AV-8B Harrier

The Harrier today is one of the truly unique and most widely known of military aircraft. It is unique as the only fixed wing V/STOL aircraft in the free world.

 
AV-8B Harrier jet: An air-to-air view of a U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft from Marine Attack Squadron 513 (VMA-513), Yuma Marine Corps Air Base, Ariz., during Operation Desert Shield.

It also is unusual in the international nature of its development, which brought the design from the first British P.1127 prototype to the AV-8B Harrier II of today.