Originally Posted by
Davef68
In an ideal world we would have kept both Harrier and Tornado, especially after the GR9 update, as they offered different capabilities,
Storm Shadow as a Harrier capability had been cancelled aorund 2003/4 if my memory is bearing up. Something to do with weight constraints on VL on carriers. Torndado could use it for Land ops.
Don't ignore the massive benefits of RAPTor reconaissance capabilities in particular combating IED threats.
Harrier was indeed a fine aircraft but it simply did not poses the flexibility and capabilities that the GR4 did and still has.