- Yes
- No
Kawasaki P-3C (川崎 P-3C)
The Kawasaki P-3C is a Japanese patrol aircraft, which is a licensed production of the Lockheed P-3C aircraft. Between 1982 and 1997, 98 P-3Cs were produced at the Kawasaki plant(in addition, the Japanese received 3 Lockheed P-3C aircraft from the USA in 1981). The Kawasaki P-3C aircraft are still in service and are slowly being replaced by Kawasaki P-1 aircraft.
History
In 1967, when the Japanese Ministry of Defense introduced the Kawasaki P-2J aircraft to the JMSDF and began serial production, the Japanese already knew that this was only a temporary solution. To this end, the PX-L project was further continued, and in 1968 Japanese commissions were sent to the United States and Europe to study modern patrol aircraft and related technologies. In 1970, during the formatting of the Fourth Defence Capability Development Plan, funds for 1971 were prepared for the implementation of the PX-L project. The Ministry of Defense counted on the Japanese industry, but did not rule out the option of purchasing foreign patrol aircraft. At the time, the JMSDF insisted that a new patrol aircraft was needed by the end of 1981 at the latest, due to the continuous improvement of submarines by the USSR. In the summer of 1972, the U.S. (President Nixon and Secretary of State Kissinger Insisted) began to pursue a policy to encourage the Japanese to buy Lockheed P-3C aircraft (a few years earlier, the Americans had blocked the sale of Lockheed P-3 aircraft to Japan, setting a huge price for a single aircraft). In July 1973, the U.S. announced that it was ready to sell Lockheed P-3C aircraft to the Japanese, and in September the aircraft was presented at Iwakuni Air Base. Then in 1975-1976 a scandal broke out in the US around the Lockheed corruption scandals,which led to a temporary interruption of negotiations with the US. Ultimately, however, taking advantage of Lockheed’s problems, in December 1977 the Japanese Ministry of Defense and the Japanese Senate decided to purchase Lockheed P-3C aircraft and purchase a production license at lower prices. In 1978, the purchase of 3 Lockheed P-3C aircraft from the USA and the purchase of 7 aircraft produced under license were planned.
In 1980, Japanese air crews came to the USA to train on American Lockheed P-3Cs. Between April and July 1981, three P-3C aircraft purchased in the USA were delivered to Japan. On May 26, 1982, the first Kawasaki P-3C aircraft was completed (production at Kawasaki lasted from 1982 to 1997, producing 98 Kawasaki P-3C aircraft during this time). P-3C aircraft were delivered to the following units:
- 2nd Fleet Air Wing (Hachinohe Air Base)
- 2nd Air Patrol Squadron
- Shimofus Air Training Group (Shimofus Air Base)
- 203rd Training and Aviation Squadron
- 51st Air Development Squadron (Atsugi Air Base)
- 31st Fleet Air Wing (Iwakuni Air Base)
- 81st Air Reconnaissance Squadron
- 91st Flight Training Support Squadron
- 1st Fleet Air Wing (Kanoya Air Base)
- 1st Air Patrol Squadron
- 5th Fleet Air Wing (Naha Air Base)
- 5th Air Patrol Squadron
On the basis of the Kawasaki P-3C aircraft, the following aircraft were created: OP-3C (reconnaissance aircraft), EP-3 (electronic intelligence), UP-3C (test aircraft), UP-3D (electronic warfare aircraft). In 2024, 32 Kawasaki P-3C aircraft were still in use by the JMSDF.
Art about the Kawasaki P-3C
Construction description
The Kawasaki P-3C is a low-wing patrol aircraft with a metal structure with retractable landing gear. The crew of the aircraft consists of 10-12 people. The aircraft is equipped with AN/APS-115 (?) naval radar, AQS-81 (?) magnetic detector, AN/AAS-36 infrared detector (?) and many other systems needed to detect submarines. The aircraft is powered by four T56-IHI-14 turboprop engines with a power of 4,910 hp (3661 kW), which rotate four-bladed propellers with a diameter of 4.11 m. The Kawasaki P-3C can carry 3289 kg (7252 lb) in the bomb bay and 5783 kg (12748 lb) on ten mounts under the wings.
Additional information (Japanese)
General characteristics
- Crew: 10-12
- Length: 35,6 m
- Wingspan: 30,38 m
- Height: 10,274 m
- Wing area: 120,77 m2
- Empty weight: 27 892 kg
- Gross weight: 61 235 kg
- Maximum Take-off Weight: 64 410 kg
- Powerplant: 4 x T56-IHI-14 turboprop engines with a power of 4,910 hp (3661 kW) each
- Propellers: Four-bladed fixed-speed propellers with a diameter of 4.11 m
Performance
- Maximum speed: 761 km/h
- Cruising speed: 611 km/h
- Range: 2935 km
- Maximum Range: 7670km
- Service ceiling: 8230 m
- Climb Rate: 13,4 m/s
- Rate of climb: 18,4 min to 6096 m
Armament
- Bombs:
- Bomb load up to 3289 kg (7252 lb) bomb, depth charges, mines (in the bomb bay)
- Bomb load up to 5783 kg (12748 lb) bomb, depth charges mines (under the wings)
- Unguided missiles
- 2.25-Inch (70 mm) SCAR rockets (under the wings)
- 5-inch (127 mm) FFAR rockets (under the wings)
- Guided missiles
- 4 x AGM-84 Harpoon (under the wings)
- 6 x AGM-84 Harpoon (under the wings)
- 4 x ASM-1C (under the wings)
- 6 x ASM-1C (under the wings)
- 4 × AGM-65 Maverick (?)(under the wings)
- Torpedoes
- 4 x torpedo Mark 46 (in the bomb bay)
- 4 x torpedo Type 97 (in the bomb bay)
- 4 x torpedo Type 12 (?) (in the bomb bay)
Summary
The Kawasaki P-3C is an interesting aircraft for Japan in War Thunder. This aircraft would be a very useful heavy bomber that surpasses almost all Japanese aircraft in terms of load capacity (the Kawasaki P-1 has an identical load capacity). This aircraft will be useful in air, ground and sea battles. I encourage you to discuss in the comments and to share your own knowledge on this subject.
Finally, I apologize for the linguistic and logical errors because unfortunately English is not my main language and I had to use google translator.
Internet sources
P-3 (航空機) - Wikipedia
Lockheed P-3 Orion - Wikipedia
P-3C 哨戒機 | 航空機 | 川崎重工業株式会社
Kawasaki P-3C Orion Japan Maritime Self Defense Force JMSDF
海上自衛隊 P-3シリーズのお話し - 用廃機ハンターが行く！
空対艦ミサイル〜海上自衛隊八戸航空基地 - ネイビーブルーに恋をして
Kawasaki P-3C Orion Japan Maritime Self Defense Force JMSDF
P-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft - Naval Technology
JMSDF – Order of Battle | J-HangarSpace: Information on Japanese Aviation
Lockheed P-3C Orion - Flugzeug zur Überwachung von Seegebiete
Lockheed/Kawasaki P-3C “Orion” Anti-Submarine Patrol Aircraft - Passed for Consideration - War Thunder - Official Forum
哨戒機「Ｐ－３Ｃ」｜航空機（固定翼）｜装備品｜海上自衛隊 〔JMSDF〕 オフィシャルサイト
【飛行機図鑑】進化を続ける老兵 P-3C哨戒機｜OsintCatJoe ～元自衛官のゆるい軍事ブログ～
Lockheed P-3C Orion
ロッキード・マーチンP-3C,EP-3,UP-3C,UP-3D,OP-3Cオライオン
Уголок неба ¦ Lockheed P-3C Orion
Lockheed P-3C Orion : Lockheed / Lockheed Martin
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