was enlarged due to the radar update, and the avionics bay was installed with the rear fuselage extended by 35 cm to secure storage space for various equipment and the main wings have also been improved.

The first flight of the prototype took place in September 1988.
On December 7, 1988, a contract was signed to upgrade 33 FRS.1 aircrafts to FA.2, and by 1994, all aircrafts had been repaired.
After that, the new production of 18 FA.2 aircrafts were approved, and the delivery was completed by 1998.

Finally, the FA.2 was replaced by the Harrier GR9 on March 31 2006

This model, Sea Harrier FA2 ZD608 first flew in 1985.
ZD608 was one of the 56 aircrafts, which were upgraded from FRS.1 to FA2 standards.

Operation Deliberate Force which was a multi-national force acting to stop Bosnian Serb Army aggression, demonstrated that the FA2 could be used in a strike role.

At this time, it was also used as an airborne early warning aircraft to complement the E-3 AWACS, taking advantage of the high performance of the Blue Vixen radar.

Today we review a 1/72 British Aerospace Sea Harrier FA.2 from HOBBY MASTER.
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