Maybe it's stretching things a bit, but we might comfort ourselves a little with the thought that the 72 prematurely retired Harrier IIs sold to the USMC by the MoD in 2011 will
still be helping 'to defend the free world' as a components source to keep their AV-8B Harrier II fleet operational.
After all, we
are generally on the same side of the fence in situations requiring the deployment of these excellent machines. It's just a crying shame that they won't have British servicemen flying them ...
