By the end of the Falklands War, the Sea Harrier FRS.1, while venerable, had been found to have many shortcomings. Shortly after, a few new ideas were brought up, and by 1984, the order was signed for the development of a new Sea Harrier, then dubbed the FRS.2. By 1988, after a few requirement changes, the new Harrier, now renamed to the FA.2 model, as the R (Recon) and S (Strike) were dropped from its requirements, serving primarily as a fleet defence fighter. The main upgrade in the new Sea Harrier FA.2 was the Blue Vixen radar, a very powerful radar system for its size class that allowed the Sea Harrier FA.2 to utilise the new AIM-120 AMRAAM, which was in development at the time. After a few years of testing, the first operational Sea Harrier FA.2s would enter service upon delivery on April 2nd, 1993.

The Sea Harrier FA 2 is a British VTOL fleet defence fighter introduced in Update "Seek & Destroy". While objectively worse in pretty much every way compared to the American equivalent at the same battle rating, the AV-8B+, the FA.2 is still a very lethal aircraft when left unchecked. Thanks to the IRCCM-equipped AIM-9M, the powerful AIM-120 AMRAAM and the Blue Vixen radar, and especially thanks to its BOL countermeasure dispenser sets, the FA.2 is capable of punching well above its weight class in air combat. The new upgraded engine allows the Sea Harrier to utilise VIFFing (Vector In Forward Flight) manoeuvres to greatly enhance its dogfighting potential, a necessary trick due to the underwhelming flight performance of the airframe; being essentially a first-generation Harrier body (unlike the Harrier GR.7 or the AV-8B (NA) which utilise the upgraded "Harrier 2" body and wing design, allowing for far superior flight performance). Notably, the Sea Harrier FA.2 possesses an ability which no other Harrier has: the ability to replace its gun "pods" under the fuselage with extra missiles. It is up to the player to decide if sacrificing one (or even both) of their guns for extra missiles is worth the trade-off, however; further adding another layer of strategy to playing this Harrier.