Talk:British Aerospace Harrier II

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'utterly useless' quote

I'm a bit concerned about the sentence that reads 'The air support provided by the Harriers was described by a British Army Major as being "utterly, utterly useless".' This statement is very strong but appears without any analysis or context. The officer quoted is reported as being a Major Loden of 3 Para (according to the cited report in the Telegraph), but in subsequent reporting another officer of 3 Para is quoted as saying:

The GR7's have played a critical part in ensuring the security of the lads on the ground. They couldn't have asked for better support during some very difficult times
— Captain Matt Taylor, MoD rejects Afghanistan email claims

Elsewhere, Alan Warnes' 'Herrick Harriers: An unofficial tribute to Joint Force Harrier in Afghanistan' (an Air Forces Monthly special edition), suggests that Major Loden may have mistakenly identified an F-16 as an Harrier in connection with a near-miss friendly fire incident. I think this sentence needs a bit more context. --IxK85 (talk) 10:37, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I've taken that out. The source reveals that he was irritated with the RAF's command and control, not the Harrier as such - the original quote is "the RAF have been utterly, utterly useless". The Harrier is mentioned but it's clear that his beef is with the pilot. Furthermore the email talks about strafing, but I understand the RAF's GR7/GR9s were never fitted with guns. -146.198.60.209 (talk) 23:32, 16 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]