Grounded P-3s

[bomber1]

Looks like the Navy joined the “aging aircraft” club.

Navy Grounds Some P-3C Orions

Associated Press | December 17, 2007

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy has grounded 39 of its surveillance, anti-submarine planes due to concerns about possible structural failures in the wings.

Ten of the four-engine propeller planes are currently deployed overseas, and Navy spokesman Cmdr. Jeff Davis said they will return to the U.S. for repairs and it has not yet been determined how or if they will be replaced.

"We are acting early, based upon engineering analysis and fleet inspections, to ground these aircraft before a problem arises," said Davis.

The Navy has a total of 161 of the P-3C Orions, and their average age is 28. It will take 18-24 months to repair each of the planes, for a total of about three years to complete the process. Those that cannot be repaired will be pulled from service.

The Orions are some of the oldest aircraft the Navy has, and they are set to be replaced in coming years by the new P-8A Poseidon jet plane. The Poseidon are expected to be operational in the Navy fleet in 2019.

Davis said it is not clear yet whether the rest of the Orions will also have to eventually be taken out of service for repairs.

The 39 were chosen based on their age, number of hours flown and other computer analysis that showed they had exceeded the amount of fatigue on the wings that the Navy considered a concern.

The Naval Air Systems Command issued a bulletin announcing the grounding on Monday, saying it was determined that the 39 aircraft were "beyond known structural limits on the lower section" of the wing.

[PapaJu]

2019??

[P-3FO]

I haven't seen that many P-3s go out of action for fatigue since 2004. When I got to my first squadron there were still over 200 aircraft in the inventory.

Look for the first squadron of P-8s in 2013, and then the last squadron will be equipped in 2019. I still doubt the P-8 will be built, there are things a UAV can do just as well as a P-3, or P-8. We'll see....

[Guest Boom]

We'll get the occasional P-3 doing transition work here at KSKA.

[Kaman]

I agree that there are some maritime roles that a UAV platform can perform better and cheaper than a manned platform. However, I think that USW will require a manned aircraft for the near and distant future. As many times as it has been tried to come up with algorythims to classify undersea contacts. A trained and experienced operator working in concert with an equally trained and experienced tactican is a necessity. I think there are many possible solutions, but it seems that USW is hardly on the RADAR of the Pentagon these days. Japan is producing an indigenous designed jet that looks like a cross between a P-3 and a four-engined E-175.

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead (AW) Be-1900 Captain now.