UPDATE — 3 June 2026: This post updates our earlier coverage of the Harrier retirement. Read the original article here.

At 10:00 Eastern this morning, five AV-8B Harrier IIs from Marine Attack Squadron 223 — the “Bulldogs,” the last operational Harrier squadron in the United States Marine Corps — flew in formation over Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, touched down on the flightline, and shut their engines for the last time. Fifty-five years of vertical-landing jet combat, over.

The sundown ceremony, held before a crowd of serving Marines, veterans, families, and aviation fans, marks the end of an era that began in 1971 when the Corps took delivery of its first AV-8A. The Harrier saw combat in every major American engagement from Operation Desert Storm through Operation Absolute Resolve — its final combat deployment, flying from the deck of USS Iwo Jima with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

One Last Combat Run

The timing was poetic and unplanned. VMA-223’s final deployment aboard USS Iwo Jima put the Harrier back in combat during Operation Absolute Resolve — giving the jump jet one last war before retirement. When those jets returned to Cherry Point, they went straight to the sundown ceremony rather than to maintenance. The Harrier ended its career the way it spent most of it: coming home from a fight.

The transition to the F-35B Lightning II has been underway for years, but the Harrier’s unique character — its ability to operate from roads, clearings, and tiny amphibious assault ships — gave it a flexibility that no other Western jet could match. Experienced Harrier pilots and maintainers are moving to F-35B squadrons, ensuring that the Corps’ hard-won STOVL expertise survives the airframe.

The Sundown Week

The ceremony was the centrepiece of a four-day Harrier Sundown Celebration hosted by 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, running June 1–4. The week included squadron open houses, a gala, a 5K run, community events in Carteret County, and flyovers that gave the public one last chance to hear the Pegasus engine’s distinctive roar. The events were closed to general public at the flightline, but the surrounding community embraced the occasion.

End of an Era

From the Falklands to Kandahar, from the decks of Tarawa-class amphibs to the highways of Norway, the Harrier did things no other jet could do — and it did them for more than half a century. Today it stopped. The Marines who flew it will tell you it was loud, hot, unforgiving, and magnificent. They’re not wrong.

Sources: U.S. Marine Corps, DVIDS, Stars and Stripes, Seapower Magazine