#1775
Lockheed P-3 Orion
🇺🇸 United States ·first flew 1959· maritime patrol aircraft
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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. US Navy 030129-N-0226M-002 P-3C Orion: U.S. Navy photo by Senior Chief Photographer’s Mate Mahlon K. Miller.· Public domain
- 2. CP-140 Aurora: Aldo Bidini· GFDL 1.2
- 3. Lockheed P-3C Orion: Jerry Gunner from Lincoln, UK· CC BY 2.0
- 4. 20190401 P-3 Orion Tail 161593 Kadena AB-26: Balon Greyjoy· CC0
- 5. CBP P-3 Orion: CBP· Public domain
- 6. JMSDF UP-3C Orion: Josephus37· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 7. Lockheed P-3C Orion, Portugal - Air Force JP7495968: Pedro Aragão· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 8. Lockheed YP3V-1 Orion aerodynamic prototype in flight, in 1958: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 9. P-3 Orion underside view 20080614: Mark Wagner· CC BY 3.0
- 10. Pakistan Navy Orion Asuspine: Asuspine· GFDL 1.2
what is it?
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. It is based on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner by Lockheed; it is easily distinguished from the Electra by its distinctive tail stinger or "MAD" boom, used for the magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) of submarines. Over the years, the P-3 has seen numerous design developments, most notably in its electronics packages.
How to recognise it: 4 turboprops · retractable tricycle gear · 30.4 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 67 years ago, in 1959.
- Top speed is 5.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 30.4 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 10 African elephants (~6 t each).
turboprop: A jet-style turbine turning a propeller: efficient on short hops.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1959-11
- introduced
- 1962
- status
- still flying
- number built
- 757
- role
- maritime patrol aircraft
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Kawasaki Aerospace Systems Company
- engines
- 4× Allison T56-A-14 / Allison 501 family
- crew
- 11
- length
- 35.6 m
- wingspan
- 30.4 m
- height
- 10.3 m
- max take-off weight
- 61.2 t
- top speed
- 761 km/h
- cruise speed
- 607 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 8,626 m
- wings
- monoplane
- landing gear
- retractable tricycle gear
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q155490, Wikipedia: Lockheed P-3 Orion (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.