Don’t count out the old standby P-3C Orion just yet. Lockheed’s bid reportedly included a combination offer: 8 upgraded US Navy P-3C aircraft for $550-700 million; and 16 multi-mission MH-60R helicopters from Sikorsky costing $350-400 million.
This platform is in service with 15 nations, and Lockheed-Martin still hopes to reach 16 by adding India. Press Trust of India reports Lockheed VP Richard Kirkland as saying their bid will offer “P-3C Orions which have completely been refurbished with new wing-spans and tails to serve almost a life time of 20 years… We are offering the Navy the choice of sensors and equipment to be placed onboard and the configuration it wants either for long-range maritime reconnaissance or anti-submarine mode.” Lockheed recently opened a plant to manufacture wings for old P-3C aircraft, as a way of keeping P-3C fleets flying in the 15 countries that use the aircraft. The refurbished aircraft with new hydraulic jigs, composite-wing spans and tails are already being delivered to the US Navy and some other international customers, and Kirkland contends that shorter delivery time will be an advantage for Lockheed this time around.
September 2007 reports add that the lead time for a long-range P-8A or Airbus 319 solution have led to a second look at the P-3C option, but that appears to have faded.
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