Lockheed P2V-5 Neptune - The Master of the Oceans (V)

Nostalgistic · September 21, 2024, 5:56am

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Lockheed P2V-5 Neptune

Hello everybody. I’d like to suggest the Lockheed P2V-5 Neptune for the US aviation tech tree in War Thunder. The P2V-5 was the definitive version of the Neptune with further improved engines and retained the same turrets. Significant modifications were made to the original design of the P2V Neptune; one of the most prominent features was an Emrson twin 20-mm cannon turret fitted in the nose. A total of 424 P2V-5s were produced, making it the most numerous of all Neptune variants, and this variant was used in the Korean War, mostly serving on patrol missions.

Key Characteristics

Maritime patrol bomber
2 x Wright R-3350-30W Turbo-Compound engines driving four-blade propellers
New Emerson turret with two 20-mm cannons in place of fixed armament.
New wing tip tanks with searchlight and search radar
APS-20 radar in the radome under the belly
Maximum of 8,000 pounds bomb load

History

Background

The Lockheed P2V (later known as P-2) Neptune was a maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft developed for the US Navy to replace Lockheed’s PV-1 Ventura and PV-2 Harpoon. The P2V intended to fulfill the role of a naval land-based patrol bomber. Its initial development began on December 6, 1941, and the P2V was a low-priority work compared to other aircraft in development during World War II. Later, on February 19, 1943, the US Navy ordered two prototype XP2V-1s and awarded Lockheed a contract in April 1944, finalizing the standing order. The first prototype flew in May 1945, and production began in 1946. The first production P2V-1 Neptune rolled out and was accepted into service in 1947.

Fifth Version - Lockheed P2V-5 (Model 526)

The fifth variant of the Neptune secured the largest production contract that coincided with the Korean War. Lockheed would produce a total of 424 aircraft. It was to become the definitive variant of the Neptune by having the largest number of airframes produced and by serving as the basis for the largest number of subsequent modifications developed of any of the Neptune series.

The P2V-5 replaced the six-cannon solid nose cone with an Emerson ball turret armed with a twin 20-mm cannon and retained the same tail turret and dorsal turret of the early Neptune variants. It was equipped with 4-bladed propellers like the P2V-4. The wing tip fuel tanks were mounted and enlarged, and were moved from an underwing tip position to the outside center of the wing tips. Each tank had fins added that improved its aerodynamics, and these tanks were jettisonable and could carry 350 gallons of fuel in each tank. In addition, the forward portion of the starboard wingtip tank housed a powerful searchlight with a movable reflector and arc element linked by servo motors to the nose turret guns. The port wingtip tank had an APS-8 or APS-31 search radar mounted in its forward portion. The APS-20 radar was mounted in a large radome under the belly position behind the nose wheel doors. The increase in ASW/ECM equipment necessitated nine aircrewmen to operate instead of seven from the earlier models. The P2V-5 was powered by a pair of Wright R-3350-30W engines, the same as the P2V-4, and the weight of the additional equipment without an increase in power dropped the top speed performance, but made up for an increase in range. Internally, the flight deck canopy panels were modified and enlarged to enhance visibility.

424 P2V-5 aircraft were built, with the first making its maiden flight on December 29, 1950. The deliveries occurred between 1951 and 1953. The foreign air forces were expressing an interest in retrieving the latest P2V-5. To assist in producing the number of aircraft ordered, Lockheed licensed the construction of subassemblies to Chance Vought, Temco, Kaiser-Fraser, and Solar Aircraft.

When the P2V-5 became available in sufficient quantities, it replaced all remaining P2V-3s and P2V-4s in service. The early-configured P2V-5 served on patrol missions later in the Korean War. The P2V-5 was delivered to six countries to operate it, such as Argentina, Canada, France, and Portugal.

During its service, the P2V-5 was extensively modified, including a clear plexiglass nose cone replacing the nose turret and an ASQ-8 Magnetic Anomaly Detector in an extended tail boom replacing the tail turret. Later, the dorsal turret was removed and replaced by skylight windows. The final major modification was a pair of Westinghouse J34-WE-34/36 turbojets with an output of 3,400 pounds of force. However, it required the removal of four rocket stubs under each wing. The turbojets allowed for an improved takeoff and top-speed performance. Major subvariants of the P2V-5 included P2V-5F with the turbojets, P2V-5FD, P2V-5FE, P2V-5FS, and P2V-5JF. These aircraft remained in service until the early 1970s. Before their retirement, some of these aircraft had their armament removed for their next role as trainer aircraft.

Specifications

Lockheed P2V-5 Neptune

General Characteristics

Crew: 9

Dimensions:

Length: 77 ft 11 in (23.75 m)

Height: 28 ft 1 in (8.56 m)

Span: 104 ft (31.7 m)

Wing Area: 1,000 sq ft (92.9 sq m)

Propeller:

Type: 2 x 4-bladed constant-speed propellers

Diameter: 14 ft 2 in (4.3 m)

Powerplant:

Type: 2 x Wright R-3350-30WA air-cooled radial piston engines

Output: 6,500 hp (6,590.16 ps)

Fuel/Oil:

Fuel: 2,800 US gal. (10,600 L)

Oil: 165 US gal. (624.6 L)

Weights:

Empty: 43,000 lb (19,505 kg)

Gross: 64,480 lb (29,248 kg)

Max. Takeoff: 80,000 lb (36,287 kg)

Max. Bomb Load: 12,000 lb

Engine Ratings

Military

3,250 bhp @ 2,900 rpm @ S.L. - 3,400 ft (1,036 m)

2,550 bhp @ 2,600 rpm @ 11,400 - 15,400 ft (3,475 - 4,694 m)

Normal

2,600 bhp @ 2,600 rpm @ S.L. - 6,500 ft (1,981 m)

2,450 bhp @ 2,600 rpm @ 9,600 - 16,600 ft (2,926 - 5,060 m)

Takeoff

3,250 bhp @ 2,900 rpm @ S.L.

Performance with Empty Bomb Load @ Combat Power

Power-to-Weight Ratio: 0.10 hp/lb (0.23 ps/kg)

Wing Loading: 64.5 lb/sq ft (314.9 kg/sq m)

Airspeeds:

Sea Level: 297 mph (478 km/h)

Critical Altitude: 314 mph @ 16,400 ft (505 km/h @ 5,000 m)

Stall: 115 mph (185 km/h)

Climb Performance:

Rate of Climb: 760 - 1,640 fpm (3.9 - 8.3 m/s)

Time to Altitude:

15.1 minutes to 10,000 ft (3,048 m) @ normal power

49.0 minutes to 20,000 ft (6,096 m) @ normal power

Takeoff Distance - Calm: 3,560 ft (1,085 m)

Service Ceiling: 23,200 ft (7,071 m)

Combat Radius: 1,290 miles (2,076 km)

Combat Range: 3,193 (5,139 km)

Armament

Avionics:

AN/APS-20B Search Radar

AN/APA-16 Radar Bomb

Turrets:

2 x 20-mm cannons in bow turret (400 rpg; 800 rounds)

2 x .50-cal. guns in deck turret (400 rpg; 800 rounds)

2 x 20-mm cannons in tail turret (400 rpg; 800 rounds)

Bombs:

Up to 8,000 pounds of mines and bombs

Rockets:

4 x Tiny-Tim rockets

16 x 5-inch (127-mm) HVAR rockets

Torpedoes:

2 x Mk.35 torpedoes

2 x Mk.41 torpedoes

Drop Tanks:

700-gal droppable fuselage tank

2 x 200-gal jettisonable wingtip tanks

Other:

8 x JATO rockets

8,000 lbf (35.6 kN) thrust for a ten-second duration

Conclusion | Why it should be in the game

The Lockheed P2V-5 Neptune was a land-based maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare bomber designed for the US Navy. The P2V-5 had seen action in the Korean War and was used in extensive service with the US Navy and other foreign users. Since it no longer had a fixed armament of the P2V-2/-3, it probably would lose an attacker status. To compensate for lacking top-speed performance and armament, it could have the role changed to the maritime patrol bomber, where it could spawn further from the friendly airfield and at higher altitudes than the attackers at the beginning of air battles, allowing it to get a head start to bomb the bases and neutralize ground targets. However, it is in question whether it had a bombsight computer or not to aim and guide the bomb from higher altitudes. To my knowledge, the bombardier-navigator was listed as the aircrewman of the P2V Neptune solely responsible for directing and releasing the bombs onto the targets.

Related Suggestions

Sources

Standard Aircraft Characteristics P2V-5 Neptune Lockheed (1 March 1955)
Aircraft No.68: P2V Neptune in Action (1986)
Warpaint Series No.51: Lockheed Neptune (2004)
P-2 Neptune - Detail and Scale
Lockheed P-2 Neptune - Wikipedia

Thank you for taking the time to read my suggestion! 😃

JamesPond1200-psn · September 21, 2024, 6:29am

This whole family of aircraft needs to come to the game. Both the attacker and bomber models. +1

Nostalgistic · September 21, 2024, 1:56pm

Good day, everybody. Pardon my giant wall of text.

I found the P2V-5 aircraft flight handbook to answer this question at the last minute.

As factory-built, I believe the aircraft was not equipped with optical bombsight like the Norden Bombsight. Instead, it was equipped with an AN/APA-16 radar bombing attachment.

According to the handbook,

“The AN/APA-16 radar bombing attachment is used in conjunction with the radar search equipment to provide a means of accomplishing accurate low altitude bombing of surface targets under conditions which preclude visual location and bombing of such targets. The equipment establishes the closing rating between the airplane and the target, computes the bomb release distance on the basis of altitude, closing rate, and correction factor and operates the bomb release circuits automatically. The equipment can be used to fire wing rockets.”

“The AN/APA-16 equipment solves only the range portion of the bombing or rocket problem. It supplies no information concerning azimuth or the necessary course. The navigation for the bombing run must rely on the pilot’s visual observation of the target itself or on information supplied to the pilot by the operator as he observes the azimuth position of the target on the radar screen.”

“When used for bombing, the equipment has the following operating limits:
Altitude – 50 to 500 feet
Airplane-to-target velocities – 50 to 400 knots.”

“Altitude Dial Control. The altitude dial control is used to introduce the bombing run altitude into the automatic computations of the AN/APA-16 attachment. This control is preset to the altitude decided upon for the bombing run, or at 500 feet if the bombing altitude is higher.”

Pages Attachment

Images of Equipment inside the Neptune

So it sounds to me that the radar bomb is pretty limited compared to the optical bombsight, much restricting to the low-altitude bombing run.

However, I found other information on the Internet; some OP-2Es (modified P2V-5F) deleted their ASW equipment and installed equipped with Norden bombsight and provisions for SUU-11 7.62-mm mini-gun pods under wings, M60 7.62-mm guns in waist positions, and chaff dispensers (potential suggestion). They were used in the Vietnam War under the Observation Squadron in 1967.

With the given information, I think it’s OK to still justify the P2V-5 and bomber-version Neptunes to have its semi-historical bombsight in air realistic battles to retain its bomber status and air spawn.

Sources:

jon_man1199 · September 21, 2024, 4:08pm

A +1 from me! Honestly, the more Neptune’s, the better. It really is just such an iconic Cold-War Aircraft