| Role | V/STOL ground-attack aircraft |
|---|---|
| National origin | United States / United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Douglas / British Aerospace Boeing / BAE Systems |
| First flight | YAV-8B: 9 November 1978[1] AV-8B: 5 November 1981[2] |
| Introduction | August 1985[3] |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | United States Marine Corps Spanish Navy Italian Navy |
| Produced | 1981–2003[4] |
| Number built | 323 |
| Program cost | US$6.5 billion (1987)[5] |
| Unit cost | US$24–30 million |
General characteristics
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Length: 46 ft 4 in (14.12 m)
- Wingspan: 30 ft 4 in (9.25 m)
- Height: 11 ft 8 in (3.55 m)
- Wing area: 243.4 ft² (22.61 m²)
- Airfoil: supercritical airfoil
- Empty weight: 13,968 lb (6,340 kg)
- Loaded weight: 22,950 lb (10,410 kg)
- Max. takeoff weight:
- Rolling: 31,000 lb (14,100 kg)
- Vertical: 20,755 lb (9,415 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce F402-RR-408 (Mk 107) vectored-thrust turbofan, 23,500 lbf (105 kN)
- Maximum speed: Mach 1.0 (585 knots, 673 mph, 1,083 km/h)
- Range: 1,200 nmi (1,400 mi, 2,200 km)
- Combat radius: 300 nmi (350 mi, 556 km)
- Ferry range: 1,800 nmi (2,100 mi, 3,300 km)
- Rate of climb: 14,700 ft/min (4,485 m/min)
- Wing loading: 94.29 lb/ft² (460.4 kg/m²)
- Guns: 1× General Dynamics GAU-12 Equalizer 25 mm (0.984 in) 5-barreled gatling cannon mounted under-fuselage in the left pod, with 300 rounds of ammunition in the right pod
- Hardpoints: 6× under-wing pylon stations holding up to 13,200 lb (5,988 kg) of payload:
- Rockets:
- 4× LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19× CRV7 70 mm rockets)
- Missiles:
- Air-to-air missiles:
- 4× AIM-9 Sidewinder or similar-sized infrared-guided missiles
- 6× AIM-120 AMRAAM (on radar equipped AV-8B Plus variants)
- Air-to-surface missiles:
- 6× AGM-65 Maverick; or
- 2× AGM-84 Harpoon; or
- 2× AGM-88 HARM
- Air-to-air missiles:
- Bombs:
- CBU-100 cluster bombs (CBUs)
- Mark 80 series of unguided bombs (including 3 kg and 14 kg practice bombs)
- Paveway series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs)
- Joint Direct Attack Munitions (GBU-38, GBU-32, GBU-54)
- Mark 77 napalm canisters
- Others:
- up to 4× 300/330/370 US Gallon drop tanks (pylon stations No. 2, 3, 4 & 5 are wet plumbed)
- Intrepid Tiger II electronic jammer.[133]
- Raytheon APG-65 radar
- AN/AAQ-28V LITENING targeting pod (on radar-equipped AV-8B Plus variants)
- Special note: An upgrade program is currently fitting airframes with wiring and software to employ MIL-STD-1760 bus-based smart weapons, such as Joint Direct Attack Munitions