Marines retire Harrier ‘jump jet’

The U.S. Marine Corps this week celebrated the retirement of the AV-8B Harrier II, the fighter jet that can take off and land vertically and without a runway.

In a “sundown” ceremony on Wednesday at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., more than 5,000 people gathered to watch the last U.S. unit fly the aircraft, according to a service press release.

A Marine aircraft for 55 years, Harriers use a single turbofan engine with four rotating nozzles from which the thrust can allow it to hover and take off or land vertically. That allowed the jets to operate from places without runways or from the decks of Navy ships, staying closer to combat operations compared to fighter jets that required air bases or airports with full runways.

The Harriers flown at the ceremony were part of Marine Attack Squadron 223, from which a detachment deployed to the Caribbean last year as part of the........

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