Lockheed Martin to upgrade avionics and computers on German P-3C maritime patrol and ASW aircraft
LAKEHURST, N.J. – Military avionics experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will upgrade the mission computers aboard German military P-3C maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft under terms of a $158.5 million order announced Tuesday.
Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, N.J., are asking Lockheed Martin Global Inc. in Owego, N.Y., to upgrade the mission computers, acoustic equipment, armament/ordnance systems, and displays and controls on eight German P-3C aircraft under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
The Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion four-engine turboprop long-range maritime patrol plan has been in service since 1969, and is a converted version of the Lockheed Electra passenger aircraft. In the U.S. Navy the P-3C is being replaced by the Boeing P-8A Poseidon jet.
This contract modification to Lockheed Martin will provide for new mission and acoustic system avionics with several German-specific components to satisfy current and future North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) requirements.
Related: P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft will fly at least two more decades
The P-3C is designed for missions that include long-range ASW patrol, as well as for land and sea surveillance. It has advanced submarine-detection sensors such as directional frequency and ranging (DIFAR) sonobuoys and magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment.
Its avionics has a general-purpose digital computer that supports all of the tactical displays, automatically launches weapons, and provides flight information to the pilots. Avionics also coordinates navigation information and accepts sensor data inputs for tactical display and storage.
The P-3C can carry torpedoes, rockets, mines, and depth bombs, as well as the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile internally and on wing pylons. Production of the P-3C ceased production in 1990. Lockheed Martin Global provides aerospace and defense products to countries around the world.
On this order Lockheed Martin will do the work in Manching, Germany, and Owego, N.Y., and should be finished by May 2022. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Global online at www.lockheedmartin.com, or the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division-Lakehurst at www.navair.navy.mil.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
