P-3C Orion

P-3C Orion (Maritime patrol aircraft) – 154

Manufacturer: Lockheed, Lockheed Martin

First flight: November 1959

Introduction: August 1962

Produced: 1961-1990

Number built:

Lockheed – 650;

Kawasaki – 107;

Total – 757

Unit cost: $36 million (FY1987)

Developed from: Lockheed L-188 Electra

Variants:

Lockheed AP-3C Orion;

Lockheed CP-140 Aurora;

Lockheed EP-3;

Lockheed WP-3D Orion

Developed into: Lockheed P-7

General characteristics

Crew: 11

Length: 35.6 m

Wingspan: 30.4 m

Height: 11.8 m

Wing area: 120.8 m²

Empty weight: 35,000 kg

Loaded weight: 61,400 kg

Useful load: 26,400 kg

Max. takeoff weight: 64,400 kg

Powerplant: 4× Allison T56-A-14 turboprop, 4,600 shp (3,700 kW) each

Propellers: Four-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller, 1 per engine

Propeller diameter: 4.11 m

Performance

Maximum speed: 750 km/h

Cruise speed: 610 km/h

Range: 4,400 km

Combat radius: 2,490 km 3 hours on-station at 457 m

Ferry range: 8,944 km

Endurance: 16 hours

Service ceiling: 8,625 m

Rate of climb: 16 m/s

Wing loading: 530 kg/m²

Power/mass: 0.06 kW/kg

Armament

Guns: None

Hardpoints: 10 wing stations in total (3x on each wing and 2x on each wing root) and 8 internal bomb bay stations with a capacity of 9,100 kg and provisions to carry combinations of:

Rockets: None

Missiles: Air-to-surface missile: AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-84 Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM-ER)

Bombs: Depth charges, Mark-101 Lulu nuclear depth bomb, Mark-20 Rockeye, Mark-80 Series (Mark-82, Mark-83, Mark-84) general purpose bombs, B57 nuclear bomb (US service only, retired 1993)

Other:

Mark-46, Mark-50, Mark-54 or MU90 Impact torpedoes;

Mark-25, Mark-39, Mark-55, Mark-56, Mark-60 CAPTOR or Mark-65 Quickstrike naval mines;

Active and passive Sonobuoys

Avionics

RADAR: Raytheon AN/APS-115 Maritime Surveillance Radar, AN/APS-137D(V)5 Inverse Synthetic Aperture Search Radar

IFF: APX-72, APX-76, APX-118/123 Interrogation Friend or Foe (IFF)

EO/IR: ASX-4 Advanced Imaging Multispectral Sensor (AIMS), ASX-6 Multi-Mode Imaging System (MMIS)

ESM: ALR-66 Radar Warning Receiver, ALR-95(V)2 Specific Emitter Identification/Threat Warning

Hazeltine Corporation AN/ARR-78(V) sonobuoy receiving system

Fighting Electronics Inc AN/ARR-72 sonobuoy receiver

IBM Proteus UYS-1 acoustic processor

AQA-7 directional acoustic frequency analysis and recording sonobuoy indicators

AQH-4 (V) sonar tape recorder

ASQ-81 magnetic anomaly detector (MAD)

ASA-65 magnetic compensator

Lockheed Martin AN/ALQ-78(V) electronic surveillance receiver