Lockheed Aircraft Company
Lockheed P-3C Orion
Manufactured 1961–1990 Introduction date August 1962
First flight November 1959

Over the years, the P-3 has seen numerous design developments, most notably in its electronics packages. Numerous navies and air forces around the world continue to use the type primarily for maritime patrol, reconnaissance, anti-surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare. A total of 757 P-3s have been built. In 2012, it joined the handful of military aircraft including the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, Lockheed C-130 Hercules and the Lockheed U-2 that the United States military has been using for more than 50 years. In the twenty-first century, the turbofan-powered Boeing P-8 Poseidon began to supplement, and will eventually replace, the U.S. Navy's P-3s.

The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, 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; it is easily distinguished from the Electra by its distinctive tail stinger or "MAD" boom, used for the magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) of submarines..

Operational history

Design

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, 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 The aircraft also had the capability to carry the AGM-12 Bullpup guided missile until that weapon was withdrawn from U.S./ NATO /Allied service .Wiki Link