Lockheed P-2 Neptune
| P-2 (P2V) Neptune | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| SP-2H of VP-7 over the Atlantic in the mid 1960s. | |
| Role | Maritime Patrol and Anti-Submarine Warfare |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed |
| First flight | 17 May 1945 |
| Introduced | March 1947 |
| Retired | 1984 From military use |
| Primary users | United States Navy Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Royal Australian Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force Argentine Navy |
| Variants | Kawasaki P-2J |
The Lockheed P-2 Neptune (originally designated P2V until September 1962) was a Maritime patrol and ASW aircraft. It was developed for the United States Navy by Lockheed to replace the Lockheed PV-1 Ventura and PV-2 Harpoon, and being replaced in turn with the Lockheed P-3 Orion. Designed as a land-based aircraft, the Neptune never made a carrier landing, although a small number of aircraft were converted for carrier use and successfully launched. The type was successful in export, seeing service with several armed forces.
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Design and development
Development began early in World War II, but in comparison to other aircraft in development at the time it was considered a low priority. So it was not until 1944 that the program went into full swing. A major factor in the design was ease of manufacture and maintenance, and this can be said to have been a major factor in the type's long life and worldwide success. The first aircraft flew in 1945. Production began in 1946, and the aircraft was accepted into service in 1947.
It was one of the first aircraft to be fitted in operational service with both piston and jet engines. The Convair B-36, several Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter, Fairchild C-123 Provider, and Avro Shackleton aircraft were also fitted with both.
Operational history
Early Cold War
Prior to the introduction of the P-3 Orion in the mid 1960s the Neptune was the primary U. S. land-based anti-submarine patrol craft, intended to be operated as a the hunter of a '"Hunter-Killer" group, with Destroyers employed as killers. Several features aided this task:
- Various sonobouys could be launched from a fuselage station in the after portion of the fuselage and monitored by radio
- While some models were equipped with twin .50 caliber machine guns in the nose, most had with a forward observation bubble with an observer seat, and this feature may be seen in several of the images.
- A Magnetic Anomaly Detector was fitted in an extended tail, producing a paper chart. While unmarked charts were not classified, any with annotations were considered secret materials.
- A belly mounted surface search radar enabled detection of surfaced and snorkeling submarines at considerable distances.
Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War, the Neptune was used by the US Navy as a gunship, an overland reconnaissance and sensor deployment aircraft, and in its traditional role as a maritime patrol airplane. The Neptune was also utilized by the U.S. Army's 1st Radio Research Company (Aviation), call sign 'Crazy Cat,' located at Cam Ranh Bay, as an electronic 'ferret' aircraft.
Falklands War
The Argentine Naval Aviation had received at least 16 Neptunes in different variants since 1958 including eight ex-RAF for use in the Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Exploración (English: Naval exploration squadron). They were intensively used in 1978 during the Operation Soberania against Chile including over the Pacific Ocean.[1]
During the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) in 1982, the last two airframes in service (2-P-111 and 2-P-112) played a key role of reconnaissance and aiding Dassault Super Étendards, particularly on the 4 May attack against HMS Sheffield. The lack of spare parts, caused by the US having enacted an arms embargo in 1977 due to the Dirty War, led to the type being retired before the end of the war; Argentine Air Force C-130 Hercules took over the task of searching for targets for strike aircraft.
In 1983, the unit was reformed with Lockheed L-188 Electras modified for maritime surveillance and in 1994 these ones were replaced with P-3B Orions.
Other military operators
The Canadian version, the Lockheed CP-127 (P2V-7) Neptune served in the RCAF Maritime Air Command from 1955, as an anti-submarine, anti-shipping and maritime reconnaissance aircraft, being fitted with piston engines initially. In 1957, the CP-127s had two underwing Westinghouse jet engine pods installed. This conversion provided additional thrust for an improved takeoff, increased endurance by allowing higher weights of fuel and generally improved the overall performance of the aircraft. Armament included two torpedoes, mines, depth charges, bombs carried internally plus unguided rockets mounted externally underwing. A total of 25 Neptunes served with nos. 404, 405 and 407 squadrons until the type was replaced by the Canadair CP-107 Argus in 1968.[2]
The Royal Air Force Coastal Command operated 52 P2V-5s, designated Neptune MR.1s as a stop-gap modern maritime patrol aircraft until the Avro Shackletons could enter service.[3] They were used from between 1952[4] and March 1957,[5] being used for Airborne Early Warning experiments as well as for maritime patrol.[6]
In Australia, the Netherlands, and the US Navy, its tasks were taken over by the much larger and more capable P-3 Orion, and by the 1970s, it was only in use by patrol squadrons in the US Naval Reserve. The US Naval Reserve abandoned its last Neptunes in 1978, those aircraft also having been replaced by the P-3 Orion. By the 1980s, the Neptune had fallen out of military use in most purchasing nations, replaced by newer aircraft.
In Japan, the Neptune was license-built from 1966 by Kawasaki as the P-2J, with the piston engines replaced by IHI turboprops. Kawasaki continued their manufacture much later than Lockheed did; the P-2J remained in service until 1984.
Civilian firefighting
P-2/P2Vs are currently employed in aerial firefighting roles by operators such as Aero Union and Neptune Aviation Services and can carry 2,400 gal (9,084 l) of retardant with a service life of 15,000 hours. Neptune proposes to replace them with Bombardier Q200 and Q300 aircraft which are estimated to have a service life of 80,000 hours.
"Truculent Turtle"
The third production P2V-1 was chosen for a record-setting mission, ostensibly to test crew endurance and long-range navigation but also for publicity purposes: to display the capabilities of the Navy's latest patrol bomber. With time, the aircraft has come to be called "Truculent Turtle," but, in fact, its nickname was simply "The Turtle," which was painted on the aircraft's nose (along with a cartoon of a turtle smoking a pipe pedaling a device attached to a propeller).[7]
Loaded with fuel in extra tanks fitted in practically every spare space in the aircraft, the Turtle set out from Perth, Australia to the United States. With a crew of four (and a nine-month-old gray kangaroo, a gift from Australia for the Washington, D.C. zoo) the plane set off on 9 September 1946, with a RATO (rocket-assisted takeoff). Two and a half days (55h, 18m) later, the "Turtle" touched down in Columbus, Ohio, 11,236.6 mi (18,083.6 km) from its starting point. It was the longest unrefueled flight made to that point - 4,000 mi (6,400 km) longer than the USAF's B-29 Superfortress record. This would stand as the absolute unrefueled distance record until 1962 (beaten by a USAF B-52 Stratofortress), and would remain as a piston-engined record until 1986 when Dick Rutan's Voyager would break it in the process of circumnavigating the globe. The "Truculent Turtle" is preserved at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola.
Variants
Lockheed produced seven main variants of the P2V. In addition, Kawasaki built the turboprop-powered P-2J in Japan. Model names after the 1962 redesignation are given in parentheses.
- XP2V-1
- Prototype, one produced.
- P2V-1
- First production model; 15 built.
- P2V-2
- Second production model; 81 built.
- P2V-2N "Polar Bear"
- Modified Neptune with ski landing gear and early MAD gear; one1 built.
- P2V-3
- Upgraded powerplant; 83 built.
- P2V-3C
- Carrier-based Neptune; 11 built.
- P2V-3B
- Conversions from other P2V-3 models, including P2V-3C and -3W, fitted with the ASB-1 Low Level Radar Bombing System; 16 converted.
- P2V-3W
- Airborne Early Warning variant, APS-20 search radar; 30 built.
- P2V-3Z
- VIP combat transport; two built.
- P2V-4 (P-2D)
- Upgraded powerplant and fuel capacity; 52 built.
- P2V-5
- Replaced solid nose with turret, APS-20 and APS-8 search radars standard, jettisonable wingtip fuel tanks. Late models featured observation nose and MAD gear in place of nose and tail turrets; 424 built.
- P2V-5F (P-2E)
- Modification with J34 jet engines, deleted wing rocket stubs, increased bombload.
- AP-2E
- Designation applied to P2V-5F with special SIGINT/ELINT equipment used by the US Army's 1st Radio Research Company at Cam Ranh Bay.
- P2V-5FD (DP-2E)
- P2V-5F with target towing or drone launch capability, various defensive equipment and all weaponry deleted.
- P2V-5FE (EP-2E)
- P2V-5F with Julie/Julie ASW gear but without other changes of P2V-5FS (SP-2E). Assigned almost exclusively to USNR.
- P2V-5FS (SP-2E)
- P2V-5F with Julie/Jezebel ASW gear.
- OP-2E
- Modified for use as part of Operation Igloo White with Observation Squadron 67 (VO-67); only 12 converted.
- P2V-6 (P-2F)
- Aerial mine delivery capability, APS-70 search radar, upgraded powerplant; 83 built.
- P2V-6B
- AUM-N-2 Petrel missile launch capability.
- P2V-6M (MP-2F)
- Formerly P2V-6B, 16 produced; note that originally the M mission modifier prefix stood for missile carrier, but was eventually dropped, becoming the role-modifier for multi-mission aircraft.
- P2V-6F (P-2G)
- P2V-6/P-2F refitted with J34 jet engines.
- P2V-6T (TP-2F)
- Trainer version with armament deleted, wingtip tanks often deleted.
- P2V-7 (P-2H)
- Last Neptune variant produced by Lockheed, upgraded powerplant, jet pods standard, improved wingtip tanks, APS-20 search radar, bulged cockpit canopy, early fitted with nose and tail turrets, but replaced with observation nose and MAD tail, dorsal turret also fitted early and replaced with observation bubble; 311 built.
- P2V-7LP (LP-2H)
- Ski landing gear, JATO provisions; four built.
- P2V-7S (SP-2H)
- Additional ASW/ECM equipment including Julie/Jezebel gear.
- P2V-7U
- Naval designation of the RB-69A variant.
- AP-2H
- Specialized ground attack variant for Heavy Attack Squadron 21 (VAH-21); only four converted.
- RB-69A
- Aerial reconnaissance, fitted with Side Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) equipment, five built, two converted. Used by the CIA in USAF markings. Two operated in Europe were retired in 1961, all five operating in Asia were lost (one crashed, four shot down by PR China)[8]
- C-139
- The C-139 designation was applied to a planned transport version of the Neptune, which was cancelled before any aircraft were built.
- Neptune MR.1
- British designation of P2V-5; 52 delivered.
- CP-122 Neptune
- RCAF designation of P2V-7.(jet pod not initially fitted to 25 P2V-7 aircraft delivered to RCAF, but subsequently retrofitted)[9]
- Kawasaki P-2J (P2V-Kai)
- Japanese variant produced by Kawasaki with T64 turboprop engines, various other improvements; 82 built.
Operators
Military operators
- Argentine Navy - Argentine Naval Aviation (eight units)
- Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Exploracion[10]
- Royal Australian Air Force
- No. 10 Squadron RAAF
- No. 11 Squadron RAAF
- Brazilian Air Force (14 Units)
- 1°/7° Grupo de Aviação
- Royal Canadian Air Force
- No. 404 Squadron RCAF
- No. 405 Squadron RCAF
- No. 407 Squadron RCAF
- Dutch Naval Aviation Service
- Republic of China Air Force
- 34th Black Bat Squadron
- Royal Air Force
- No. 36 Squadron RAF
- No. 203 Squadron RAF
- No. 210 Squadron RAF
- No. 217 Squadron RAF
- No. 236 Operational Conversion Unit RAF
- United States Army
- United States Navy
- Central Intelligence Agency operated 7 RB-69A in USAF colors.
Civilian operators
- Aero Union
- Minden Air
- Neptune Aviation Services
Survivors
There are a few Neptunes that have been restored and are on display in museums and parks.[11]
- SP-2E
- Historic Aircraft Restoration Projects, Brooklyn, New York; Bureau Number (BuNo) unknown
- Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum New York, New York; BuNo 131542
- AP-2E
- United States Army Aviation Museum, Fort Rucker, Alabama; Army serial number 61-31485 / Navy BuNo 131485
- SP-2H
- Museo Aeronaval (MUAN) of Argentine Naval Aviation: SP-2H serial 2-P-112 is the one which tracked HMS Sheffield [12] [13]
- National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Florida; BuNo 141234 and BuNo 141561
- NAS Jacksonville Memorial Park, NAS Jacksonville, Florida; BuNo 131410
- Gate guard, former NAS Brunswick, Maine; BuNo 128392
- Gate guard, Moffett Federal Airfield (former NAS Moffett Field, California; BuNo 128393
- Gate guard, Marine Corps Base Hawaii (former MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; BuNo 150279 (relocated from former NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii
- Gate guard, MVK De Kooy, The Netherlands
- P-2H
- Mid-Atlantic Air Museum. Reading, Pennsylvania; BuNo 144683
- Museum of Aviation Robins AFB, Georgia; BuNo 147954
- Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona; two on display, one with BuNo 135620.
- P-2V
- Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3761, Baltimore, Ohio; on display on grounds; BuNo unknown
Specifications
P2V-3
Data from Combat Aircraft since 1945[14]
General characteristics
- Crew: 9-11
- Length: 77 ft 10 in (23.72 m)
- Wingspan: 100 ft 0 in (30.48 m)
- Height: 28 ft 4 in (8.56 m)
- Wing area: 1,000 ft² (92.9 m²)
- Empty weight: 34,875 lb (15,819 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 64,100 lb (29,076 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Wright R-3350-26W Cyclone-18 radial engine, 3,200 hp (2,386 kW) wet each
- Propellers: 3 bladed propeller, 1 per engine
Performance
- Maximum speed: 278 kn (313 mp/h) (515 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 155 kn (174 mp/h) (286 km/h) (max)
- Range: 3,458 nmi (3,903 mi) (6,406 km)
Armament
- Rockets: 2.75 in (70 mm) FFAR in removable wing-mounted pods
- Bombs: 8,000 lb (3,629 kg) including free-fall bombs, depth charges, and torpedoes
P-2H (P2V-7)
Data from Combat Aircraft since 1945[14]
General characteristics
- Crew: 7-9
- Length: 91 ft 8 in (27.94 m)
- Wingspan: 103 ft 10 in (31.65 m)
- Height: 29 ft 4 in (8.94 m)
- Wing area: 1,000 ft² (92.9 m²)
- Empty weight: 49,935 lb (22,650 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 79,895 lb (35,240 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Wright R-3350-32W Cyclone Turbo-compound radial engine, 3,700 hp (2,759 kW) wet each
- Propellers: 4 bladed propeller, 1 per engine
Performance
- Maximum speed: 316 kn (363 mp/h) (586 km/h) (all engines)
- Cruise speed: 180 kn (207 mp/h) (333 km/h) (max)
- Range: 1,912 nmi (2,157 mi) (3,540 km)
- Service ceiling: 22,400 ft ()
Armament
- Rockets: 2.75 in (70 mm) FFAR in removable wing-mounted pods
- Bombs: 8,000 lb (3,629 kg) including free-fall bombs, depth charges, and torpedoes
See also
Related development
- Kawasaki P-2J
Comparable aircraft
- Avro Shackleton
- Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer
- Martin P4M Mercator
Related lists
- List of Lockheed aircraft
- List of military aircraft of the United States
- List of patrol aircraft
References
- Notes
- ↑ "AS Neptune." Historia y Arqueologia Marítima. Retrieved: 15 July 2010.
- ↑ "Lockheed Neptune." rcaf.com. Retrieved: 15 July 2010.
- ↑ Howard Air Pictorial August 1972, p. 284.
- ↑ Howard Air Pictorial August 1972, p. 285.
- ↑ Howard Air Pictorial September 1972, p. 360.
- ↑ Howard Air Pictorial August 1972, pp. 285–286.
- ↑ Sullivan 1985, pp. 7–9.
- ↑ Gobel, Greg. "The Lockheed P2V Neptune & Martin Mercator." vectorsite.net. Retrieved: 15 July 2010.
- ↑ "Canadian Military Aircraft Designations." Designation-systems.net. Retrieved: 15 July 2010.
- ↑ "Lockheed SP-2H Neptune." Historia y Arqueologia Marítima website (Spanish). Retrieved: 15 July 2010.
- ↑ AeroWeb: Lockheed P-2s On Display
- ↑ official site
- ↑ google maps
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Wilson 2000, p. 82.
- Bibliography
- Howard, Peter J. "The Lockheed Neptune in R.A.F. Service: Part 1". Air Pictorial, August 1972, Vol. 34. No. 8., pp. 284–289, 294.
- Howard, Peter J. "The Lockheed Neptune in R.A.F. Service: Part 2". Air Pictorial, September 1972, Vol. 34. No. 9., pp. 356–360.
- Sullivan, Jim, P2V Neptune in action. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1985. ISBN 978-0897471602.
- Wilson, Stewart. Combat Aircraft since 1945. Fyshwick, ACT, Australia: Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd., 2000. ISBN 1-875671-50-1.
External links
- http://p2vneptune.com
- http://www.maam.org/neptune/p2_1.html
- http://frenchnavy.free.fr/aircraft/neptune/neptune.htm
- http://www.vpnavy.com/aircraft_p2_history.html
- http://www.vpnavy.com/turtle_01.html
- http://www.aerounion.com
- Missoulian article on Neptune's P2V water bombers and their proposed replacement with Q300s
- Listing of the carrier launch conversions
- http://www.VO-67.org Observation Squadron Sixty-Seven
- https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/95unclass/Leary.html Robert Fulton's Skyhook and Operation Coldfeet, use of P2V aircraft
- http://www.vaq34.com/vxe6/p2v.htm Use of P2V aircraft for Operation Deep Freeze by the US Navy's squadron VX-6
- AeroWeb: List of P-2 Neptunes on display.
- DND - Canada's Air Force - Lockheed CP-127 (P2V-7) Neptune
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