Long
overdue submission of another of my ‘what-if’ builds. This is Hasegawa’s
Harrier GR7 done up in a retro commemorative scheme from 805 Sqn, Royal
Australian Navy, during the squadron’s last combat deployment in Afghanistan
before disbanding. Inspiration came from Christopher Cooper’s excellent
profiles in the ‘What-if’ thread on the Jet forum.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Bit
of background ‘story’. When the Labor govt took over, it was decided to
acquire a new ‘jump-jet’ carrier to replace HMAS Melbourne but as the
Invincible was no longer for sale after the Falklands, a deal was struck with
the UK whereby a set of construction plans would be sold to Australia to build a
new carrier herself with the condition that the new air wing would fly British
built Harrier GR5s, instead of the AV-8Bs preferred by the RAN. HMAS Melbourne
would undergo a refit to enable her to serve till 1985 while the new HMAS
Australia
/ GR5s would enter service in 1989.
The
3 year gap was deemed acceptable by Labor and VF-805 pilots earmarked for
Harriers would maintain currency by flying with the RAF/RN, as well as the USMC
in the meantime. A total of 12 GR5s were ordered including 2 twin tub trainers,
allowing an 8 plane ship detachment while still permitting shore operations.
Harrier conversion for new pilots would all be done in the
UK
after completion of basic/ advanced pilot training in Australia.
In
the event HMAS Australia was commissioned in Oct 1989 but due to delays in the
GR5 program and subsequent change to the GR7 mark by the RAF, RAN Harriers were
also switched to the GR7 variant while on the production line, resulting in a
delay in arrival till Feb 1992.
Fast
forward to the present day. When Julia Gillard’s Labor govt came to power in
2010, she announced a series of defence cuts as part of her plans to turn around
the economy and reduce spending. Part of the cut was that HMAS Melbourne would
be decommissioned immediately and 805 Sqn disbanded by 2011. The UK
immediately offered to take the decommissioned Melbourne as a floating RN
museum as well as the GR7s for spares in return for a token sum! Fortunately for
805 Sqn, there was a slight reprieve for Gillard had promised to bring home
Aussie ground troops from Iraq/Afghanistan as part of her election promise.
Hence the Harriers would fly out their last deployment in
Afghanistan
in support of ISAF in return for Australia pulling out her ground forces. In Oct 2010 HMAS Melbourne sailed on her last
voyage to Portsmouth
with all of 805 Sqn GR7s onboard. En-route, as she neared the Egyptian end of
the
Suez
, all 10 GR7s launched off her deck for the last time, bound for Kandahar
Airfield in
Afghanistan.
In
Jan 2011, with 6 months left in the Sqn’s tour, it was decided that the
squadron would go out with a bang. All the squadron’s Harriers, including 882
seen her, were painted up in a retro scheme reminiscent of the Skyhawks flown by
805 Sqn with help from neighbouring RAF and US squadrons. When asked by a BBC
news crew what would happen if Canberra found out about the unauthorised paint
job, Lt Cmdr Nick Mahoney’s priceless answer was ‘ What are they gonna do?
Send me to
Afghanistan
??’
Andy Alexius Lee
Click on
images below to see larger images
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