Was the Harrier any good at dogfighting?

Close quarters aerial combat is not what either aircraft is (or was) intended for. Both are highly maneuverable and capable of defending themselves. In otherwords, they are not what we used to call air superiority fighters. The Harrier primary role is as a front line, close in, ground support fighter bomber. read more

The Harrier did achieve some 15–20 aerial kills but never engaged in a real dogfight since the only Argentine dogfighting “capable” plane was the Mirage 3, which never really engaged as air supressors but as an escort/decoy for the A4 Skyhawks in their bombing runs against the British fleet heavely loaded with external fuel tanks (since they were operating from continental Argentina at their max combat radio). read more

Braking sharply, while in-flight, is indeed a tactic that can be utilized by fighter pilots in air-to-air combat, but no aircraft could ever do it quite as well as the venerable Harrier jumpjet. The technique was known as “VIFF”. read more