A flight of harriers approaching to strike an Ultranationalist target
The Boeing AV-8B Harrier is a VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) fighter jet used by the United States Marine Corps. It appears in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The Harrier is used by the USMC to support their amphibious landing operations. They usually carry out airstrikes against enemy fortifications and units in support of friendlies. As a VTOL aircraft, it is capable of hovering in place like a helicopter, though it mostly relies on its speed to avoid enemy fire. It is slightly slower than most attack fighters, which is why it is more useful in a Ground Support role.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
A flight of USMC AV-8B jets appear in the mission Heat, callsign Falcon One. They provide close air support to the S.A.S. team using cluster bombs. Additionally the player can see Harriers bombing targets in the mission Shock and Awe ahead of the Marine assault, thereby reducing resistance to a ground assault by the Marines. Two of the jets fly right over the player's position in the mission Charlie Don't Surf when they are on the roof of the TV station.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Campaign
The Harrier also makes a handful of appearances in Campaign, though they are seen far less often than in Call of Duty 4, with the F-15 Eagle replacing them in the role of Close-Air Support. A pair of them can be seen showing off their VTOL capability in the level Exodus.
Multiplayer
The Harrier strike is an unlockable killstreak reward in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Requiring a killstreak of 7, the Harrier Airstrike calls in three harrier jets. Two bomb the target location in the selected direction, and the third hovers in place over the selected area, and will attempt to kill enemy targets.
Unlike Pave Low, Harrier kills from both the airstrike and strafing runs extend the user's killstreak. This makes the Harrier very useful for achieving higher ranked killstreaks such as Chopper Gunner or AC130.
Trivia
- If a player gets the game-winning killcam with a Harrier, they will unlock the title True Liar, a reference to the movie True Lies.
- The Harrier Strike is an inaccurate representation of the AV-8B's abilities. First, there is no undermounted gun on a Harrier, as is implied in the game. Second, Harriers are not designed to hover over an area for extended periods of time, rather, to take off and land.
- It is unlikely that the Harrier will still be in service in 2016, as it is scheduled to be replaced by the F-35 Lightning II in 2012.
- If an enemy attack craft appears on the screen, all friendly Harriers will attack and most likely destroy it, going as far as to launch missiles at it.
- Harrier Strikes are often preferred over attack helicopters because of the addition of the bombing at the beginning of the killstreak.
- Harriers are often considered easier to destroy than Attack Helicopters, as they hover in one spot and do not move very much.
- Destroying a Harrier rewards you with 300 XP, or sometimes 400 if destroyed with an LMG or SMG.
- The Airstrike portion of the killstreak reward is actually treated as a Precision Airstrike. For example, if a game-winning kill is scored with the bombing portion instead of the Harrier itself, you will complete the challenge of getting a game-winning kill with a Precision Airstrike instead of a Harrier strike.
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