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Ahh ok Thanks!

On active I was in P-3 update II But did a over year & a half TAD to AIMD at Moffitt.Where I fix a lot of A & B equipment. And every now and then. Would get a box
that worked on the bench but not the aircraft. So I’d walk across the hanger to test it in the plane. Most of that top row were my babies. ( that should tell you my rate)

So when I went into the reserves I may have been the new guy from Cs. But I knew the Bs better than some of the old hands.

But in 83 had a conflict with my job and drills ( I was working out in the middle of no place testing a mobile jamming system) And went inactive. After I finished they wanted me to shave off my beard. And I said I’ll think about it. that was 20 years ago.

So I never got to see a updated B.

Was part of the upgrade removing the pneumatic system?

Back in the late 80s I was noseing around a surplus place. And came across a pallet of launchers for Mk 25 smokes. And air compressors off the Bs.

Should have got one. Would have made a great cannon!

Since I was the only one who fixed them at the time. I had to come in to repair one, one weekend. Being that it was a nice day. I rolled the test stand outside to the parking lot
(you didn’t want to fire it inside) got it all working.

Then got the great idea of launching a soda can. I was the only one there, the parking lot only had one other car. And that was way down at the other end. So I finished my Coke, pushed it down the barrel, And Charge up to Unload ( the lowest setting) And fired.

Now the test barrel has holes drilled all along it to keep recoil down. And still shot it right at the duty officers Porch, (I wasn’t aiming at it, the thing curved in flight) It just fell short of it. Not only did it do a 400+ yard shot. it flattened the can like you drove a truck over it.

I decided not to try the 200 Kt, setting LOL!

Had allot of fun fixing those things.

Anyway if they did pull the pneumatics. How did they launch Sonobuoys? Go to a CAD type launcher like on the Cs?