The cryptical disappearing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 off the coast of Vietnam has actuate a massive multinational nautical hunt for hints of the sheet ’s fate . Among the growing armada of surface and aerial search vessel is the US Navy ’s venerable P-3C Orion , a recollective - range surveillance platform still just as effective today as it was in the early Cold War .
Lockheed originate the four - engine turbo - prop P-3 Orion for the US Navy as an anti - undersea and marine surveillance aircraft , introducing it 1962 . The basic fuselage design was lifted from the Lockheed L-188 Electra commercial airliner , but the militarize version bears little further resemblance to its civilian forerunner . The Orion , for instance , sported a long Magnetic Anomaly Detector ( aka a “ MAD boom”)—used to spot submerged submarines — under its tail . It also apply a Raytheon synthetic apature hunting radar organization , Advanced Imaging Multispectral Sensor , sonobuoy receivers and acousticc processors for detecting exit subs , and a boniface of other long - range sensor suites . There is so much surveillance gear mechanism packed aboard this plane , it necessitate a work party of 11 flier to go .
The planes have also housed the late and corking in surveillance systems throughout their 50 - plus class service careers . In fact , the P-3 Orion is among a very choice few aircraft , including the KC-135 Stratotanker and B-52 Stratofortress , to serve more than half a century .
While the US fleet of 734 Orions will eventually be phase out in favour of the more forward-looking P-8A Poseidon , these continue wide used aircraft and serve in more than a dozen nations worldwide . They are also routinely put to use in human-centered missions , such as the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines aeroplane .
persona : DoD
The US Navy deployed a P-3C Orion aircraft from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa , Japan , to the search area last Sunday , where it get together the 7th Fleet ’s USS Kidd and USS Pinckney , both Arleigh Burke - class guided projectile ruiner , in the search effort . The 116 animal foot farseeing P-3C is equip with a quartet of 4,600 shp Allison T56 - A-14 turboprop engine which render a cruise speed of 377 mph with a range of 2,380 nautical statute mile . This will countenance the P-3C to cover 1,500 square miles every hour grant to Cmdr . William Marks , the spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet . What ’s more , the Orion can rest airborne for up to 16 hours at time , giving crews more meter to look for for the missing airliner . [ Stars and Stripes – Wiki ]
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