By Geoff Fein
Lockheed Martin [LMT] and L-3 [LLL] have been awarded contracts to provide replacement outer wing kits for the Navy’s P-3 Orion aircraft, 39 of which were grounded last year due critical structural fatigue.
On Aug. 26, the Navy announced Lockheed Martin received a $129.3 million contract for 13 kits. The company will deliver those to the Navy between March and December 2010.
On Aug. 19, L-3 received a $60.6 million contract for delivery of four kits by June 2010.
The Navy has a total of 161 Lockheed Martin P-3Cs. Although the P-3C Orion’s mission is primarily hunting submarines, it is also used to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance work, both over land and sea.
The Navy also has about 15 international customers that fly the Orions and expect to operate them for decades to come (Defense Daily, April 14, 2006).
Among the countries flying the P-3C Orion are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Iran, Japan, Korea, Norway, Pakistan and Spain.
There are also several domestic operators of the P-3C including the U.S. Customs and Border Protectionl, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and California-based aerospace firm Aero Union.
L-3 said in a statement Tuesday that it developed modern tooling that will result in the production of the most advanced wing configuration available, using the Navy’s latest P-3 parts and materials for improved resistance to fatigue and corrosion.
“Producing new wings for the U.S. Navy further demonstrates our P-3 expertise, which includes airframe and wing refurbishment, in addition to full mission systems development and integration,” Mike Holmes, vice president of Federal Programs for L-3 Integrated Systems, said in the statement.
L-3 Integrated Systems has more than 50 years of aircraft modification experience and has modified more than 350 P-3 aircraft for many customers including the U.S. Navy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Australia, Canada, Greece, Korea and New Zealand. L-3’s experience and capability includes a workforce with current P-3 experience, as well as critical tooling, data and material necessary to support all P-3 initiatives, the company added.
In addition to the 39 aircraft already slated for re-winging, the Navy plans to ground six to 10 Orions a year.
“All aircraft are re-evaluated every six months. Future grounding projections were taken into account as a core element of the P-3C recovery plan,” Capt. Mike Moran, maritime patrol and reconnaissance air4craft program manager told Defense Daily yesterday.
“The fleet would have to provide data on specific impacts, but as described previously, they have been planning on additional groundings based on engineering projections,” Moran added.
The re-winging effort is expected to take up to a year for each aircraft, he said.
“Specific Zone 5 targeted modifications to the grounded P-3s are estimated to take between nine-12 months per aircraft, depending upon the material condition of each aircraft,” Moran said. “Currently, 10 of the grounded aircraft have been inducted for Zone 5 modifications, and the first one is expected to be completed this fall. The Navy expects to reach a steady state of 24 Zone 5 modifications (including re-wings) per year.”
The wing installations will be done at commercial and government depots as another element of P-3C airframe sustainment, he noted.
Once the re-winging is completed, the P-3 are expected to get “approximately 7,500 inspection-free hours,” Moran added.
The grounding, which occurred in December 2007, was due to analysis that projected wing fatigue cracks exceeding previously defined thresholds of acceptable risk, a source told Defense Daily last year (Defense Daily, Dec. 18). Analysis was supported by observation of cracks in inspected aircraft. There is a risk of catastrophic structural failure if these aircraft are not grounded, the source added at the time.
The P-3C Orion will eventually be replaced by Boeing‘s [BA] P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA). The P-8A is scheduled to enter into initial operational capability in 2013 and full operational capability in 2018, according to the Navy.
The Navy’s program of record for the P-8A calls for a total of 108 aircraft, the first of which will be delivered for flight test in 2009 (Defense Daily, Oct. 29, 2007).
According to the Navy, the P-3C will continue in service until 2019.