VIRIN: 150909-D-NI589-034
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A Royal Norwegian Air Force P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft flies overhead as Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work observes small boat operations in the expansive Norwegian fjords near Bod?, Norway on September 9, 2015. (DoD photo by Glenn Fawcett/Released)
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A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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Lockheed P-3C-240-LO Orion; upgraded to P-3C UIP
FMS BuNo 163296
s/n 3296
c/n 285H-5817
333 Squadron
"Vingtor"
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20060616raaf8186427_073
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Australian AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft from 10 Squadron on the flightline at RAF Station Kinloss, Scotland for the 2006 Fincastle Competition and Exercise Neptune Warrior. (RAAF photo by 92 Wing Imagery Section)
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A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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20060616raaf8186427_063
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An RAAF?AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft from 10 Squadron does an engine run on the flight line at RAF Station Kinloss, Scotland, where it deployed for Exercise Neptune Warrior 2006 and the Fincastle Competition. (RAAF photo by 92 Wing Imagery Section)
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A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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20090924raaf_8208246_0094
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For the first time in history, three generations of Royal Australian Air Force aircraft have flown in formation over Adelaide and RAAF Base Edinburgh. A Dakota, Catalina, and?two AP-3C Orions fly as part of the 70th Anniversary celebrations of 10 and 11 Squadrons. (RAAF photo by LAC Leigh Cameron,?92TIF CBTCAM 87SQN)
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A much larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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And still not a word about it on the RCAF or 14 Wing websites.
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Aurora damaged after aborted takeoff at 14 Wing Greenwood
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JESSICA FLOWER
The Chronicle Herald

Published August 27, 2015
Updated August 28, 2015

A Lockheed CP-140 Aurora was damaged Thursday morning at 14 Wing Greenwood airbase during an attempted takeoff.

“The plane aborted takeoff, we’re not too sure why, and slid off the runway. It’s under investigation,” said airbase spokesman Sgt. Pete Nicholson.

The incident occurred at about 10:20 a.m. Environment Canada reported conditions for the base at the time as a thunderstorm with rain showers and a visibility of five kilometres, a dramatic drop from the 24 kilometres reported an hour earlier.

All 17 people on board were unharmed and the extent of the damage to the plane is also under investigation, said Nicholson.

The aircraft’s flight was part of its daily operations at the base.

“If you look, she went down on her nose, all four props are bent,” said Randy Sloan, a civilian who was outside the base Thursday afternoon. “When props are hit like that, it damages the motor, unless they feathered it before they landed, which I doubt. The were probably at full power.”

Sloan said there was very little damage to the body of the plane and it looked more like an “incident than a crash — like a hard landing.”

Former Aurora pilot Terry Chester, one of the original flight team who brought the planes up to Canada in 1979, said that these planes are meticulously maintained.

“My position is that we over-maintain the planes. They are paranoid about safety,” Chester said. “We put them through longer and harder hours than any other air force in the world and we’re able to do so because of the level of maintenance. No way are they allowed shortcuts. Everyone I’m still in contact with in the air force still has the same attitude, that excellence is the only performance level. Right down to the ground crews, they are very proud of their work and maintenance. I’m totally confident in these planes.”

He said that takeoff is aborted from time to time and can be caused by a myriad of things. Anything from crew, to equipment to stormy weather, like the base had on Thursday morning.

“What might have happened, and this is from my perspective, but they might have hydroplaned and lost directional control. Obviously, this is my own opinion and an investigation will determine what happened.”

The thing about the CP-140s that will make the investigation more conclusive, he said, is that they are all equipped with a voice recorder in the cockpit as well as a data recorder.

“From my perspective, and from what you’ve told me, it was most likely weather- or crew-related,” Chester said.

He was part of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association that successfully lobbied the Defence Department for the upgrades on the “tried and tested airframes”.

The Royal Canadian Air Force commonly uses the Aurora for maritime patrol.
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20090924raaf_8208246_0094
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Air-to-air imagery taken over Adelaide and RAAF Base Edinburgh. For the first time in history, three generations of Royal Australian Air Force aircraft have flown in formation across the Adelaide sky. A Dakota, Catalina, and?two AP-3C Orions fly as part of the 70th Anniversary celebrations of 10 and 11 Squadrons. (RAAF photo by LAC Leigh Cameron, 92TIF CBTCAM 87SQN)
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A much larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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20090924raaf_8208246_0056

Air-to-air imagery taken over Adelaide and RAAF Base Edinburgh. For the first time in history, three generations of Royal Australian Air Force aircraft have flown in formation across the Adelaide sky. A Catalina and Dakota fly as part of the 70th Anniversary celebrations of 10 and 11 Squadrons. (RAAF photo by LAC Leigh Cameron, 92TIF CBTCAM 87SQN)

A much larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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Contracts for August 04, 2015

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No. CR-147-15
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FOR RELEASE AT
5 p.m. ET August 04, 2015

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NAVY

Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Georgia, is being awarded a $32,289,173 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a five-year ordering period for engineering services in support of the P-3 Fatigue Life Management Program in support of the Navy; other government agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Customs Border Protection (CBP); and the governments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and Germany. Work will be performed in Marietta, Georgia and is expected to be completed in August 2020. This contract combines purchases for the Navy ($4,197,592; 13.1 percent); NOAA ($430,522.30; 1.3 percent); NASA ($430,522.30; 1.3 percent); CBP ($430,522.30; 1.3 percent); and the governments of Canada ($5,360,003; 16.6 percent), Australia ($5,360,003; 16.6 percent), New Zealand ($5,360,003; 16.6 percent), Norway ($5,360,003; 16.6 percent), and Germany ($5,360,003; 16.6 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales program. Fiscal 2015 research, development, test and evaluation funds (Navy) and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $463,260 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-15-D-0002).

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)

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German Navy Extends Life of P-3C with New Wing

By Andrew Chuter
Defense News
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July 29, 2015
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LONDON — Germany is extending the life of its P-3C Orion fleet in a deal with Airbus Defence and Space teamed with Lockheed Martin.
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The two companies have signed a contract with the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment to re-wing the fleet of eight maritime patrol/anti-submarine warfare aircraft over the course of the eight-year program.
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Included in the mid-life update of the aircraft is a new outer wing, centre fuselage, and horizontal stabilizers.
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The U.S. and several other countries that have already undertaken the replacement of P-3 wings.
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The structures will be produced by Lockheed Martin in the U.S. and shipped to the Manching, Germany facilities of Airbus for integration, installation, and checks.
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Mark Jarvis, the director of P-3 programs at Lockheed Martin, the addition of the new wings will extend the "life of each German Navy by 15,000 hours".
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First deliveries are expected to take place in November 2016.
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Airbus already has the support contract for the eight German Navy P-3Cs acquired from the Dutch military in 2006.
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The new wings are part of a wider program of updates planned for the German aircraft including mission avionics and an instrumental flight rules capability hike.

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20150716raaf8198167_0026
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A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion departs RAAF Base Darwin, Northern Territory for a sortie during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2015.
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During the exercise, No. 92 Wing is operating a Detachment of personnel and AP-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft from RAAF Base Darwin. The Detachment is providing an anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capability in cooperation with the U.S. Navy Detachment of P-3C Orion and P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The aircraft are serving to protect surface vessels conducting maritime and amphibious operations during the combined Australia and United States military exercise. (RAAF photo by CPL Ben Dempster,?28SQN AFID - AMB)
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A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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"5" is visible on the inside of the port-side nose landing gear door.
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20140326adf8098978_120
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(26.3.2014) — A Republic of Korea Navy P-3C Orion takes off from RAAF Base Pearce, Western Australia in support of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority-led search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean.

The Republic of Korea has bolstered the international search efforts for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 with a P-3C Orion supported by a C-130H Hercules on 25 March, 2014. The arrival of the?RoK aircraft at RAAF Base Pearce sees the support to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority-led search increase to five countries. Four RAAF AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and HMAS Success along with four Chinese ships, Xue Long, Kuulunshan, Haikon, and Qiandaohu, are involved in the search. An RNZAF P-3K2 Orion, a USN P-8 Poseidon, two PLAAF Ilyushin Il-76s, and two JMSDF P-3C Orions form the international military contribution, along with the P-3C Orion and C-130H Hercules from the Republic of Korea. With these ships and aircraft, search and rescue operations are able to be conducted continuously throughout daylight hours.
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(ADF photo by Leading Seaman Justin Brown, 1st Joint Public Affairs Unit)
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A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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s/n 950905
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20140326adf8098978_128
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(same caption as above photo)
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A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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s/n 950905
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Changing with the Times: The Evolution of Canada's CP-140 Aurora

This entry was posted in Broadsides Discussion Forum


CNR, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2015)

Abstract

In October 2014, two of the RCAF's recently-modified Block 3 CP-140M Auroras deployed to the Middle East to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) over Iraq in support of Operation Impact. Within 30 hours of the aircraft arriving in theatre, the crews and support teams were ready to launch their first mission — the first operational overland mission flown by the CP-140M. For a patrol aircraft traditionally used for anti-submarine warfare, an overland role in the Middle East presented new challenges. These challenges have been met in a variety of ways including training of personnel via simulators, innovative and flexible logistics such as Deployed Mission Support Centres, and, in particular, the fact that the Auroras have been undergoing a series of technological updates. Over the past 10 years, the Aurora long-range patrol aircraft has undergone a significant transformation. The Aurora Incremental Modernization Project (AIMP) and Aurora Structural Life Extension Program (ASLEP) are providing the RCAF with one of the most capable, diverse, and reliable ISR platforms in the world. ASLEP is intended to reset the structural life of the aircraft. It includes replacing the entire wing and horizontal stabilizer and a number of additional structural problem areas are also addressed. This is a key factor in extending the fleet to 2030.

AIMP was proposed in 1998 to upgrade the CP-140 through a series of four incremental blocks, each involving the upgrade or replacement of specific systems and sensors. Block 1 involved the replacement of a variety of legacy equipment and sub-systems. Block 2 introduced a modern communications management system, upgraded navigation equipment, and a modern cockpit. In parallel with Block 2, but considered separately, an electro-optical infrared camera turret was installed underneath the nose of the aircraft. Block 3, the current block, replaces the mission computer, the acoustics system, electronic warfare system, magnetic anomaly detector, and synthetic-aperture radar, providing operators with a modern display screen, touchpad, and trackball controls. This is the point at which the old CP-140 earns the 'M' for Modernized. Block 4, which is in the design phase at the moment, will add a high-speed beyond-line-of-sight communication system, a modern tactical data link, and an aircraft self-defence suite. To date, the LRP Force has received half of the Block 3 modified airframes, with the remainder scheduled to be modified over the next four to five years. The CP-140M Aurora is rapidly being established as the pillar upon which Canada's overall intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system will be built.

Colonel Iain Huddleston is Commander of 14 Wing Greenwood, Nova Scotia.
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NASA Takes to Kansas Skies to Study Nighttime Thunderstorms

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/?— NASA has joined a multi-agency field campaign studying summer storm systems in the U.S. Great Plains to find out why they often form after the sun goes down instead of during the heat of the day.
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The Plains Elevated Convection at Night, or PECAN, project began June 1 and continues through mid-July. Participants from eight research laboratories and 14 universities are collecting storm data to find out how and why they form. NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory ()?began research flights Tuesday from the Salina Regional Airport, Salina, Kansas.
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"We're hoping to collect measurements that will be used to characterize the atmosphere ahead of these storms," said Richard Ferrare, senior research scientist in the Atmospheric Sciences Division at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. "If we can map the water vapor that goes into these storms, we'll be able to improve computer models that represent these conditions and better predict the storms."
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The NASA DC-8 and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) P-3 Orion research aircraft supporting the PECAN mission will be open to the media from 3 to 5 p.m. CDT on Saturday, July 11 at the Salina Regional Airport. The airport is located at 3237 Arnold Avenue.
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Unlike other parts of the United States, summer thunderstorms across the Great Plains are most common after sunset. Much of the rain comes from medium-sized weather systems and resulting thunderstorms known as mesoscale convective systems. These nighttime storms can produce heavy rainfall that contributes a significant portion of the yearly precipitation in the region.
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Scientists understand that thunderstorms that form during the day result from a vertical "convective" circulation driven by rising warm air from the heated Earth's surface and falling air cooled at higher latitudes in the atmosphere. Less well understood are the mechanisms that cause thunderstorms after the sun has gone down and the land surface has cooled.
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The DC-8 carries atmospheric science instruments and investigators from Langley; NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California; and several universities and research labs. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland is providing a ground-based Doppler radar system.
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PECAN is funded by the National Science Foundation with additional support from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and the Department of Energy.
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In addition to the NASA and NOAA aircraft, researchers will receive data from a University of Wyoming King Air plane, ground-based instruments, weather balloons, and mobile radars. Storm information will continue to be gathered from multiple agency ground and air instruments across northern Oklahoma, central Kansas, and south-central Nebraska through July.
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The DC-8 is based at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Facility in Palmdale, California and supports NASA's Airborne Science Program ()?under the Science Mission Directorate. The extended range, prolonged flight-duration capability, large payload capacity, and laboratory environment of the DC-8 make it one of the premier aircraft available for NASA Earth science investigations.
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NASA researchers collect and study data from space, air, land, and sea to tackle challenges facing the world today, including improved environmental prediction and natural hazard and climate change preparedness. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.
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SOURCE: NASA

Web Site:

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Images of NASA's DC-8:

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Hurricane planes get overhaul as NOAA eyes next generation
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Howard Altman
Tribune Staff
The Tampa Tribune
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June 28, 2015
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TAMPA — "Miss Piggy" is flying again.
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But even as the lumbering P-3 Orion aircraft takes part in its first mission since getting two new engines in a life-extending overhaul, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is looking for the next generation of hurricane hunting aircraft.
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"Miss Piggy" and NOAA’s other Orion, named "Kermit", are stationed at MacDill Air Force Base. Each plane was put into service during the mid-70s and has flown more than 10,000 hours, into more than 80 hurricanes. They are long, grueling missions, often subjecting the crew to zero gravity as the aircraft lurch up and down in buffeting winds. With the pounding they’ve taken, the planes need the $42 million refurbishing to stay on the job during the June through November hurricane season and beyond.
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But even with new engines, new wings, and upgraded avionics and scientific instrumentation, they won’t fly forever. More like 15 years.
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So last week, NOAA awarded a $1.2 million contract to Analytic Services Inc. of Falls Creek, Virginia, to conduct a study on what to do after "Miss Piggy" and "Kermit" outlive their service lives.
Still, NOAA isn’t waiting for the study results to move into the future.
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Last September, the agency began using Coyote unmanned aerial vehicles, dropping the small drones from tubes aboard the Orions to fly horizontally into Hurricane Edouard and winds of up to 103 mph.
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The agency acquired five Coyotes with money made available after Hurricane Sandy devastated portions of the coastal northeastern United States.
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But because there is no way to recover the drones once launched, the agency has only one left. It plans to acquire three more.
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"Miss Piggy" is now taking part in a NOAA study called Plains Elevated Convection At Night, or PECAN for short, collecting data before and during nighttime thunderstorms in the arid western Great Plains.
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PECAN, which began on June 1 and is expected to last until July 15, is designed to help scientists learn what triggers these storms, how the atmosphere supports their life cycle, and how they affect lives, property, agriculture, and water in the region,” according to the NOAA website.
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Likewise, by flying into hurricanes, NOAA collects data used in creating computer models that predict hurricane intensity and landfall. The information gives emergency management officials more time and information for their disaster planning.
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"Kermit", meantime, is grounded while it gets new wings — a procedure that "Miss Piggy" will undergo next year.
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While the two Orions are expected to keep flying until at 2029 at the earliest, NOAA solicited bids in December for companies interested in helping the agency determine what kind of aircraft should replace them.
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NOAA wants to get a clearer picture on what kind of storm data it will be collecting in 15 years, how that information will be measured and what kinds of sensors, instruments, and other technology might be used, said NOAA Cmdr. Kristie Twining, a pilot and the study’s project manager.
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Once that’s determined, NOAA will try to figure out whether to follow the Navy and use the service’s next-generation P-8 Poseidon airframe, powered by jet engines rather than propellers, Twining said.
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NOAA last conducted a study like this in 2009, Twining said, and determined "Miss Piggy" and "Kermit" would need upgrades. but could keep on flying.
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It’s not all about hurricanes, she said. The two planes fly many types of missions seeking atmospheric and meteorological data.
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And its not inconceivable, she said, that drones could play a larger role.
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Last September, "Kermit" made history when it flew into Hurricane Edouard as the storm swirled around the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean from September 11 to?19.
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It was the first major hurricane to develop over the Atlantic basin since Sandy in 2012, NOAA said. It was also the first time NOAA used the Coyote drones, which were launched from "Kermit".
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The Coyotes are three-foot long aircraft weighing 12 to 14 pounds with a cruising airspeed of 60 knots an operational limit of up to 20,000 feet. Launched out of a tube and deployed with a parachute, they were developed to provide the Navy a drone to release from its sub-hunting aircraft to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information.
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The five fully-equipped Coyotes purchased by NOAA cost a total of $500,000, including sensor packages and pods, development, research, and testing, said NOAA research meteorologist Joe Cione.
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Remotely piloted from "Kermit" by engineers with the company that outfitted the drones, the Coyotes provided greater detail about the storm than the traditional data collecting device, called dropsonde, Cione said. A dropsonde is a cardboard cylinder filled with sensors.
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Both drone and dropsonde collected data about pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction, but because the drones can fly horizontally, under direction, and about ten times longer, they provided a clearer understanding of storm intensity.
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“The dropsonde is up for five to six minutes and gives you a vertical slice,” Cione said. “We flew one of our Coyote missions for 68 minutes. Think of the dropsonde like a snapshot and the Coyote as a short movie.”
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That’s especially important because the Coyote can fly close to the water, where "Kermit" cannot safely go.
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“We get a lot of detail of how energy gets extracted out of the ocean,” Cione said. “We can get a lot more understanding at a low altitude with something like the Coyote.”
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Cione has secured additional money for another three Coyotes, at about $20,000 per drone including sensors and testing. The reduction in price was made possible, in part, he said, by the Navy’s bulk purchase of the devices. He hopes to field the new drones by August, a process that will include a test flight over the Avon Park Air Force Range in Polk and Highlands counties later this summer.
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The new Coyotes will be upgraded to collect ocean temperature, adding to their value. Cione said he hopes to create what he calls a "smartsonde", with the maneuverability and flight length of the drone, the distance capability of the dropsonde, and the capacity to communicate with engineers for about 200 miles — at least twice as far as the Coyote.
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But Cione said that’s not going to happen for several more years and only if NOAA is interested.
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“That’s my vision,” he said. “Whether we get funding is another story.”

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A NOAA P-3 Orion turboprop named "Kermit" is seen on the tarmac prior to flight on Tuesday, August 23, 2011. With Congress looking to slash funds wherever possible, the MacDill-based hurricane hunter program is on the chopping block. NOAA will make several flights into the eye of hurricane Irene in the coming days in order to predict where the storm is headed and its intensity. (CHRIS URSO/STAFF)
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Some additional info:
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> N43RF
> "Miss Piggy"
> c/n 285A-5633
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Lockheed WP-3D-165-LO Orion
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ex-BuNo 159875
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I'm not 100% certain, but I think the USN only acted as the buying agent and that the two WP-3Ds were not ex-USN operational aircraft that were subsequently transferred to NOAA (the same way the USAF is the buying agent for C-130s for the USN, USMC, and USCG).
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- to NOAA March 17, 1976 as N43RF "Miss Piggy"; damaged May 1, 2000 at Galveston when several smaller aircraft blown by storm winds crashed into it; repaired. (source : Joe Baugher)
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Jeff
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NOAA plane receives upgrade, participates in field campaign
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by Senior Airman Ned T. Johnston
6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
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6/19/2015
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MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla.?— The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stationed on MacDill Air Force Base, Florida installed upgraded engines on one of their two Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft as part of a larger upgrade project for the two planes on June 3, 2015.
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In an effort to stay ahead of the technological curve and to ensure they will be able to fulfill their vital environmental intelligence-gathering mission moving forward, NOAA initiated a $42 million project to upgrade their two WP-3Ds. The project includes the Rolls-Royce T56 Series 3.5 engine upgrade already implemented on one of the aircraft and future upgrades to the wings and avionics systems of both planes.
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"With an infusion of Hurricane Sandy Supplemental funds for capital improvements to the WP-3D, NOAA and Rolls-Royce were in a unique situation to bring the Series 3.5 Engine Enhancement package to the P-3 community, allowing NOAA to realize future fuel savings as well as increase the performance of our aircraft," said Cdr. Devin Brakob, NOAA platform acquisition manager.
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The new Rolls-Royce engines have shown a nearly ten percent fuel savings, which not only reduces fuel costs, but also allows more time in the air to gather essential research and forecast data or enables the planes to carry heavier payloads. The engines do this by having improved blades, vanes, and seals compared to later model engines.
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"With these new engines and other upgrades yet to come to the planes, we'll be able to keep these planes relevant for years to come. We're going to be able to fly further, faster, higher, and longer making us that much more efficient and effective when getting the job done," said Brakob.
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NOAA didn't waste any time waiting around to utilize their plane's new capabilities.
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"Right now, the NOAA WP-3D Orion with the new engine upgrades is supporting an atmospheric science mission called PECAN [Plains Elevated Convection at Night].?The goal is to study thunderstorms and how the atmosphere supports their lifecycle, and how they impact lives, property, agriculture, and the water budget in the region.?These upgraded engines have only been on the plane for a few weeks and we're already reaping the rewards from these upgrades," said Lt. Dave Cowan, NOAA public outreach officer.

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VIRIN: 150618-F-XP000-001
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A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration WP-3D Orion?in flight. The WP-3D is used by NOAA to gather vital environmental intelligence. (Courtesy Photo/NOAA)
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A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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N43RF
"Miss Piggy"
c/n 285A-5633
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VIRIN: 040707-N-6932B-009

Marine Corps Base Hawaii — (July 7, 2004) — A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion approaches the landing area at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe, Hawaii during exercise Rim of the Pacific 2004. RIMPAC is the largest international maritime exercise in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands. This year's exercise includes seven participating nations; Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. RIMPAC is intended to enhance the tactical proficiency of participating units in a wide array of combined operations at sea, while enhancing stability in the Pacific Rim region. (U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Richard J. Brunson/Released)

A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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VIRIN: 060115-N-8726C-001
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Sigonella, Sicily — (Jan. 15, 2006)?— Three P-3C Orions belonging to the "Tridents" of VP-26 stand ready on a rain-soaked airfield on board NAS Sigonella. Originally designed as a land-based, long-range, anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft, the P-3's mission has evolved in the late 1990s and early 21st century to include surveillance of the battlespace, either at sea or over land. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment supporting maritime patrol operations and the Global War on Terror. (U.S. Navy photo by Photographers Mate 1st Class John Collins/Released)
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A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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Lockheed P-3C-140-LO Orion; converted to P-3C-IIIR, then to P-3C AIP
BuNo 158563
c/n 285A-5572
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VIRIN: 070207-N-2491R-048
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Sigonella, Sicily — (Feb. 7, 2007)?— Aviation ordnanceman assigned to the "Mad Foxes" of VP-5 load an AGM-65 Maverick captive air-launched training missile (CATM) to a pylon attached to the wing of a P-3C Orion aircraft. VP-5, homeported in Jacksonville, Florida, is forward deployed in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Harry J. Rucker III/Released)
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A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:

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