The Harrier II Plus (AV-8B), manufactured by BAE SYSTEMS and Boeing, is a V/STOL fighter and attack aircraft operational with the US Marine Corps, the Spanish Navy and the Italian Navy.
The Harrier II Plus extends the capabilities of the Harrier and is the latest addition to the family of Harrier aircraft. The Harrier II Plus is equipped with a multi-mode radar and has beyond-visual-range missile capability. The US Marine Corps received the first AV-8B in 1993. The USMC have 140 aircraft; the Italian Navy 16 and the Spanish Navy eight.

COCKPIT:
The cockpit is fully integrated for day and night operability and is equipped with head-up and head-down displays, a digital moving map, an inertial navigation system (INS), and a hands-on throttle and stick system (HOTAS).

WEAPONS:
The Harrier II Plus is capable of deploying a wide range of weapon systems, including the air-to-air AMRAAM and Sparrow missiles, air-to-surface AGM-65 Maverick missiles, anti-ship Harpoon and Sea Eagle missiles, 25mm cannon, and a range of bombs and rockets.
The AIM-120A advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) from Raytheon Missile Systems is an all-weather, fire-and-forget air-to-air missile, equipped with an active radar seeker and high explosive warhead. The range is over 50 miles, and the speed of the missile is 1.2km per second.
The Maverick AGM-65 anti-tank missile is installed on the Italian Harrier II Plus. The AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range air-to-air missile, a predecessor to the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM, is held in the arms inventories of many countries, including the user countries of the Harrier II Plus aircraft. The Harrier II Plus is capable of deploying the Sea Eagle anti-ship missile from MBDA (formerly Matra BAe Dynamics), which is a fire-and-forget sea-skimming missile also carried on the Sea Harrier, and the air-launch version of Harpoon AGM-84 surface strike missile from Boeing.

SENSORS:
The Harrier II Plus is the latest addition to the Harrier family, and is equipped with the Raytheon APG-65 digital radar to provide day-and-night and adverse-weather capability. The APG-65 is a jam-resistant, all-weather detection and tracking radar. In the air-to-air role, the radar operates in search, track and combat modes. Long-range interception missions use the radar's long-range detection capability and, for the close-in air defense role, the radar uses rapid acquisition modes for the aircraft's 25mm cannon and heat-seeking missiles.
In the air-to-surface role, the APG-65 radar provides high-resolution, long-range surface mapping and detection, and tracking of land-based and sea-based targets. The radar has the capability to locate small, fast patrol boats in high sea states and to detect large naval ships at long range.

AVIONICS:
The avionics suite of the Harrier II Plus is very similar to that of the US Marine Corps' Night Attack AV-8B, and is equipped with a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor, night-vision goggles (NVG) and an NVG-compatible cockpit. The image from the FLIR is projected on the wide-field-of-view head-up display or on one of the multi-purpose head-down displays to provide night-time and reduced-visibility capability.

ENGINES:
The Pegasus engine 11-61 (F402-RR-408) from Rolls-Royce provides a high thrust-to-weight ratio and retains its performance in hot and high-altitude conditions. The significant aerodynamic features of the aircraft are large leading-edge root extensions (LERX) and under-fuselage lift-improvement devices (LIDS), drooping ailerons (i.e. the control surface that forms part of the trailing edge of the wing), and the slotted flaps augmented vectored engine thrust.