Role | Maritime patrol aircraft |
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National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Lockheed Lockheed Martin Kawasaki Aerospace Company |
First flight | November 1959 |
Introduction | August 1962 |
Status | Active |
Primary users | United States Navy Royal New Zealand Air Force Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Royal Australian Air Force |
Produced | 1961–1990 |
Number built | Lockheed – 650, Kawasaki – 107, Total – 757 |
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 |
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..
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More than 40 P-3 variants have demonstrated the type's rugged reliability, commonly flying 12-hour plus missions 200 ft (61 m) over water.
The U.S. Navy remains the largest P-3 operator, currently distributed between a single fleet.
The Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion has set the global standard for the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Missions