Funding for naval aviation has been in a crisis situation for years. The maritime patrol community in particular has been hit hard, with only about half the number of squadrons active today compared to ten years ago. The P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft is very old and expensive to operate. Its four turboprop engines are optimized for high-speed cruise and are inefficient when throttled back. This leads to the somewhat unusual tactic of shutting down two engines when time on station becomes more important than cruising speed. The use of four engines also causes high overhaul costs. In recent years, many airlines have opted for two-engined designs to reduce maintenance and support costs. The greatest drawback to the P-3, however, is that the mission it was designed for—hunting Soviet submarines—has all but disappeared.
Naval engagements in the future will be in the littorals. They will be fought near to shore in shallow water. This combat arena is very different from the deepwater situations of the past. The search requirement will be wide-area surveillance, in regions where the presence of landmasses and shallow water will render remote assets ineffective. Operations will involve long periods on station and much closer coordination with surface ships and helicopters than in the past, with a networked approach for the rapid exchange of data.
The reality of budget limitations dictates that a totally new aircraft for these changed requirements is unlikely. Also, when decision makers are bound by the paradigms of the past there is a danger of reinventing an outmoded wheel—in other words, of buying an airplane that is optimized for a mission that has been rendered unnecessary. This danger already is present, as illustrated by the advocacy of the Boeing 737 (C-40) as a replacement for the P-3. This aircraft may perform the mission of the obsolete P-3 very well, but it is far too big and expensive to meet the requirements of the future Navy.
The most pressing need right now is not the hasty procurement of airplanes, but for research into what sort of equipment, sensors, tactics, and weapons will be the most useful in the anticipated combat scenarios of the future. Only after a variety of options and ideas are tried under simulated conditions by actual hardware can the Navy make a reasoned decision about the maritime patrol aircraft of the future. Several aircraft of an appropriate size could be outfitted with modular equipment packages and employed in a series of exercises to test the usefulness of new concepts. This sounds expensive, but the entire thing could be done with existing military aircraft and equipment.
There is an airplane in the military inventory of a size ideal for a more cost-effective replacement for the P-3. It has two gas-coupled turboprop engines (parts of which are nearly identical to those in the CH-53 helicopter) that are efficient when throttled back for long endurance on station. The best feature, however, is a rear-loading ramp that can be opened in flight. This makes the entire fuselage a weapons bay. Anything to be dropped in flight can be carried in the fuselage and simply ejected when the ramp is lowered. This also means that rescue equipment, SEAL teams, or even a tanker package could be carried if required.
The aircraft is the Chrysler C-27A Spartan. The Air Force procured ten for use in Central America some years ago. They were retired in 1999, so the Navy probably could acquire several surplus C-27s just by asking for them. They could be outfitted with the latest antisubmarine package as a foundation for onboard equipment. Auxiliary fuel tanks, weapon and sonobuoy ejectors, and any other desired equipment could be installed on tracks in the fuselage in modular fashion. For flexibility, the various items of equipment could be integrated by data bus or wireless networking technology. The plane's excellent short-field performance also would allow basing closer to the action.
In all, the C-27 would be a flexible and efficient platform that would fulfill the real-world requirements of the maritime patrol aircraft of the future.
Lieutenant Commander Jenista served as a naval aviator from 1948 to 1968. He later worked as an aerospace engineer with Beech Aircraft and General Dynamics before retiring in 1991.