P-3 Orion Research Group

Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion Articles

This section contains a selection of articles about the Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion.

Second life on brandnew wings
by Marco P.J. Borst

Fifty years ago, on 13 August 1962, the Lockheed P3V-1 Orion was taken in use for operational service by US Navy Patrol Squadron Eight (VP-8). While the US Navy is preparing for the operational introduction of the Orion’s successor, other P-3 operators are investing in life extension programs for their existing or new P-3 fleets. They are to continue the success story of the Mighty Orion.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following link:

Second life on brandnew wings

VPU Orions
by Jaap Dubbeldam

“By far being the most secretive aircraft in Navy inventory”. That is how someone on the internet named the Orions operated by the two VPU squadrons. And he may just as well be right. Most aircraft enthusiast will have heard of their existence, but the true nature of these special P-3 Orions remains a secret. It is even possible you may have seen one of these aircraft without realizing it. This article is an attempt to shed some light on the subject. It is, however, not complete, as it is confined to the aircraft and the squadrons that operate them and not about the mission.

This article was published in two parts in Military Aviation Review @MAR in January 2011. Read the entire article by clicking on the following link:

VPU Orions

BMUP+ and LSRS: another USN Special Project
by Jaap Dubbeldam

Top Secret units operating P-3 Orions have been around since the 1960s and probably will remain as such for the next twenty years. History has proven however that, after several years of operations even initially sneaky US Navy squadrons like VQ-1/VQ-2 operating the EP-3E Aries II Elint Orions and VPU-1/ VPU-2 operating special project P-3 Orions, have become publicly known. However there
is another special project unit, which operates at least three anonymous P-3 Orions out of Dallas Love Field, Tx since at least 1978, for which no official US Navy designation was known.

This article was published in two parts in Military Aviation Review @MAR in April and May 2011. Read the entire article by clicking on the following links:

BMUP+ and LSRS - part one
BMUP+ and LSRS - part two

Ilyushin IL-38 May- the Russian Orion
by Marco P.J. Borst

For years we believed the Ilyushin IL-38 May was an aircraft with the ability to conduct missions simiar to the P-3 Orion. Well, the capabilities of this Ilyushin were an illusion!

This article was published in the Summer 1996 edition of Airborne LOG.
Read the entire article by clicking on the following link:

Ilyushin IL-38 May