Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) recently marked a significant chapter’s end by completing its last AV-8B Harrier ...

Five AV-8B Harrier II's with Marine Attack Squadron 231 fly in formation during the squadron’s final flight ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina on May 29, 2025.

The first pre-production Harrier II took to the skies in 1981, and by 1985, the new model was fully tested and entered service with the U.S. Marine Corp ... becoming the AV-8B Harrier II Plus.

The final two AV-8B Harrier II pilots finished training on Friday, receiving the last 7509 military occupational specialty designation reserved for qualified pilots of the aircraft, according to a ...

The Harrier’s retirement aligns with broader Navy and Marine Corps efforts to modernize their fleets. According to a 2023 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the AV-8B’s ...

Discover the history of military aviation at Arizona's new museum featuring a Harrier AV-8B. Learn about the aircraft and the ...

Cherry Point is also home to a Harrier training unit, VMAT-203, which flies both the AV-8B and TAV-8B two-seat training aircraft. That unit will sundown in FY 2026, according to the service’s ...

The final Boeing AV-8B Harrier II jump jets in service with the US military will be retired in 2027. An aviation strategy released by the US Marine Corps (USMC) on 3 February calls for half of the ...

On the morning of June 10, a flight of three historic U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II aircraft lifted off on their final ...

The Marines will rebrand a squadron as pilots switch to the F-35B Lightning II. The transition from the AV-8B Harrier to the F-35B is part of modernization. The change is part of service-wide ...

The Harrier BuNo 165574, a vertical/short takeoff and landing fighter, first entered service in the Marine Corps in January 1986 and in July 2001 was remanufactured as an AV-8B II+ radar aircraft.

As the U.S. Marine Corps proceeds with its plan to retire all AV-8B+ Harrier II jets by 2026, Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE), a Naval Aviation maintenance and repair depot under the Naval Air ...