P-3 Orion Research Group

Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion Worldwide News Section

Sixty-five years ago, on 25 November 1959, the prototype YP-3V1 Orion 148276 made its first flight. Since then, 650 P-3 Orions were built by Lockheed Martin, while Kawasaki in Japan built 105 Orions. Of these 755 aircraft only around 100 are still flying today.

United States
By November the remaining number of active US Navy P-3 Orions has gone down to only ten:
VQ-1      161414, 161588
             159893, 161410 both EP-3E
VX-30    150521, 160293, 162999, 163291
VXS-1   158570, 158912, although 912 has not been reported recently.

The planned homecoming ceremony for two EP-3E’s and their crews returning from their final detachments at NAS Souda and Shaik Isa AB in Bahrain on 8 October was postponed because of the Navy’s operational commitments in the Middle East. A Navy directive issued on 18 July 2023, scheduled VQ-1’s deactivation for 31 March 2025, but that the squadron was to cease operations by 30 September 2024. Apparently, operational commitments initially delayed the cessation. According to a statement from the Navy’s maritime patrol reconnaissance program office to Seapower Magazine, the last EP-3Es may not be retired until March 2025. “Due to OPSEC (operations security) we cannot reveal the number of aircraft, but there are sufficient aircraft to support the mission through the March 2025 date above,” the statement said. Late November VQ-1 was still active, like on 24 November when three out of four Orions were flying training missions.

EP-3E 159887 was present at CFB Greenwood during the air show on 24 August, while EP-3E 156511 was towed from AMARG to the Pima Air and Space Museum on 22 October, after having been flown from Whidbey Island to Davis Monthan on 21 October. The remaining two EP-3Es will be ferried to the 309th AMARG at Davis-Monthan AFB in the near future. So far in 2024 six EP-3E’s have been flown to AMARG: 156511, 156517, 156528, 156529, 157316 and 159887, as well as one P-3C: 161405.

The Grand Finale
In April 2024 EP-3E 161410 replaced 156529 at Souda Bay (Greece). After a deployment of seven months, 161410 left Souda Bay on 30 October. However, because of bad weather in southern Spain caused by the DANA ((Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos), 410 routed to RAF Mildenhall in the UK instead of NS Rota and Lajes. The planned departure on 31 October was canceled because of heavy fog in East Anglia. On 1 November 410 was flown to Bangor, ME and after a brief stop the crew continued to NAS Patuxent River MD. The following day 410 departed Patuxent River and so it finally arrived at Whidbey Island early in the afternoon on Saturday 2 November.

From the VQ-1 Facebook page: “WELCOME HOME WORLD WATCHERS!!
After fulfilling the unexpected demands of a 30-day extension, EUCOM’s last ever EP-3 is finally home!! We are so excited to welcome back members of CRC-3 and aircraft 410. Let’s carry on the celebration to the NASWI terminal on Nov. 8th to welcome home the rest of the crew as well as some members of the CENTCOM crew!”

Early March 2024 EP-3E 159893 replaced 156517 at Shaik Isa (Bahrain). On 29 October, after nearly eight months, 159893 made its final flight in the U.S. 5th Fleet’s AOR (Area Of Responsibility). The deployment ended on 31 October when 159893 left for Souda. Again, bad weather in Southern Spain caused a delay as 893 was flown from Souda Bay to NS Rota on Sunday 3 November. On 4 November 893 took off from Rota for a gas and go at Lajes and then onwards to NAS Patuxent River. After performing a runway overshoot the crew landed late afternoon back in the USA just in time for the Presidential elections. The final leg to Whidbey Island was flown on 5 November and 893 in the afternoon on Tuesday 5 November arrived back home at Whidbey Island.

From the VQ-1 Facebook page: “WELCOME HOME 893!!
The homecoming of aircraft 893 marks a historic moment in Naval Aviation as the last deployed EP-3E Aries in VQ-1’s 70-year history. After a 30-day extension in CENTCOM, crew members of CRC-4 have finally made their way home! We are looking forward to welcoming back the rest of the crew members in the coming days. VQ-1 is operational mission complete!“

VX-30 operates three P-3C and a single NP-3C (BH341) out of NAS Point Mugu, CA.
Bloodhound 341 is the oldest P-3 in the Navy inventory. At the start of 2024 it was at Waco TSTC for six months for maintenance and proved to be alive and kicking on 20 July when it made a nonstop flight from Point Mugu to Muniz ANGB (Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport) on Puerto Rico. Starting on 29 October BH341 operated out of NAS Patuxent River, flying missions over the east coast of the USA. During the first two weeks of August the squadron had two P-3C’s deployed to Hickam AFB on Hawaii.

VXS-1 still has two NP-3C’s flying out of NAS Patuxent River, MD. NP-3C 158570 was present at a reunion held at the former NAS Brunswick, ME on 14 September. The unit deployed observational buoys in front of Hurricane Francine’s projected path on 10 September. The Warlocks worked closely with project representatives from National Oceanographic Partnership Program Hurricane Coastal Impacts to determine buoy deployment coordinates for optimum data collection. The squadron deployed 16 buoys ahead of Hurricane Francine’s landfall off the coast of Louisiana. During the next two hurricanes the same happened.

Late April MHD Rockland announced that it had bought two former Airstrike P-3A Aerostar firefighters. Both aircraft had been flown to their homebase Keystone Heights City-Airport. MHD Rockland does not plan on flying or operating the P-3As at all. They will remove the tanks, update them, and install them in two of their AP-3C’s.

During the first week of July category 5 hurricane Beryl struck the Caribbean. NOAA WP-3D N43RF ‘Miss Piggy’ was doing its duties by flying through the eye of the hurricane collecting data for hurricane forecasting and research. During September and October Miss Piggy and N42RF "Kermit" were active again during hurricanes Francien, Helen and Milton.

On 27 September NOAA announced that it has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, based in Georgia, for two specialized C-130J Hercules aircraft to become the next generation of NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft. The fully-instrumented aircraft are expected to join NOAA's fleet in 2030. They will replace the long-serving WP-3D Orions, which are in service since 1975. The planes will be modified to serve as flying laboratories in support of NOAA’s hurricane and environmental research. Both new aircraft will be customized with the same Multi-Mode Radar as the WP-3Ds.

As reported earlier the US Customs and Border Protection is retiring its eight P-3 AEW&C aircraft because it has become too difficult and expensive to maintain the APS-145 radar system. So far one Orion (N145CS) was flown to the Pima museum and two (N143CS, N148CS) have become spare parts sources probably with NASA at Wallops Island. A fourth example (N147CS) was purchased by a family that owns Elite One Transportation in Tacoma, Washington. They disassembled the airplane trucked it to Washington state and are turning it into a bed-and-breakfast.

The National Naval Aviation Museum has started Project Orion in order to create an outdoor display of the last active duty P-3C 162776 at the NNAM in Pensacola, FL as a memorial to the US Navy’s Maritime Patrol Community and the world’s premier maritime patrol aircraft. To achieve the goal of creating a world class, museum quality display, they have launched a capital campaign to raise $500,000 by 1 January 2026. These funds will be used to restore, preserve and relocate 776 and construct an appropriate platform to showcase the aircraft. By mid December the campaign raised $395,675. Right now, 162776 sits in the “Bone Yard” section of the museum.

Argentina
MHD Rockland is tasked with pulling the four P-3 Orions out of storage and getting them up to date with inspections and other stuff, then crews from Argentina will fly them to their new home way down south. The first P-3C (3299) for the Argentine Navy was flown from Davis Monthan to Keystone Heights City-Airport in Florida on 18 July where ESG Aerosystems, provided training to Argentine pilots and FEs for proficiency. On 1 September this P-3C was (finally) flown from Florida to Argentina, where it was first seen with its new registration 6-P-57 on 17 September. In November the aircraft was filmed while making a low pass over Petrel Base, one of the Argentine research stations located on the Antarctic Peninsula. According to the latest AMARG inventory list no other Norwegian P-3’s have been taken out of storage yet.

The work on the P-3C Orion included setting up and calibrating its main sensor, the Raytheon AN/APS-137(V)5 radar. This multimode sensor is designed for detection and navigation, and also operates in weather mode and for long-range searching. It is capable of generating images in SAR/ISAR mode (synthetic aperture and inverse synthetic aperture), making it suitable for detecting, identifying, cracking, and classifying both land and maritime targets. This marks a significant advancement over the obsolete Texas Instruments AN/APS-80 previously used by the older P-3Bs

The new P-3 Orions will serve in the Argentine Navy's surveillance squadron EAE.6 based at Almirante Zar Naval Air Base near Trelew on the southern Patagonian coast. This acquisition builds on Argentina's previous experience with six P-3B Orions received from the US Navy between 1997 and 1999, two of which served as parts reserves. The last P-3B was taken out of service in 2015. However, there was a P-3B refurbishment program years ago which involved P-3B 0872/2-P-56. In August 2021 this airframe was 80% ready but due to payment issues with a contractor the delivery of this Orion was postponed. Already in June 2016 this P-3B was reported to be the first to receive a wing revitalization and a PMI (Integral Maintenance Program).

Brazil
The first P-3AM 7205 with new wings made its first flight on 2 May from Galeao airport near Rio de Janeiro. The new wings were assembled by Akaer at their plant in San José dos Campos and were added to the P-3AM at the Galeao Aeronautical Park in Rio de Janeiro. As reported earlier five more P-3AM will receive the new wings.

The Brazilian Air Force held an auction on 1 August, offering five aircraft through the auctioneer João Emílio. One of the lots was P-3AM FAB 7208.

Canada
Early January 2024 IMP at Halifax, NS announced the arrival of CP-140M 140101 for the Block IV update. It is the twelfth and last Aurora to receive this update. With the order for the P-8A, as reported earlier, it seems obvious that the original planned 14 modifications will not be reached. Time for a review of the CP-140M’s:

140101 with IMP at Halifax for the Block IV modification
140103 Block III; awaiting disposal at CFB Greenwood
140104 Block III; awaiting disposal at CFB Greenwood
140105 Block IV 14 Wg
140106 Block II; awaiting disposal at CFB Greenwood
140108 Block IV 14 Wg
140110 Block IV 407 Sq
140111 Block IV 14 Wg
140112 Block IV 407 Sq
140113 Block IV 14 Wg
140114 Block IV 407 Sq
140115 Block IV 14 Wg
140116 Block IV 407 Sq
140117 with IMP at Halifax for the Block IV modification
140118 Block IV 14 Wg

During 2024 many Auroras sported markings to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the RCAF

Late September two CP-140M 140111, 140112 were operating out of Keflavik air base on Iceland. In October at least three CP-140 were active on the east coast of the USA 140116 and 140118 flew missions out of MCAS Cherry Point, while 140113 operated out of NAS Jacksonville.

Germany
P-3C 60+05 was the third Orion to be delivered from Nordholz to Beja on 18 July, in Portuguese markings with the serial 24814, followed on 9 August by P-3C 60+07 with the new serial 24816.

In June P-3C 60+04 of Marineflieger geschwader 3 "Graf Zeppelin" was first seen with a large patch on the fin to commemorate 60 years of MFG 3. Early July the same patch was first seen on P-3C 60+03. However, the patches had been removed by the end of August. In August P-3C 60+03 was on a long-range navigation trip via Lajes to NAS Pensacola, FL and back. Early September P-3C 60+03 was present at the Air Power 24 air show held at Zeltweg in Austria.

In October 2024 the situation of the remaining German Orions was the following:
60+01 wfu Nordholz; will go to the Aeronauticum museum at Nordholz
60+02 wfu Manching stored with WTD.61
60+03 operating out of Nordholz; sold to Portugal
60+04 operating out of Nordholz; sold to Portugal
60+22 will be gate guard at Nordholz

International
From 3 July until 1 August several participants for the exercise RIMPAC2024 were present at airfields on Hawaii, including CP-140M 140108 of 14 Wing, 140110 of 407 Sqn and P-3C III+ 950905 of the RoKN. This maritime exercise led by Allied Maritime Command focuses on practicing submarine warfare and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) war fighting capabilities.

Exercise Strike Warrior was organized by the United Kingdom from 14 to 27 October. Operating out of RAF Lossiemouth was Mfg.3 P-3C 60+03, while 14 Wing CP-140M 140111 was operating out of Keflavik.

Japan
On 8 May P-3C 5081 of 203 Kokutai was involved in a runway excursion while landing at its homebase Shimofusa Air Base. All the occupants were safe, but the aircraft is probably a write off.

Late May two JMSDF P-3C (5047, 5059) of 5 Kokutai arrived in Djibouti to support ongoing anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden at least throughout September.

Norway
In October the situation of the remaining Norwegian Orions was:
154576 4576 P-3N    08sep22 AMARG sold to Argentina
156603 6603 P-3N      oct24 broken up - the tailfin will be kept as a                    monument in Andøya
163296 3296   P-3C UIP oct21 to go to Norwegian Aviation Museum
163297 3297   P-3C UIP 20jun23 AMARG sold to Argentina
163298 3298   P-3C UIP 17mar23 AMARG sold to Argentina

Portugal
The Portuguese Air Force participated in the international naval air exercise BALTOPS 24 in the Baltic Sea, with four F-16M aircraft and P-3C CUP+ 14810, deployed at the Siauliai air base, in Lithuania, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces (EMGFA), in a press release and on social media. The exercise took place from 7 to 20 June, and during one of the Baltic missions of the P-3C an Improved Kilo II-class Russian submarine was found and photographed.

In May IMP Aerospace & Defence, based in Halifax NS, announced that PAF P-3C CUP+ 14809 had arrived as the second aircraft to receive the Block I avionics update. As reported earlier these upgrades to Portugal’s P-3C fleet are modeled on modernizations that General Dynamics Mission Systems - Canada provides to the Royal Canadian Air Force. IMP and GDMS-C modify the Portuguese five-aircraft P-3C CUP+ fleet with significant new capabilities including upgraded Identification Friend or Foe Transponder (IFFT), Link-16 communications, and Data Management System (DMS). P-3C 14809 returned to Beja on 26 September, after the third aircraft 14810 had arrived at Halifax on 16 September.

The first Block I P-3C 14808 visited RAF Boscombe Down on 25 June and even made a local flight. This flight had to do with certification of the mods carried out by IMP in Halifax.

Early November P-3C CUP+ 14807 of 601 Sqn ended operations at NAS Sigonella after one month of operations as part of “Operation IRINI24”. However, the aircraft stayed at Sigonella to support the NATO operation “Sea Guardian”. During the IRINI deployment the crew of the P-3C CUP+ carried out 80 flight hours and identified around nearly 8.000 contacts of interest.

The four German P-3C’s delivered to Portugal so far are:
24814 (ex 60+05) on 18 July 2024,
24815 (ex 60+06) on 1 March 2024,
24816 (ex 60+07) on 9 August 2024 and
24817 (ex 60+08) on 9 February 2024.
All four are in storage and it is expected that the final two German P-3C will be delivered late 2025. But the big question is, will any former German Orions ever fly in Portuguese service?

South Korea
On 4 July the South Korean Naval Air Command officially took delivery of six Boeing P-8A Poseidons. The six aircraft are a prelude of the retirement of the 61 Patrol Air Group's sixteen Lockheed P-3C/CK Orions of 611 Squadron and the P-3C Update III+/P-3CK of 613 Squadron. It is expected that the final P-3C will be retired by 2030. The Poseidons are expected to reach Full Operational Capability by early 2025. The new MPA's will be assigned to 61 Patrol Air Group maritime patrol aircraft squadron 61.