Posted on 07/09/2021 1:34:22 PM PDT by Jacquerie
NASA is retiring the last Lockheed S-3B Viking still flying today, marking the end of a nearly fifty-year career for the iconic aircraft. While NASA’s Viking was used as a research aircraft, the U.S. Navy’s S-3s saw widespread use throughout the Cold War as anti-submarine warfare aircraft and even as a Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) aircraft, before moving on to serve in other roles, including as aerial refueling tankers and for electronic intelligence gathering.
In Navy service, the S-3B may have never gotten the attention that more photogenic fighter aircraft tend to receive, but the Viking nevertheless boasted impressive capabilities including 10-hour endurance, excellent fuel efficiency, and ample room for avionics, weapons, and sensors, as well as four crewmen. In addition to specialized anti-submarine warfare gear, the long-range, tactical-sized jet also sported an internal weapons bay, a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor system, an impressive radar, was later wired for a targeting pod, and could act as a tanker.
It even had enough internal volume to allow it to operate as a cargo-carrying plane and passenger transport, in its short-lived US-3A configuration. It’s a literal workhorse of an aircraft that the Navy never fully utilized to its potential.
As such, prior to the Navy's retirement of the type from active duty in 2009, the S-3 Viking had a long and storied career in anti-submarine operations and other roles,
(Excerpt) Read more at thedrive.com ...
Hmmm, with 100 in storage not sure why the can’t identify one to pull parts from it they really wanted it to keep flying.
I have flown on the US-3A model, and even did a carrier landing during Gulf War 1, as a passenger obviously.
Because that’s efficient and inexpensive.
It was a sweet aircraft. Form followed function.
I absolutely loved that plane. Loved it. Attractive and functional.
Yep, form followed function but wasn’t forgotten, and the result is an aircraft that is appealingly purposeful in the looks department.
Long live the Hoover!
“It’s a literal workhorse of an aircraft that the Navy never fully utilized to its potential.” Does the modern Navy utilize anything or anyone to its potential?
One of the great Naval aircraft of all time, very versatile, performed maratime surveillance & reccon, tanker missions, it was a great submarine hunter. I have 7 traps and cats in the S-3 and another 30 in the C-2 Cod as a civilian from when I worked for AIRPAC; not as a pilot but as a passenger. The S-3 was also jokingly referred to as the Hoover; when playing golf at the course on base at North Island many a time an S-3 would take off (there was a runway right next to a couple of the holes, can’t remember which) and when the engines spooled up it sounded like a loud Hoover vaccuum cleaner. It was just an all-around great workhorse aircraft for the US Navy.
The Navy is in pretty rough shape right now, it’s ships and aircraft are still way ahead technology wise but the Navy’s senior and mid-level officer leadership are simply shit; don’t get me wrong there are still good leaders in the Navy but they’re way outnumbered by the careerist panty-waste woke officers. But there is a war coming on quickly, if one cannot see it, then one is not looking; and when it strikes a lot of incompetent bufoons are going to be dead or exposed for what they are. And unfotunately that means a lot of good enlisted sailors and Chiefs are going to get killed too because those incompetent bufoons have not been training their troops to fight our enemies, and we all know why. So just get ready, we’re going to be caught with our pants down again because the Biden admin is using our intel services to look inward instead of outward at our enemies and that’s going to cost us big time. Just sayin.
On a related aviation note, I've had quite a few BAe 146 flying real low over my house this week. We've got fires burning in North Idaho, Eastern Washington and Western Montana. They return to the firefighting base at Coeur d'Alene airport. I saw a large two-rotor helo with a snorkel dangling down headed toward the CdA airport a few minutes ago, too.
(no, they weren't dumping water on my house!)
Left out of the article was much mention of the S-3B. The S-3B could maximize the capabilities of the Harpoon anti-ship missile. We planned for a potential swarm attack on Soviet task groups 500+ miles away. The A-6 and A-7 couldn’t reach out that far, nor could the A-6 put the Harpoon to best use.
I forgot about that, it could also fly strike missions with the Harpoons.
What a great aircraft it was.
I’ve heard them standing on the beach north of the Del Coronado hotel. One of my
students at Southwestern College was an S3 pilot.
As a stashed ensign at VS-41 (the S-3 RAG/FRS) awaiting a class slot for flight training in Pensacola, I got a single leg cross country, coast-to-coast ride in a Hoover for the holidays with the family. Had all my Tijuana-purchased Christmas goodies stored aboard. Great range & endurance and a versatile tactical platform!
They were loud, but suprisingly not in a bad way. They had such a unique sound for a jet aircraft.
I always considered it a pretty cool plane myself, though I never saw one in person.
I’ve ridden on a BAe-146 many times, it’s was slow, smooth and roomy. An oddity is that it has no leading edge slats.
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