Were back then to the old question of it's actual ability.
The FARP concept was a nice idea, but that meant lack of security for the jets, lack of manpower for guards etc, but from what I saw was never believed in once the CO of the secret Rutland base made it quite clear the plan did not include getting the troops out once the jets had gone. I may be wrong but now its finally become an operational bona fida jet the FARP concept has not been used.
The question of its ability to carry any load, GR9 or not, will always be asked about the Harrier. Yes it can match a lot of aircraft but it needs a runway to do it which kind of defeats its purpose.
As a platform I can see its limited uses, but IMHO what a waste of money - If had been any good it would have seen action in GW1, it didn't because there was no need for it to be there. Instead of jazzing up a tired old aircraft now, lets cut our losses, bin it and get something that can do the job.
You can keep 1 or 2 for airshows - it was always good at that.!!
