P-3 Squadron Closure

[PropStop]

I heard a nasty rumor today about possible P-3 squadron closures. The rumor was that one squadron per base would be eliminated. Now, like every other thing I've heard in the Navy, I take this with a grain of salt.

however, i was wondering if anyone else had heard something to that end.

Propstop

 

[Agent00JP]

An IP in my squadron was saying something to the effect of them changing from 3 to 2 squadrons per station... so it is probably true....

 

[zab1001]

Rumors. Nothing solid has been established.

 

[NeoCortex]

does anyone know if there is going to be a plan for when they phase out the P3s? Basicly I want to know if the Navy is going to train the P3 pilots to fly the 737s

 

[PropStop]

The decision will come this September (so they say) on which plane will be the new MMA (Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft). The decision has been pushed back several times. Boeing sent a plane out last year to all the P-3 bases to show off the capabilities of a near stock 737. All the pilots I talked to were very impressed with Boeings plane. Lockheed, to my knowledge, hasn't sent out anything for a test drive, but their proposal is really just and updated P-3, newly built but structurally very similar to the current P-3.

 

[Flash]

The EP-3 community is already trying to jump ship on MMA because it's future is uncertain. I knew the guy from my old squadron who went down and talked to Boeing about making one of their airliners a patrol aircraft platform, then the VP types took it and ran with it..... Anyways, it will be a long time before any P-3 guys fly the MMA if it is ever selected. I would guess 2010 at the very earliest. The EA-18 was just officially selected and it won't reach operational service until 2009.

 

[NeoCortex]

2012 is what I heard for the P3s, so yeah, it's a long time off. So, they are going to train the current, at the time, P3 pilots on the new MMA?

 

[PropStop]

The plan i heard - which, like everything else, is a rumor - is that by 2013ish we should be up and running, maybe get the initial planes by 2008 or earlier. P-3ers would transition, just as F-14D guys are moving to F/A-18F's.

Boeing has claimed that they can have the first P-7 off the produciton line in 6 months, which i could believe. They already make the 737, all they'd have to do is shoehorn in the bomb bay and sono chutes. Beyond that, even the hard points wouldn't be much of a major design change. Boeing needs this contract bad too, they've lost a lot of big defense contracts over the last few years. They lost the Commanche just a few weeks ago.

Of course, a P-3 airframe with C-130J engines, modern avionics, and a new tactical computer would rule, just because the P-3 looks so damn badass!

 

[Squid]

how would the 737 airframe hold up to some of the stuff the p3 guys do.. like low and slow, etc.

 

[Flash]

Shouldn't do too bad, the Nimrod has done well for years. With todays engines and the reliability of the 737 airframe, some low and slow time would not hurt it.

 

[PropStop]

some of the pilots who took the Boeing demonstrator on a test drive said the 1, yes ONE, eneing climbe rate was greater than the FOUR engine climb rate of the P-3. It stopped in less than 2000' too. Pretty spiffy if you ask me.

 

[Hudson]

I've heard that Boeing is having a hard time getting the bomb bays to work. I have also talked with a few crewmemebrs of the P-3 who are woried about how long it takes the 737 engines to spool back up in an emergency. There is also some concern about wing flexing and launch perameters for wing hard points. We will have to wait and see though

 

[Flash]

A 737 could fly just as well on one engine as it can on 2. More importantly, they fail very rarely. You hardly ever hear of an engine failure on modern airliners for a reason, they rarely happen (not because of any grand cover up in the airline industry). In my time in the P-3, we had to shut down an engine for an emergency three seperate times. One pilot in my squadron had the bad luck of having to shut down a total of 5 in 6 months. The P-3 crewmembers you talked to are probably a little nostalgic for their old airframe and possibly will not have a job when the new MMA comes along (ie: Fligth Engineers).

 

[PropStop]

It really is too bad that the Flight Engineer will be eliminated under the Boeing proposal. I like those guys, they make me laugh. They are some crusty fellows!