Russians threaten US P-3 jet

Drudge ^

[Ted]

Russian warplanes threatened patrolling U.S. Navy P-3 aircraft over the Pacific Ocean last week as the American planes monitored a military exercise in the region, the WASHINGTON TIMES is planning to report on Tuesday... MORE.. At one point during the aerial harassment, a MiG-31 interceptor pilot flew his jet within 50 feet of a P-3 maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane. One alarming sign of the Russian intercept was a radio message sent by one MiG-31 pilot to his base stating his fire-control radar had 'locked on' to the U.S. surveillance plane, U.S. intelligence tell Gertz at the TIMES... A radar 'lock' is a pilot's final step before firing a guided missile... Developing... RUSSIAN WARPLANES HARASS U.S. CRAFT OVER PACIFIC

[First_Salute]

September 10, 2002

[PogySailor]

Like so:

Think that's a Bear "D" with a Big Buldge radome. But I could be wrong....

[higgmeister]

That's the funniest thing I've heard all day! Thanks!

I may be laughing tomorrow whenever I think about
it...."Mr.Aeronautical Engineer,"

[Ted]

Guess I'm slow... what happened the day before 9/11?...

[First_Salute]

Whatever do you mean?

[Junior]

It's all part of the game.

[Orion78]

PING!

[GOP_1900AD]

Excellent point. In the 1950s, many recon planes did have guns and in some cases a few AAMs.

[GOP_1900AD]

Excellent! Thanks!

[Long Cut]

Good info. This story is not as worrisome as some would have it.

BTW, I'm an SS-1. 2500 hours in ORION. Currently an Instructor on the "C" models.

Oh, and Sidewinders WERE tested as ordnance on P-3s back in the '80s. They worked pretty well, but were abandoned as the Cold War wound down.

[Long Cut]

Refer to post#50.

[Long Cut]

"Please inform us as to how you would go about installing an AAM weapons system on a P-3"

It HAS been done before. ORIONs can carry just about anything...the problem is, the weapons are not carried CURRENTLY (actually, the bird commonly flies unarmed) and thus, the crews are not trained in the tactics and use of such toys.

Also, as good a bird as a P-3 is, it's NO fighter, and could not outmanuever a MiG or a Sukhoi.

As someone said, radar lockups happen all the time. You only worry about it if it's somewhere where shooting is going on, as it was the couple of times it's happened to ME.,p>

[tenthirteen]

Ted, that post read 9/10/2002....almost a year after 9/11/2001

[cynicom]

Shot him down with what???

[RightWhale]

With what?

The P-3's fearsome propellers would have torn him to shreds.