P-3 Orion

{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin:3px; border:3px solid #87CEEB;width:30%; font-size:small;" align="right"\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3" align="center" style="border-bottom:3px solid"|Lockheed P-3 Orion\n|-\n|colspan="3" align="center"|
P-3 Orion of the US Navy\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Description\n|-\n|Role||colspan="2"|Antisubmarine warfare(ASW)/Antisurface warfare (ASuW)\n|-\n|Crew||colspan="2"|11\n|-\n|First Flight||colspan="2"|1959\n|-\n|Entered Service||colspan="2"|1962\n|-\n|Manufacturer||colspan="2"|Lockheed\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Dimensions\n|-\n|Length||116 ft 7 in||35.57 m\n|-\n|Wingspan||99 ft 6 in||30.36 m\n|-\n|Height||33 ft 7 in||10.27 m\n|-\n|Wing area||1,300 ft²||120.8 m²\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Weights\n|-\n|Empty||61,491 lb||27,892 kg\n|-\n|Loaded||lb||kg\n|-\n|Maximum takeoff||139,760 lb||63,390 kg\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Powerplant\n|-\n|Engines||colspan="2"|4 × Allison T-56-A-14 turboprops\n|-\n|Power||4,900 hp||3,700 kW\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Performance\n|-\n|Maximum speed||466 mph||745 km/h\n|-\n|Combat range||2,738.9 mi||4,408 km\n|-\n|Ferry range||5,562 mi||8,950 km\n|-\n|Service ceiling||28,300 ft||8,600 m\n|-\n|Rate of climb||3,140 ft/min||957 m/min\n|-\n|Wing loading||lb/ft²||kg/m²\n|-\n|Thrust/Weight||colspan="2"|\n|-\n|Power/Mass||hp/lb||kW/kg\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Avionics\n|-\n|Avionics||colspan="2"|\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Armament\n|-\n|Bombs||20,000 lb||9,000 kg\n|-\n|Missiles||colspan="2"|AGM-84 Harpoon
AGM-84E SLAM
AGM-65 Maverick\n|-\n|Rockets||colspan="2"|\n|-\n|Other||colspan="2"|MK-46, MK-50 torpedoes
Mines
Depth charges\n|-\n|} The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a patrol aircraft of the United States military used primarily for anti-submarine warfare. The P-3 Orion is based on the Lockheed L-188 Electra. The first production version, designated P3V-1, first flew 15 April 1961, but by the time the first deliveries were made in 1962, the unified designation system made this the P-3. Over the years, many variants have been developed. The P-3 Orion has found special use as an earth-science suborbital research platform for NASA. Known as callsign; NASA 426, this aircraft is located at Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Island Flight Facility, Virginia. The P-3 is slated for replacement between 2010-2013 by the Boeing MMA, based upon their 737 civil airline. Australia is considering a navalized version of the Global Hawk as a replacement.

Variants

• P-3A: original production version, 157 built \n* P-3A (CS): four with better radar, for US Customs\n* EP-3A: seven modified for electronic reconnaissance testing\n* NP-3A: three modified for US Naval Research Laboratory\n* RP-3A: two modified for scientific uses, for Oceanographic Development Squadron at NAS Patuxent River\n* TP-3A: 12 modified for training, ASW gear removed\n* UP-3A: 38 used as utility transports, ASW gear removed\n* VP-3A: three WP-3As and two P-3As converted into VIP, staff transports\n* WP-3A: four converted for weather reconnaissance\n* P-3B\n* EP-3B\n* NP-3B\n* P-3C\n** Update I\n** Update II\n** Update II.5\n** Update III\n** Update IV\n* EP-3C\n* NP-3C\n* RP-3C\n* UP-3C\n* RP-3D\n* WP-3D: two modified for NOAA weather research, including hurricane hunting\n* EP-3E Aries\n* EP-3E Aries II\n* NP-3E\n* P-3F\n* P-3G\n* P-3H\n* EP-3J: two modified from P-3A's for FEWSG use\n* P-3K: five delivered to New Zealand\n* P-3N\n* P-3P\n* P-3W\n* P-3AEW&C\n* CP-140 Aurora\n* CP-140A Arcturus'

Category:US patrol aircraft 1950-1959