The latest update to the P-3C Orion aircraft has given new life to a proven warrior.
During the Cold War, P-3C Orion aircrews achieved dominance in undersea warfare (USW) by perfecting their cat-and-mouse hunting techniques on top of Soviet submarines. The fall of the Soviet Union shifted the focus of the P-3C back to its roots of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). This new focus created the P-3C Anti-Surface Warfare Improvement Program (AIP), based on commander in chief (CINC) capability requirements validated in the Joint Warfare Capabilities Assessment (JWCA). AIP equipped aircraft provide a quantum leap in sensor, communications, and armament capabilities, along with full command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C41) compatibility with joint forces. Today's P-3C crews are still adept at their USW mission, but with the addition of AIP, they can fully support other non-traditional missions.
Although the current force of 12 active and 7 reserve squadrons supports the theater and fleet commanders' requirements for the continuous forward deployment of 40 P-3Cs, current Navy plans only provide funding for approximately 38 to 56 AIP kits, which would upgrade about a quarter of the force. Based on the demand for AIP during its recent introduction to the European, Pacific, and Central commands, the limited number currently budgeted will not be sufficient. In spite of the outstanding capability of the aircraft and the clearly articulated mission requirements, the maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) community has not fully communicated its new capabilities to key decision-makers and may not receive funding for additional kits. As a result, the P-3C may be missing an opportunity to benefit from the revolution in military affairs. Establishing an active marketing strategy is critical for the MPA community to compete in our resource-limited environment.
Essential Capabilities and Contributions
The P-3 Orion aircraft has been in production since the early 1960s with the latest upgrade—the P-3C Update III—arriving in the mid 1980s. The AIP aircraft is the most recent of the various versions. It is also the most advanced of the four general groups, with the "straight stick" or "baseline" P-3C being the least capable. All versions have the same basic USW capabilities. It is important to note that a properly trained crew flying a "straight stick" P-3C can still perform a variety of essential missions including subsurface surveillance coordination, surface warfare, and mine warfare.
These aircraft are part of an extremely capable maritime expeditionary force platform that is ideally suited to quickly respond to regional dangers, asymmetric challenges, transnational threats, and "wild cards." Every major crisis since the Gulf War has seen MPA on the tip of the spear as one of the first operational forces in the theater. The proven ability of MPA to quickly shift among a myriad of missions has made it the platform of choice to many deployed Navy and joint commanders. Most recently, MPA has proved itself to be a credible force multiplier to naval and joint warfare commanders in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans. With its demonstrated enhanced C4ISR and littoral strike capabilities, MPA has become a critical player in all aspects of joint littoral warfare.
In response to the strategic direction set forth in "Joint Vision 2010" and the Navy's long-range strategy "Forward…From the Sea," the MPA community crafted a complementary vision for the 21st century. With the post-Cold War transformation of the bipolar world, our joint forces require a paradigm shift from Cold War tactics to those tailored for joint expeditionary warfare in response to national needs, while retaining a blue water capability. With the continuous forward-deployed presence and rapid response capability of the P-3, MPA is connected directly to the "Joint Vision 2010" tenets of forward engagement and crisis response preparedness. Now the community needs to articulate its unique abilities to support joint mission areas including:
Strategic Deterrence: Ballistic missile submarines continue to patrol international waters as the declared nuclear powers move more of their strategic arsenals to the sea. Open-ocean USW remains a core mission of MPA. Improved sensors and tactics, extended echo ranging, and non-acoustic search have improved the P-3's open-ocean search capability.
Decisive Operations: Rapid access to littoral hot spots throughout the world allows MPA to establish pre-strike battlefield dominance for incoming heavy forces. The stand-off land attack missile carried by AIP P-3s bring MPA into the precision strike missions being called upon ever more frequently. With effective high search rates, high airborne endurance, standoff identification and targeting, and C41 connectivity, AIP provides "ears and eyes" on scene and a potent offensive punch.
Special Operations: MPA's small footprint and standoff ISR capability make it ideally suited for supporting sensitive low-visibility operations. An AIP on station during pre-strike planning, ingress, H-hour, and egress provides a credible force multiplier.
Force Protection: The P-3's multi-mission capability is key to enabling maritime forces to maintain freedom of action. The aircraft's full array of sensors and weapons provide three-dimensional force protection against potential adversaries in fluid littoral battle spaces.
Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction: MPA's forward presence and covert advanced ISR capabilities make it an effective counter-proliferation asset. During maritime interdiction operations and littoral reconnaissance, P-3s have proven their value in detecting, tracking, and intercepting critical contacts of interest.
Information Operations: AIP P-3s help joint and Navy commanders achieve information superiority through collection and dissemination of real time and near real time tactical information. An over-the-horizon airborne sensor information system enables the transfer of real-time tactical position data, and specific emitter identification capabilities allows MPA to track electronically a surface contact without maintaining visual surveillance. Real-time receipt of satellite data is possible through a multi-mission advanced tactical terminal and data dissemination system. C41 connectivity allows AIP to meet the communication and information requirements of "Joint Vision 2010," helping commanders to see through the "fog of war."
Strategic Sealift and Protection: During the early stages of a crisis, MPA quickly can position itself in critical choke points along sea lines of communication, providing surveillance, reconnaissance, and interdiction of potential adversaries. By building a "maritime bridge" for the sustainment of heavy joint forces, MPA is key to providing initial strategic mobility to a crisis area.
The highly successful AIP fleet introduction will undoubtedly help stimulate interest and demand for maritime patrol aircraft among operational commanders. There are too many competing programs, however, to take for granted that long-term support will follow, especially from those in the administrative chain. A primary goal of the MPA community should be the development of a marketing strategy that communicates the new capabilities of the aircraft to key decision-makers throughout our national security resource allocation mechanism, including the Joint Strategic Planning System, the Joint Operation Planning & Execution System, and the Planning, Programming & Budgeting System. The message should focus on the community's direct support of the National Military Strategy as well as follow-on long-range joint and naval strategies. In an environment of limited resources, this will be critical to the community's future.
Commander Freeman is the head budget analyst for the Operations & Maintenance, Naval Reserve Appropriation on the staff of the Director of the Naval Reserve.