Delivery of P-3 Maritime Surveillance Aircraft DelayedBy Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The delivery of refurbished U.S. maritime patrol aircraft has been delayed due to ``technical problems'' regarding systems integration, a military source said Sunday.
The delay of the P-3 Orion aircraft is expected to hamper the Navy's plan to boost its independent intelligence-gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities ahead of Seoul's takeover of wartime operational control of its armed forces in 2012, said the source.
In 2005, South Korea signed a contract to buy eight updated P-3B aircraft through the U.S. foreign military sales (FMS) program, with deliveries being completed by the end of 2010 in phases. The first delivery was to be made this month. The deal was valued at about $496 million.
``The first delivery of the P-3 aircraft has been delayed to December due to failures by the U.S. side in integrating systems to meet the Korean Navy's operational requirements, so that a delay in the deployment of the aircraft seems to be inevitable,'' the source privy to the aircraft acquisition program told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity.
The program, codenamed P-3CK, aims to help achieve around-the-clock maritime surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities against Japan and China, as well as North Korea, he said.
The Navy now operates eight P-3C Update III versions ― seven in Pohang, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and the remaining one on the southern island of Jeju. It plans to deploy three more P-3s on the island and five in the port city.
Under the 2005 deal, L-3 Communications Integrated Systems of the United States is in charge of reconfiguring the first two P-3B to put them on par with the U.S. Navy's P-3C Update III version, while the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the main contractor, is to remodel the remaining aircraft, using transferred technologies.
Seoul decided to purchase the older P-3 version since the production line for P-3Cs had been closed. The eight planes were being taken from the U.S. Navy's excess inventory. The P-3B, built in the 1960s, last flew missions in the early 1990s before being replaced by updated variants.
The upgrade of these aircraft includes a complete sensor suite, and advanced data management, avionics and navigational systems, plus a ground support system. Also included is a service life extension on the airframe, including rebuilding the airplanes' wings.
The P-3 Orion, built by Lockheed Martin, is a land-based, long-range, all-weather aircraft primarily designed for maritime patrol, reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare. Some 17 countries around the world use about 580 P-3 variants.
The aircraft, which can fly at a maximum speed of 410 km per hour, has advanced submarine detection sensors and avionics systems. It can carry a variety of weapons, such as the Harpoon air-surface missile and the MK-50 torpedo.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr
Source
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/07/205_27088.html
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