P-3 Orion Articles: August 1998

• August 16, 1998. P-3C aircraft from five countries enhance RIMPAC `98 by Christi Erwin, RIMPAC `98 Combined Information Bureau; Navy News Service.

  BARBERS POINT, Hawaii (NNS) -- Like an eagle hunting for fish, a P-3C Orion can loiter over a spot of ocean for hours, searching for its prey.

  While the square-winged, four-engine turboprops don't have the same flash and swagger of an aircraft carrier's jet fighters, the patrol squadrons from five nations are creating a sensation of their own during the month-long RIMPAC `98 maritime exercise here.

  Barbers Point is home to three P-3 patrol squadrons -- VP-4, VP-9 and VP-47 -- and host to squadrons from Australia, Canada, Japan and the Republic of Korea during RIMPAC `98. During the exercise -- which includes more than 50 ships, 200 aircraft and nearly 28,000 people -- the submarine hunters train with each other, as well as various ships and subs from six participating Pacific Rim nations.

  "Because of RIMPAC, the crews are gaining valuable flight time and experience," said LCDR Tom Kollie, a VP-4 tactical coordinator. "Through RIMPAC `98 we are able to train with other countries' aircraft and watercraft," Kollie said. "This helps us insure we are productive in our training for our missions."

  Since 1962, the P-3 has been an anti-submarine warfare workhorse of the Navy, combining long range and excellent fuel economy with increasingly sophisticated avionics and technology.

  The versatile aircraft are used by a number of countries worldwide for a variety of missions, including seeking and destroying submarines and ships, maritime patrol, laying mines, and search and rescue.

  While searching for a submarine, the aircraft can circle ominously above for hours and drop dozens of canister-shaped listening devices into the ocean. The devices, called sonobuoys, transmit information overhead to the P-3 with its advanced submarine-detection sensors.

  The crew can determine if the detected signal is from a submarine, a ship, a whale or an earthquake on the ocean floor. The P-3C is the Navy's sole land-based anti- submarine warfare aircraft. It does not operate off an aircraft carrier, but its crew checks in with the battle group to do whatever tasking is necessary.

  "RIMPAC `98 enables the squadrons and submarines to search for and hide from another country's aircraft and subs," said LT Susan Papp, a VP-4 mission commander from Valley Forge, Pa. "That's a goal of the exercise -- having the different nations work together as a multi-national force. It also provides the aircraft and submarine crews with realistic scenarios."

• August 27 1998. NNS3619. Sub-hunting units in Iceland for KEFTACEX 98-1 by JO2 Rob M. Wise, Iceland Defense Force Public Affairs; Navy News Service.

  KEFLAVIK, Iceland (NNS) -- Units from several NATO countries recently participated in undersea warfare exercise Keflavik Tactical Exchange (KEFTACEX) 98-1 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Keflavik, Iceland.

  Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as Patrol Squadron SIXTY-SIX, from Willow Grove, Pa., participated in the diesel-submarine hunting exercise which concluded Aug. 25.

  Active-duty service members from NAS Keflavik, including Patrol Squadron EIGHT, out of NAS Brunswick, Maine, also took part in the exchange, bringing the number of participants to nearly 500 people.

  Using maritime patrol aircraft and crews, participating countries took turns searching for the Canadian submarine HMCS Okanagan.

• NNS3707. Sub-hunting exercise concludes by JO3 Mike C. Jones, Iceland Defense Force Public Affairs; Navy News Service.

  KEFLAVIK, Iceland (NNS) -- Keflavik Tactical Exchange (KEFTACEX) 98-1, the undersea warfare exercise conducted by Commander Fleet Air Keflavik (CFK), officially concluded with a final briefing Aug. 25 and the departure of visiting NATO units Aug. 26.

  Units from Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States participated. Patrol Squadron SIXTY-SIX, based in Willow Grove, Pa.; Patrol Squadron FORTY-FIVE, based in Jacksonville, Fla.; and Patrol Squadron EIGHT, based in Brunswick, Maine, each took part in the simulated hunt for the Canadian diesel submarine, HMCS Okanagan.

  The exercise enabled crews of different nations to experience variations in sub-hunting techniques.

  "We had Canadian crew members fly with a Dutch crew, and French and American crew members fly with different crews," said CDR John Caspers, Dutch liaison officer and exercise coordinator. "They got some idea of the differences between the aircraft.

  "Each country has different equipment, operating areas and solutions for things we have never done," Caspers continued. "For instance, the U.S. doesn't have electric diesel submarines, yet we find them all over the place. So this was an opportunity for the U.S. to be exposed to these types of submarines."

  Casper said that plans for the next KEFTACEX are already underway. "We're going through the motions of setting up the next exercise right now," he said. "It's a lot easier than waiting six or seven months and trying to recall how it was and how it all should be."

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