Constructed as a Kestrel FGA.1 by Hawker Siddeley at Dunsfold, this aircraft was one of a handful assigned to the Tripartite Evaluation Squadron at West Raynham in 1964. After testing was concluded in England at the end of 1965, six of the aircraft were sold to the US for further testing. They were re-designated as the XV-6A and given USAF serials, this one being 64-18264. The initial conclusion was that there was not a need for such an aircraft in the US forces, but of course history proved otherwise, the AV-8 becoming a great success in the USMC

In 1957 the Hawker Aircraft Company began private development of a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft built around the new Bristol Engine Company's Pegasus engine. The aircraft called the P.1127 was initially built without government funding but it soon attracted the attention of the British government which funded further development. In 1964 the service test version of the aircraft, renamed Kestrel, was ready for testing.