VX-31
Dust Devils — Four Decades of Harrier Testing
The Harriers at China Lake never went to war, but much of what fleet Harriers carried into combat was tested there first. For about four decades, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 and the test organizations before it flew the AV-8B over the Mojave Desert, testing everything from software and targeting pods to night vision goggles and precision weapons. On September 23, 2025, the Dust Devils flew their last Harrier sortie, ending the Harrier’s developmental testing.
Quick Facts
Nickname: Dust Devils
Harrier years: About four decades of Harrier testing at China Lake, ending September 23, 2025
Aircraft: AV-8B Harrier II, including the radar-equipped Harrier II Plus
Home base: Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif.
Parent units: Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division; Naval Test Wing Pacific
Tail code: DD
Distinction: Flew the AV-8B Harrier’s final developmental test flight and its last test-squadron sortie
Today: VX-31 continues flight testing for the Navy and Marine Corps with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, MH-60S Seahawk and other aircraft
The Harrier Years
1995 — The Naval Weapons Test Squadron is established at China Lake.
1999 — Trials of the Harrier’s OSCAR (Open Systems Core Avionics Requirements) software upgrade are halfway complete at China Lake.
2002 — The Naval Weapons Test Squadron is redesignated VX-31, the Dust Devils.
2003 — Marine test pilot Jim “Jimbo” Coppersmith joins VX-31 as an engineering test pilot for the AV-8B Joint Systems Support Activity.
2016 — Coppersmith, now retired from the Marine Corps, returns as VX-31’s technical director.
2019 — The Ridgecrest earthquakes destroy the squadron’s hangar.
2025 — Lt. Col. Timothy “Little Buddy” Burchett takes command on March 6. In June, Maj. Alec “Cosmo” Rackish flies the Harrier’s final developmental test flight. Two of the last test jets go to museums in July and August. On September 23, Coppersmith flies the final VX-31 Harrier sortie.
The Mission
Testing the Harrier. VX-31 tested the Harrier as it grew from a day-attack jet into the night-attack AV-8B and the radar-equipped Harrier II Plus. Over the years the Dust Devils tested flight controls, laser targeting pods, night vision goggles, Link 16, precision weapons, survivability systems and biofuels.
“Over the years, we’ve continued to add more things, more capabilities. … It’s been a non-stop churn of upgrading the Harrier’s system. It’s one of the last true low-level CAS mission aircraft.”
— Tom Crouse, VX-31 flight test engineer, 2025
Analog to Digital. The Harrier’s OSCAR program rebuilt the jet’s mission computer and stores-management software, and trials were under way at China Lake by the end of the 1990s. VX-31 flight test director Harvey Pierce called the move from analog to digital the biggest change in the squadron’s Harrier work, because it opened the way for newer weapons.
Software for the Fleet. At China Lake, the AV-8B Joint Systems Support Activity integrated new avionics through software development. As late as 2020, VX-31 was overseeing software upgrades for the AV-8B alongside the F/A-18, EA-18G and MH-60S.
The Final Test. In June 2025, Maj. Alec “Cosmo” Rackish flew the Harrier’s final developmental test flight at China Lake. The Navy said the mission ended more than 40 years of VX-31 Harrier testing.
“This is a pilot’s airplane. There are no computers. It’s cables, pulleys and the skill required to keep that thing in the air.”
— Lt. Col. Timothy “Little Buddy” Burchett, VX-31 commanding officer, 2025
The Maintainers
Test flying depends on jets that are ready when the range is. VX-31’s maintainers kept the last Harriers flying to the end. The final jet flew its last sortie fully mission capable, 33 years after its first flight off the production line. After that, the same team demilitarized the squadron’s retiring Harriers and prepared them for museums.
“We shut it down full mission capable, and it flew flawlessly. It’s a testament to what we’ve done to this aircraft as a team.”
— Jim “Jimbo” Coppersmith, VX-31 technical director, 2025
The Dust Devils
VX-31’s roots go back to China Lake’s early days, when test aircraft were assigned directly to the Naval Air Facility. In 1976 flight operations were consolidated under the Air Department’s Test and Evaluation Directorate. The Naval Weapons Test Squadron was established in 1995 and redesignated VX-31, the Dust Devils, in 2002. When the last Harrier test flight launched in June 2025, the commanding officer’s helmet bore the squadron’s Dust Devil logo.
Awards and Milestones
1999 — Harrier OSCAR software trials under way at China Lake.
June 2025 — The AV-8B’s final developmental test flight, flown by Maj. Alec “Cosmo” Rackish.
September 23, 2025 — The final VX-31 Harrier flight, flown by Jim “Jimbo” Coppersmith at the end of a 29-year, 2,130-hour career in the jet.
Fiscal 2025 — CNO Aviation Safety Award, the squadron’s seventh since 2003, in the year it retired the Harrier.
In Memoriam
We have not yet confirmed any VX-31 Harrier aircrew losses. At the squadron’s sundown, Coppersmith honored the Marines the Harrier community lost over the jet’s service. He said the procedures and engineering changes developed through testing had improved the aircraft’s safety.
“We lost a lot of great Marines along the way, and we honored each of these with every procedure and material solution that improved the safety and reliability of this aircraft.”
— Jim “Jimbo” Coppersmith, VX-31 technical director, 2025
This record is still being compiled. If you served with VX-31 and can help us honor the Dust Devils we lost, please share your story.
Commanding Officers, Harrier Era
Capt. Andrew Gephart — until July 2020
Lt. Col. Dail Fields — July 2020–2022
Cmdr. Christopher “Murdock” Putre — 2022–March 2025
Lt. Col. Timothy “Little Buddy” Burchett — March 2025–, the squadron’s final Harrier-era commanding officer
This list is still being compiled. If you commanded or flew with VX-31, help us complete it.
Sundown
On September 23, 2025, VX-31 held a sundown ceremony at China Lake. Retired Lt. Col. Jim “Jimbo” Coppersmith, the squadron’s technical director, flew Harrier 88, known as “Christine,” under the call sign “Last 1.” After a final lap over the high desert, he hovered the jet, touched down, lifted off vertically and gave the crowd a brief bow before landing under a water salute from two fire trucks. Veterans, Sailors, Marines, government civilians, industry partners and families were on the flight line.
“To put today in context, the Marine Corps has been in the V/STOL attack business for 54 years.”
— Jim “Jimbo” Coppersmith, VX-31 technical director, 2025
“We did not coast into the finish line. It was a triumphant finish for the team partnership.”
— Lt. Col. Timothy “Little Buddy” Burchett, VX-31 commanding officer, 2025
Earlier that summer, two of the squadron’s Harriers went to museums. On July 14, Coppersmith flew AV-8B Harrier II Plus BuNo 165579, a jet with 791 combat flight hours, to Merced-Castle Airport for the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, Calif. BuNo 165002 was delivered to the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon on August 4. That jet had been delivered to the Marine Corps in 1995 and logged 5,518 flight hours, including 631 combat hours, with deployments that included Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria.
“The Jump Jet proved that ‘runways optional’ wasn’t a punch line — it was a revolution.”
— Capt. David Halpern, commodore, Naval Test Wing Pacific, 2025
Today
VX-31 continues as the Navy’s flight test squadron at China Lake, flying the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, MH-60S Seahawk and other aircraft over the R-2508 range complex. In October 2025, a month after its last Harrier flight, the squadron set up an Unmanned Systems Department.
The Harrier Legacy Project
The Dust Devils’ story is part of The Harrier Legacy Project, CALLSIGN Publishing’s 120-page commemorative book on the Marine Corps AV-8 Harrier community, built from two years of embedded reporting, original photography and firsthand oral histories. Learn about the book →
More Harrier Squadrons
VMA-211 Wake Island Avengers · VMA-214 Black Sheep · VMA-223 Bulldogs · VMA-231 Ace of Spades · VMA-311 Tomcats · VMA-331 Bumblebees · VMA-513 Flying Nightmares · VMA-542 Tigers · VMAT-203 Hawks · VX-4 Evaluators · VX-5 Vampires · VX-9 Vampires
Frequently Asked Questions
What is VX-31? Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31, the Dust Devils, is the Navy’s flight test squadron at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif. For decades it did developmental testing of the Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier.
When was the last VX-31 Harrier flight? September 23, 2025, at China Lake. Jim “Jimbo” Coppersmith, the squadron’s technical director, flew the final sortie.
Who flew the Harrier’s final test flight? Maj. Alec “Cosmo” Rackish flew the AV-8B’s final developmental test flight at China Lake in June 2025.
Where did VX-31’s Harriers go? BuNo 165579 went to the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, Calif., and BuNo 165002 went to the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon, both in the summer of 2025.
Is the Harrier still flying? Not in the Marine Corps. VMA-223, the last Harrier squadron, conducted the Marine Corps’ final Harrier operations on June 3, 2026. The F-35B Lightning II has replaced it.
Sources and Further Reading
Farewell to the Harrier: VX-31 conducts final sundown flight, NAVAIR
Farewell to the Harrier: VX-31 conducts final sundown flight, DVIDS
End of an era: The Dust Devils and one final homage to the Harrier, Military Times
Development of Harrier ‘jump jet’ ends with final flight at China Lake, Stars and Stripes
VX-31 conducts its final AV-8B Harrier II flight, Seapower
‘Cosmo’ Leads Final Harrier Test as VX-31 Ends Historic Chapter, DVIDS
VX-31 delivers historic Harriers to Castle, Tillamook museums, NAVAIR
Coppersmith takes on position as VX-31 technical director, NAVAIR
VX-31 Dust Devils showcase Centennial of Naval Aviation retro-painted Hornet, NAVAIR
VX-31 earns seventh CNO Aviation Safety Award, DVIDS
Dust Devils Turn the Page: VX-31 Welcomes New Commanding Officer, DVIDS
Fields relieves Gephart as VX-31 commanding officer, NAVAIR
AV-8B tries out OSCAR commercial software upgrade, FlightGlobal
VX-31 Bids Farewell to the AV-8B Harrier II, The Aviationist
VX-31, Wikipedia
Last updated September 2026.