Developed from the 98-seat four turboprop engine Lockheed L-188 Electra commercial airliner, the Lockheed P-3 Orion is a maritime patrol, reconnaissance, anti-surface warfare, and anti-submarine aircraft. It can easily be distinguished from the Electra by its distinctive tail stinger magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) boom used to detect submarines.

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A Lockheed L-188 Electra of TAN Airlines. Photo: Trotterjt via Wikimedia Commons.

By the late 1950s, the United States Navy was looking to replace its piston-powered Lockheed P2V Neptune with a more modern turboprop-powered plane for maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare. Lockheed immediately suggested a modified version of its L-188 Electra, telling the Navy that it would save them money and allow the aircraft to be introduced into the fleet sooner than a completely new design.

The Lockheed P-3 Orion was selected to replace the P2V Neptune

In 1958 the L-188 Electra was still in the development stage and had not made a flight. Despite this, the Navy liked Lockheed's suggestion and awarded them the contract to research and develop a plane to replace the P2V Neptune.

Differing from the design philosophy of the Electra, the Navy aircraft had a shorter fuselage forward of the wings, a more pointed nose radome, bomb bay, and a distinctive MAD stinger tail. Powered by four Allison T56 turboprop engines, the P-3 Orion had a top speed of 411 knots, comparable to the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt turbofan jet.

The Electra had engine mount problems

While the military version was still in the development stage, three L-188 Electra's suffered fatal accidents between February 1959 and March 1960. The cause of the accidents was due to insufficiently strong engine mounts. To rectify the issue, Lockheed implemented a costly modification program called the "Lockheed Electra Achievement Program." At its own expense, Lockheed strengthened the engine mounts and wing structures while also replacing wing skins with thicker metal. While the modifications were added to new planes on the production line, those already built needed 20 days for the refinements.

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Prior to take-off in Okinawa, Japan. Photo: US Navy via Wikipedia Commons.

Unfortunately for Lockheed, even though the design changes solved the problem, they did not erase the Electra's jinxed reputation. It also did not help that we were entering the jet age and that airlines were looking to move away from turboprop-powered planes to faster jets.

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The P-3 Orion entered service with the Navy in 1962

The first production aircraft was completed on 15 April 1961 and, together with later built aircraft, delivered to Patrol Squadron Eight (VP-8) and Patrol Squadron Forty-Four (VP-44) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.

After being introduced into service with the United States Navy in 1962, the plane remained in service for the next 50 years. Surprisingly, 743 Lockheed P-3 Orion's were built during its production run, with the plane's numbers only being beaten by the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

During the 1990s, the Navy started looking for an aircraft to replace the Lockheed P-3 Orion and settled upon the Boeing 757. The program, however, was canceled, leaving the Navy to find another plane as a replacement for the Lockheed P-3 Orion. In the second round of proposals, Lockheed put forward an advanced version of the P-3 Orion that it named the Lockheed Martin Orion 21. Unfortunately for the Bethesda, Maryland-headquartered aerospace company, they lost out to Boeing. The Seattle planemaker's proposal was based on its 737-800 airliner and was called the Boeing P-8 Poseidon.

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A P-8A flying alongside a Lockheed P-3C Orion. Photo: US Navy via Wikimedia Commons.

Lockheed P-3 Orion specifications

General characteristics:

  • Crew: 11
  • Length: 116 feet 10 inches
  • Wingspan: 99 feet 8 inches
  • Height: 33 feet 8.5 inches
  • Wing area: 1,300.0 square feet
  • Aspect ratio: 7.5
  • Airfoil: root: NACA 0014 modified; tip: NACA 0012 modified(114)
  • Empty weight: 61,491 lbs
  • Zero-fuel weight: 77,200 lbs
  • Max takeoff weight: 135,000 lbs
  • Maximum landing weight: (MLW) 103,880 lbs
  • Fuel capacity: 9,200 US gallons of usable fuel in five wing and fuselage tanks
  • Powerplant: 4 × Allison T56-A-14 turboprop engines, 4,910 shp (3,660 kW) each (equivalent)
  • Propellers: 4-bladed Hamilton Standard 54H60-77, 13 feet 6 inches diameter constant-speed fully-feathering reversible propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 411 knots (473 mph)
  • Cruise speed: 328 knots (377 mph) at 25,000 feet
  • Patrol speed: 206 knots (237 mph)

Stall speed: 133 knots (153 mph)

  • Combat range: 1,345 nautical miles
  • Ferry range: 4,830 nautical miles
  • Endurance: 17 hours 12 minutes at 15,000 feet on two engines 12 hours 20 minutes at 15,000 feet n four engines
  • Service ceiling: 28,300 feet
  • Rate of climb: 1,950 feet per minute
  • Take-off run: 4,240 feet
  • Take-off distance: 5,490 feet
  • Landing distance: 2,770 feet