I second that motion! All
In favour say I.
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Ladies & Gentlemen - it gives me great pleasure to make this prestigious award.
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Umm so thank you all, I didnât know this badge was a thing.
I donât expect to, or want to, hold it long in this esteemed company.
Thanks to Chris, Fearless, Fridge, and Troll. Where else but here would I put such a crazy nonsense.
Back to to your regularly scheduled Harrier-ing.
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It wasnât, I just saw @Navynuke99âs comment above, agreed with it, and thought it would be a fun badge for us all to have (plus you can use it as a title as well in your profile). 
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So in the ED forums I saw talk of the targeting systems for the AV8B NA. I was sort of expecting either a ground radar or a Lightening-like pod - is that not the case? I think the Zeus was saying the NA just uses an optical targeting, and that it isnât quite like the A10C with itâs SPIâs and SOIâs - anyone know?
So the NA has no radar. Its skill set is very much like the Mirageâs. CCIP, CCRP, ,Rockets, and LGBâs with a Man in the Loop.
@near_blind I think mentioned earlier in the thread that Razbam has plans to upgrade it to a Plus model when the ground radar tech is finished.
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I found the AV-8 Harrier Tactical Manuals here:
Looking at the ED thread here:
https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=3169541#post3169541
âŠit looks like RAZBAM are targeting (heh) the references of the public info from ~2002 ish. Fascinating stuff so far.
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Ah, ok. So the AV-8B N/A is the updated version for Night Attack (NVG, NAVFLIR, LITENING II TPOD etc., the one used during Desert Storm) but doesnât have the APG-65 ground radar and is just pure optical targeting, with even the targeting pod more an added extra?
The Plus or AV-8B Radar (ground radar APG-65) is the All Weather updated variant, which RAZBAM plan a bit later with ED (as same sort of radar used in F/A-18C)?
Then manuals I linked to above, describes the radar use, so must be the plus I guess.
(I sort of know the UK GR5/7/9 variants better, the USMC stuff is a bit of mystery still).
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And Thrustmaster has the Control stick part of that covered. Going to be very good times.
I would love to see them make a throttle that has a detachable grip as well. Seems it could be lucrative for them (I have no idea if thatâs true but I want it to be) and would be great (expensive) for us. Just attach the grips for the module you are flying.
I am also excited to fly a âsimplerâ model first and then move up to a glass cockpit version later. Sounds limiting I know. But I can also sell it to myself as being like going from the Su-25A to the -T. I am not ashamed to admit that I get intimidated sometimes by all the MFD pages in a module and it can put me off from learning it.
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Pretty much. The B+ basically came about when the USN decided to upgrade all their F/A-18s to the C model, which uses the upgraded/redesigned APG-73 radar. Observing the Navy was suddenly flush with APG-65s (the radars on the F/A-18A), the USMC scooped them up, as they had a bunch of F/A-18As. I donât know exactly the chain of events, but somehow McD was commissioned to start putting them into the nose AV-8Bs to make them all weather bombers, and give them expanded (albeit relatively limited) air to air capacity. The European AV-8B customers (Spain and Italy), caught whif and thought it was a smashing idea, and further funded development to include AIM-120s and ideally otherstuff that didnât pan out.
Keep scrolling. Generally the manuals will keep information for all in service aircraft at the time of printing. The one you posted covers ARBS et. al. below the APG-65 Section.
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Ah got it, I think. So the Angle Rate Bombing System (ARBS) is the line of sight optical thing, with the N/A using âDual Mode Trackerâ (DMT) rather than radar, which sounds like a image-based visual targeting system that is built in as a camera in the nose, rather than a âbig eyeâ separate targeting pod. So maybe LITENING II to go find things, and then the ARBS DMT to go view and lock (using a laser or just image contrast) and then the putting the thing on the thing can happen.
In fact @fearlessfrog, I am not sure you know this, and I donât recommend you dig through that 149 post thread, but Razbam originally posted the version to build as a poll and the GR. 7/9 won. There was much rejoicing across the pond until they came back and changed it to the NA due to the targeting pods and weapons fit being too much for them to tackle.
Almost a British HarrierâŠ
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So close!
Actually, Iâm like you, in that Iâd prefer an early variant first, just to get my feet wet (repeatedly) and then get more buttons to press later on. I donât think an AIM-120 variant was ever a good idea anyway. 
Iâm firmly in the âChurch of Systemsâ school of flight simming though, where gameplay, drama and fun come a sad third place compared to (1) Learning what all the buttons do, (2) Wallowing in acronyms and (3) Doing stuff.
@Fridge and I were joking in TS the other night that we are both excited for the Harrier because we realized that 80-90% of our flight time is pattern practice and whats better than VTOL pattern practice? Plus boats!
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Ramp. All of the excitement and none of the breakdowns.
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Iâm going to preface this Iâm guessing on a fair bit of this, Iâm not exactly in tip-top shape critical thinking wise atm, and I donât want to look like an ass in front of the resident forum Harrier Pilot 
.
Iâm assuming the actual attack logic is similar to the Hornetâs in that there is a logical object called a designation, which is roughly analogous to the SPI from the F-16/A-10. It can be a waypoint, coordinates, a radar fix, a TGP position, or a position designated directly from the HUD, but it basically is something the Mission Computer recognizes as the thing you would like most to kill at the moment.
If I had to guess your options in the AV-8B would be selection INS coordinates as a target directly, selecting a target utilizing the Angle Rate Bombing System (ARBS), a compilation IRTV unit and LST in the nose, using the TGP, or selecting a target via the HUD.
INS ought to be easy, thereâs a MFD command to designate a waypoint as a target.
ARBS as youâve found out, has two basic modes. The first is the Dual Mode Tracker (DMT), which is a TV that locks on to contrast. Using angle and elevation information from the aircraft it estimates range and can generate a CCRP (AUTO in the McD product line), or CCIP Lead). The second is LST, which is Laser Spot Tracking, or latching onto a spot provided by another source.
TGP is the mode I know the least about, but this should be the most similiar to the A-10 (Itâs the same pod). My understanding from the lack of mention in this manual, and comments by Zeus, is that itâs more or less âafter marketâ, with less stream lined integration compared to the other sensors.
Finally I assume there is the ubiquitous ability to select targets directly off the HUD.
Thus ends me talking out my rear.
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Here is a question out of left field - The castle switch on the F-18/Harrier grip looks , I donât know, less ergonomic to use? Is it better or worse than what we are used to for a thumb switch, or is it designed for a specific function? Is it also CMS or does McD do it very different?
The castle up in pic of RAZBAM AV-8B Harrier II - #537 by fearlessfrog looks a bit like a combination of the A-10C Coolie hat for switching MFDâs and the TMS. Itâs marked as the âSensor Select Switchâ. Is that the one you meant?
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