The Original Sea harrier (the Sea Harrier FRS1) was a modified Harrier I (Gr1, Gr3 and Gr5) that was better suited for A2A combat, perticular for operating from British Carriers (and well proven in the Falklands)
the FA2 was a direct upgrade of the FRS1. Replacing the radar, avionics and engine and most importantly, adding AMRAAM(B). They were argubly Britains best A2A fighter from 1992 until the Typhoon in 2003.
The FA2 does have the same Mk105 engine as the Gr7 and other Harrier IIs and possibly might get a little more speed due to the smaller wing ( and thus less drag) but also has the added cost of reduce maneuvability,
Both Harrier II and Sea Harrier Have fairly equal cockpit visibility. So no real clear advantatge in that sense. But the vastly superior radar in the FA2 will be a notable advantatge.
To be honest, Missile load in SB is a minor consideration, as you will often RTB long before expending all missiles, in part due to how the economy works and partly because of fuel.
But in ARB, the AV-8B+ will likely be better as it has more AAMs, doesnt have to sacrifice guns and has the better handling. Though I think the FA2 has more CMs as it will have the option for BOL Depending on the performance of AMRAAM, the FA2 might also be the better for actual BVR combat due to the better radar (despite haivng less AMRAAM)
It might be ligher too since its original sea harrier airframe? I would assume the GR7 gained substantial weight with the upgrades and the Multi mission technology integrated in it?
I dont know, maybe. Im not expecting a huge increase in top speed. Likely will max out at about Mach 0,93-0.95 still. But will probably accelerate quite well.
yeah Im pretty good at dogfighting in them (newer ones). the later models like the Gr7 and italian AV8 have leading edge extentions now for higher angles of attack before stalling.
they have insane acceleration and fuel economy. The late models do not bleed energy as easy as previous harriers.
Min fuel late model harriers are pretty deadly. The GR7 also has an ungodly ammount of CM.
Not to mention both have high velocity laser beam cannons lol.
Aim9Ms too. Now potentially Aim-120s? Lord have mercy.
Never under-estimate some good VIFFs. I nearly 1 vs 3ed Mig-29s in the Gr7 in SB. I got 2 of them before the third got me. If I had my MAWS, I would have likely survived and won that fight
In the Gr7 at least you have 700 CMs, and good low speed handling, its fairly easy to dogfight those aircraft if they dont know what they are doing.
Though I miss the good old days when the Gr7 was first added. No one knew how to fight them and were expecting an easy fight like the Harrier Is. I got so many kills in those first few weeks it was hilarious. Then they nerfed the 9Ls and people begun to learn how to fight them.
Also depends if the Harrier knows what they are doing. Something to bare in mind as well, is that a huge power of the Harriers is VIFF’ing. (Vector in forward flight). It can be quite tricky on Keyboard and mouse or controller to configure VIFF smoothly. I use a dual throttle for SB and it’s a doddle.
they are also insanely good at reversals too, when faster jets dive on you it is the most satisfying reversing them and gunning them with either the high velocity 25mm ADEN stealth rounds or the high velocity F-35 25mm GAU cannon.
Yeah. That was an IRL tactic, slam the nozzles forward into the breaking stop and at the same time perform a barrel roll. The aircraft behind you then magically appears in your cross hairs a few seconds later.
If you havent read it yet, I strongly recommend “Harrier: How to be a fighter Pilot” by Paul Tremeling. it is awesome and almost mandatory reading for the FA2 and Gr7/9