How old is the p 3 orion

Your Navy. By Geoff Ziezulewicz. Jun 4, About Geoff Ziezulewicz. More In Your Navy. In October , 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 , 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.

In April , a U. Two months earlier, in February , another one of VP'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.

A total of four P-3Fs remain in service. Within 48 hours of the initial invasion, U. 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. 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. 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.

A total of 55 of the Iraqi vessels destroyed during the conflict were targeted by P-3C aircraft. The P-3 Orion's mission expanded in the late s and early s 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. Navy P-3 aircraft have been operating from Kandahar in that role.

During the period - , the AP-3C Orions conducted overland intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks in support of coalition troops throughout Afghanistan. Recently the United States Geological Survey used the Orion to survey parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan for lithium, copper, and other mineral deposits.

In , the P-3C aircraft were used by the Navy to conduct signal intelligence missions, airborne and bombing operations in a Swat offensive and the final operations in North. The precision and strategic bombings were carried out by the P-3C aircraft as well as conducting intelligence management on Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives in In June , the U. On 29 October , a Spanish P-3 aircraft patrolling the coast of Somalia reacted to a distress call from an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

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.

Several U. Navy P-3C Orions, and two Canadian CP Auroras , a variant of the Orion, have participated in maritime surveillance missions over Libyan waters in the framework of enforcement of the no-fly zone over Libya.

Navy P-3C Orion supporting Operation Odyssey Dawn engaged the Libyan coast guard vessel Vittoria on 28 March after the vessel and two smaller craft fired on merchant ships in the port of Misrata, Libya.

Several P-3 aircraft have been N-registered and are operated by civilian agencies. Aero Union, Inc. Several of these aircraft were involved in the U. Forest Service airtanker scandal but have not been involved in any catastrophic aircraft mishaps. Aero Union has since gone bankrupt, and their P-3s have been put up for auction. Navy and foreign governments. The P-3 has seen continuous use for over five decades since its introduction in as an Antisubmarine warfare and Antisurface warfare patrol aircraft.

Canadian CP Aurora in June 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.

South Korea. It was too tall to fly over, so we flew around each major cloud formation. There was a lot of lightning and turbulence but by the time we got to Guam and landed, it was very calm with just a lot of rain.

The P-3 was very fine aircraft. All were great airplanes and served the navy and our nation well. Without a doubt, the P3 flight crews were the best in the world. Since its service entry in , the P-3 Orion has expanded from its core mission of submarine hunting into new missions such as anti-piracy, shipping lane protection, homeland security, drug interdiction, fire fighting, hurricane hunting and more.

This shot shows the aircraft Buno during its christening ceremonies prior to the flight. The aircraft, which was redesignated NP-3D in , spent most of its career as a flight test asset. MK cluster bombs deliver bomblets, which, upon detonation, release a jet of super heated and pressurized gas, which can penetrate 10 inches of steel and 31 inches of reinforced concrete. Japan acquired more than Orions. Teeples A P-3 Orion pictured landing at an unidentified airfield, circa Miller A two-ship formation flight with a U.

The exact date the photo was taken is unknown. DoD photo A U. P-3A production ended in December Since then, the hulking aircraft has flown missions during the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, and in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State, participated in countless search and rescue efforts, and created an invaluable network of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data.

The sea service began transitioning surveillance squadrons to that aircraft in The last P-3C Orion is expected to be phased out in , ending more than six decades of service for the line of aircraft.

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