| P-3 Orion | |
|---|---|
| A P-3C Orion of Patrol Squadron 22 (VP-22) flies over Japan, 1 December 1991. | |
| Role | Maritime patrol aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Lockheed Martin |
| First flight | November 1959[1] |
| Introduction | August 1962[1] |
| Status | Active |
| Primary users | United States Navy Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Royal Australian Air Force Brazilian Air Force |
| Number built | Lockheed – 650, Kawasaki – 107, Total – 757[2] |
| Unit cost | US$36 million (FY1987)[1] |
| Developed from | Lockheed L-188 Electra[3] |
| Variants | Lockheed AP-3C Orion Lockheed CP-140 Aurora Lockheed EP-3 Lockheed WP-3D Orion |
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.[3] The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or "MAD Boom", used for the magnetic detection of submarines. Over the years, the aircraft has seen numerous design advancements, most notably to its electronics packages. The P-3 Orion is still in use by numerous navies and air forces around the world, primarily for maritime patrol, reconnaissance, anti-surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare.[1] A total of 734 P-3s have been built, and by 2012, it will join the handful of military aircraft such as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress which have served 50 years of continuous use with its original primary customer, in this case, the United States Navy. The U.S. Navy's remaining P-3C aircraft will eventually be replaced by the Boeing P-8A Poseidon.
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In August 1957, the U.S. Navy called for replacement proposals for the aging twin piston engined Lockheed P2V Neptune (later redesignated P-2) and Martin P5M Marlin (later redesignated P-5) with a more advanced aircraft to conduct maritime patrol and antisubmarine warfare. Modifying an existing aircraft was expected to save on cost and allow rapid introduction into the fleet. Lockheed suggested a military version of their L-188 Electra, which was still in development and had yet to fly. In April 1958 Lockheed won the competition and was awarded an initial research and development contract in May.[3]
The prototype YP3V-1/YP-3A, Bureau Number (BuNo) 148276 was in fact modified from the third Electra airframe c/n 1003.[4] The first flight of the aircraft's aerodynamic prototype, originally designated YP3V-1, was on 19 August 1958. While based on the same design philosophy as the Lockheed L-188 Electra, the aircraft was structurally different. The aircraft had 7 metres (23 ft) less fuselage forward of the wings with an opening bomb bay, as well as a more pointed nose radome, distinctive tail "stinger", wing hardpoints, and other internal, external, and airframe production technique enhancements.[3] The Orion has four Allison T56 turboprops which give it a top speed of 411 knots (761 km/h) comparable to the fastest propeller fighters, or even slow low-bypass turbofan jets such as the A-10 Thunderbolt II or the S-3 Viking. Similar aircraft include the Soviet Ilyushin Il-38 and the French Breguet Atlantique while the UK the British adapted the jet-powered de Havilland Comet into the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod.
The first production version, designated P3V-1, was launched on 15 April 1961. Initial squadron deliveries to Patrol Squadron Eight (VP-8) and Patrol Squadron Forty Four (VP-44) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland began in August 1962. On 18 September 1962, the U.S. military transitioned to a unified designation system for all services, with the aircraft being renamed the P-3 Orion.[3] Paint schemes have changed from early 1960s gloss blue and white, to mid-1960s gloss white and gray, to mid-1990s flat finish low visibility gray with fewer and smaller markings. In the early 2000s, the scheme changed to a gloss gray finish with the original full-size color markings. However, large size Bureau Numbers on the vertical stabilizer and squadron designations on the fuselage remained omitted.[5]
In 1963, the U.S. Navy Bureau of Weapons (BuWeps) contracted Univac Defense Systems Division of Sperry-Rand to engineer, build and test a digital computer (then in its early infancy) to interface with the many sensors and newly developing display units of the P-3 Orion. Project A-NEW was the engineering system which, after several early trials, produced the engineering prototype, the CP-823/U, Univac 1830, Serial A-1, A-NEW MOD3 Computing System. The CP-823/U Engineering Prototype Computer was delivered to the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) Warminster at Johnsville, Pennsylvania in 1965. It was the testbed computer unit that led to the production computer for the P-3C Orion.[6]
Three civilian Electras were lost in fatal accidents in 14 months between February 1959 and March 1960. Following the third crash the FAA restricted the maximum speed at which Electras could be flown until the cause could be determined. After an extensive investigation, two of the crashes (in September 1959 and March 1960) were found to be caused by an engine mount problem. They were not strong enough to dampen a whirling mode that affected the outboard engine nacelles. When the oscillation was transmitted to the wings they were attached to, a severe up-and-down vibration escalated until the wings would tear themselves off the aircraft.[7][8] The company implemented an expensive modification program labelled the Lockheed Electra Achievement Program or LEAP, in which the engine mounts and the wing structures supporting the mounts were strengthened, and some of the wing skins replaced with thicker material. Each of the survivors of the 145 Electras built to that time was modified at Lockheed's expense at the factory, the modifications taking 20 days for each aircraft; and the changes were incorporated in subsequent aircraft as they were built.[7]
Sales of airliners were limited as the technical fix did not completely erase the "jinxed" reputation while turboprops were soon replaced by faster jets.[9] In military missions where fuel efficiency was more important than speed, the Orion would remain in service nearly 50 years after its 1962 introduction. Although not quite matching the longevity of the still-in-production C-130 Hercules, which was the original application of the Allison T56 turboprop, 734 P-3s were produced until 1990.[10][11] Lockheed Martin opened a new P-3 wing production line in 2008 as part of its Service Life Extension Program (ASLEP) for delivery in 2010. A complete ASLEP replaces the aircraft outer wings, center wing lower section and horizontal stabilizers with new-build parts.[12]
The Lockheed Electra had been created as cost-effective alternative to the Boeing 707 (first prototype flight in 1954) in the later 1950s, given that turboprops were very efficient at flight speeds below 450 mph compared to early turbojets. However, with the development of high-bypass turbofan engines decades later, this efficiency gap was closed significantly.
In the 1990s, during an earlier U.S. Navy attempt to identify a successor aircraft to the P-3, the improved P-7 was selected over a navalized variant of the twin-turbofan Boeing 757, but this program was subsequently cancelled. Years later, the further advanced Lockheed-Martin Orion 21, another P-3 derivataive aircraft, lost out to the Boeing P-8 Poseidon. Due to enter service in 2013, the P-8 is a Boeing 737 derivative, albeit with wings from the Boeing 757. As such, the P-8 is an evolution of designs dating back to the original Boeing 707 as the Boeing 737 airliner has grown to become a slightly larger airframe than the original 707 prototype, powered by very efficient low-bypass turbofans with more power.
The P-3 has an internal bomb bay under the front fuselage which can house conventional Mark 50 torpedoes or Mark 46 torpedoes and/or special (nuclear) weapons. Additional underwing stations, or pylons, can carry other armament configurations including the AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-84E SLAM, AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER, the AGM-65 Maverick, 127 millimetres (5.0 in) Zuni rockets, and various other sea mines, missiles, and gravity bombs. The aircraft also had the capability to carry the AGM-12 Bullpup guided missile until that weapon was withdrawn from U.S./NATO/Allied service.[13]
The P-3 is equipped with a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) in the tail. This instrument is able to detect the magnetic anomaly generated by a submarine in the Earth's magnetic field. The limited range of this instrument requires the aircraft to be overhead or very close to the submarine at low altitude. Because of this, it is primarily is used for pinpointing the location of a submarine immediately prior to a torpedo or depth bomb attack. Due to the incredibly sensitive nature of the detector, electro-magnetic noise can interfere with its operation. For this reason, the detector is placed in P-3's distinct fiberglass tail stinger or "MAD boom", far away from rest of the electronics and other ferrous metals on the aircraft.[14]
The crew complement varies depending on the role being flown, the variant being operated, and the country that is operating the type. In U.S. Navy service, the original normal flight crew complement was 12 until it was reduced to its current complement of 11 in the early 2000s when the in-flight ordnanceman (ORD) position was eliminated as a personnel cost-savings measure and the ORD duties assumed by the in-flight technician (IFT).[1] Data for US Navy P-3C only.
Officers:
NOTE: NAVCOM on P-3C only; USN P-3A & P-3B series had an NFO Navigator (NAV) and an enlisted radio operator (RO)
Enlisted Aircrew:
The senior of either the PPC or TACCO will be designated as the aircraft Mission Commander (MC).
Once on station, one engine is often shut down (usually the No. 1 engine – the port outer engine) to conserve fuel and extend the time aloft and/or range when at low level. It is the primary candidate for loiter shutdown because uniquely it has no generator, and provides no electrical power. Eliminating the exhaust from engine 1 also improves visibility from the aft observer station on the port side of the aircraft.
On occasion, both outboard engines can be shut down, weight, weather, and fuel permitting. Long deep-water, coastal or border patrol missions can last over 10 hours and may include extra crew. The record time aloft for a P-3 is 21.5 hours, undertaken by the Royal New Zealand Air Force's No. 5 Squadron in 1972.
Developed during the Cold War, the P-3's primary mission was to track Soviet Navy ballistic missile and fast attack submarines and to eliminate same in the event of full scale war. At its height, the US Navy's P-3 community consisted of twenty-four active duty "Fleet" patrol squadrons home based at air stations in the states of Florida and Hawaii as well as bases which formerly had P-3 operations in Maryland, Maine, and California. There were also thirteen Naval Reserve patrol squadrons identical to their active duty "Fleet" counterparts, said Reserve "Fleet" squadrons being based in Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts (later relocated to Maine), Illinois, Tennessee, Louisiana, California and Washington. Two Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS), also called "RAG" squadrons based on this historical "Replacement Air Group nomenclature were located in California and Florida. The since deactivated squadron in California provided P-3 training for the Pacific Fleet, while the squadron in Florida performed the same task for the Atlantic Fleet). These squadrons were also augmented by a test and evaluation squadron in Maryland, two additional test and evaluation units that were part of an air development center in Pennsylvania and a test center in California, an oceanographic development squadron in Maryland, and three active duty "special projects" units in Maine, Texas and Hawaii, the latter being slightly smaller than a typical squadron.
Reconnaissance missions in international waters led to occasions where Soviet fighters would "bump" a U.S. Navy P-3 or other P-3 operators such as the Royal Norwegian Air Force. On 1 April 2001, a midair collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals surveillance aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II jet fighter-interceptor resulted in an international dispute between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) called the Hainan Island incident.[15]
More than 40 combatant and noncombatant P-3 variants have demonstrated the rugged reliability displayed by the platform flying 12-hour plus missions 200 ft (61 m) over salt water while maintaining an excellent safety record. Versions have been developed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for research and hurricane hunting/hurricane wall busting, for the U.S. Customs Service (now U.S. Customs and Border Protection) for drug interdiction and aerial surveillance mission with a rotodome adapted from the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye or an AN/APG-66 radar adapted from the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, and for NASA for research and development.
The United States Navy remains the largest P-3 operator, currently distributed between a single fleet replacement (i.e., "training) patrol squadron in Florida, 12 active duty patrol squadrons distributed between bases in Florida, Washington and Hawaii, two Navy Reserve patrol squadrons in Florida and Washington, two active duty special projects patrol squadrons in Florida and Washington, and two active duty test and evaluation squadrons. Two additional active duty fleet reconnaissance squadrons operate the EP-3 Aries signals intelligence (SIGINT) variant.
In October 1962, P-3A aircraft flew several blockade patrols in the vicinity of Cuba. Having just recently joined the operational Fleet earlier that year, this was the first employment of the P-3 in a real world "near conflict" situation.
Beginning in 1964, forward deployed P-3 aircraft began flying a variety of missions under Operation Market Time from bases in the Philippines and Vietnam. The primary focus of these coastal patrols was to stem the supply of materials to the Viet Cong by sea, although several of these missions also became overland "feet dry" sorties. During one such mission, a small caliber artillery shell passed through a P-3 without rendering it mission incapable. During another overland mission, it is rumored, but not confirmed, that a P-3 shot down a North Vietnamese MiG with Zuni missiles.[16] The only confirmed combat loss of a P-3 also occurred during Operation Market Time. In April 1968, a U.S. Navy P-3B of Patrol Squadron 26 (VP-26) was downed by anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire in the Gulf of Thailand with the loss of the entire crew. Two months earlier, in February 1968, another one of VP-26's P-3B aircraft was operating in the same vicinity when it crashed with the loss of the entire crew. Originally attributed to an aircraft mishap at low altitude, later conjecture is that this aircraft may have also fallen victim to AAA fire from the same source as the April incident.[17]
On 2 August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait and was poised to strike Saudi Arabia. Within 48 hours of the initial invasion, U.S. Navy P-3C aircraft were the first American forces to arrive in the area. One was a modified platform with a prototype system known as "Outlaw Hunter." Undergoing trials in the Pacific after being developed by the Navy’s Space & Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), "Outlaw Hunter" was testing a specialized over-the-horizon targeting (OTH-T) system package when it responded. Within hours of the start of the coalition air campaign, "Outlaw Hunter" detected a large number of Iraqi patrol boats and naval vessels attempting to move from Basra and Umm Qasr to Iranian waters. "Outlaw Hunter" vectored in strike elements which attacked the flotilla near Bubiyan Island destroying 11 vessels and damaging scores more. During Desert Shield, a P-3 using infrared imaging detected a ship with Iraqi markings beneath freshly painted bogus Egyptian markings trying to avoid detection. Several days before the 7 January 1991 commencement of Operation Desert Storm, a P-3C equipped with an APS-137 Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) conducted coastal surveillance along Iraq and Kuwait to provide pre-strike reconnaissance on enemy military installations. A total of 55 of the 108 Iraqi vessels destroyed during the conflict were targeted by P-3C aircraft.[18]
The P-3 Orion's mission expanded in the late 1990s and early 2000s to include battlespace surveillance both at sea and over land. The long range and long loiter time of the P-3 Orion have proved to be an invaluable asset during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. It can instantaneously provide information about the battlespace it can see to ground troops, particularly the U.S. Marines.[1]
Although the P-3 is a Maritime Patrol Aircraft, armament and sensor upgrades in the Anti-surface Warfare Improvement Program (AIP)[19] have made it suitable for sustained combat air support over land.[19] Since the start of the current war in Afghanistan, U.S. Navy P-3 aircraft have been operating from Kandahar in that role.[20] Royal Australian Air Force P-3 aircraft also operated there early in the war.[21] As of February 2010, the Australian P-3 aircraft have been operating in the area for a continuous seven years.[22]
Recently the United States Geological Survey used the Orion to survey parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan for lithium, copper, and other mineral deposits.[23]
On 22 May 2011, two out of the four Pakistani P-3C aircraft were destroyed by a terrorist attack while parked on the tarmac during an attack at the Mehran Pakistani Naval Air Base in Karachi. [24] In June 2011, The United States agreed to replace the destroyed aircraft with two new ones, with delivery to follow later.[25]
The Spanish Air Force deployed P-3s to assist the international effort against piracy in Somalia. On 29 October 2008, a Spanish P-3 aircraft patrolling the coast of Somalia reacted to a distress call from an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden. In order to deter the pirates, the aircraft flew over the pirates three times as they attempted to board the tanker, dropping a smoke bomb on each pass. After the third pass, the attacking pirate boats broke off their attack.[26] Later, on 29 March 2009, the same P-3 pursued the assailants of the German navy tanker Spessart (A1442), resulting in the capture of the pirates.[27] In April 2011, the Portuguese Air Force also contributed to Operation Ocean Shield by sending a P-3C[28] which had early success when on its fifth mission detected a pirate whaler with two attack skiffs.[29]
Several US Navy P-3C Orions, and two Canadian CP-140 Auroras, a variant of the Orion, have participated in maritime surveillance missions over Libyan waters in the framework of enforcement of the 2011 no-fly zone over Libya.
A US Navy P-3C Orion supporting Operation Odyssey Dawn engaged the Libyan coast guard vessel Vittoria on 28 March 2011 after the vessel and two smaller craft fired on merchant ships in the port of Misrata, Libya. The Orion fired an AGM-65 Maverick on the Vittoria, which was subsequently beached.[30]
Several P-3 aircraft have been N-registered and are operated by civilian agencies. The US Customs and Border Protection has a number of P-3A and P-3B aircraft that are used for aircraft intercept and maritime patrol. NOAA operates two WP-3D variants specially modified for hurricane research. One P-3B, N426NA, is used by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as an Earth science research platform, primarily for the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Airborne Science Program. It is based at Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Aero Union, Inc. operates eight ex-USN P-3A aircraft configured as air tankers, which are leased to the U.S. Forest Service, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and other agencies for firefighting use. Several of these aircraft were involved in the U.S. Forest Service airtanker scandal but have not been involved in any catastrophic aircraft mishaps.
Admiral Stavridis stated in a speech in January 2011 that P-3s have been used to hunt down "third generation" narco subs.[31] This is significant due to as recently as July 2009 fully submersible submarines have begun to be used in smuggling operations.[32]
Over the years, numerous variants of the P-3 have been created. A few notable examples are:
This list of P-3 Orion operators is a list of Lockheed P-3s that were used by Patrol Squadrons of the United States Navy and foreign governments. The P-3 has seen continuous use for almost five decades since its introduction in 1962 as a Antisubmarine warfare and Antisurface warfare patrol aircraft.[1]
In 2002, the RAAF received significantly upgraded AP-3C. Also known as Australian Orions they are fitted with a variety of sensors. They include digital multi-mode radar, electronic support measures, electro-optics detectors (infra-red and visual), magnetic anomaly detectors, identification friend or foe systems, and acoustic detectors.[33]
After Lockheed bribery scandals, the Japan Defense Agency decided to officially adopt the Lockheed P-3C replaced the Kawasaki P-2J in 1977.[35] The Kawasaki assembled five airframes produced by Lockheed, and the Kawasaki under license produced more than 100 P-3 variants in Japan.[36]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Avionics
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