6.6 S-3 Viking anti-submarine aircraft
The S-3 Viking anti-submarine aircraft is a twin-engine jet anti-submarine aircraft developed by Lockheed, whose combat mission is mainly to conduct continuous search, surveillance and attack on enemy submarines, and to protect important naval forces on their own.
The S-3 "Viking" anti-submarine aircraft was an anti-submarine aircraft developed for the Soviet nuclear submarine at that time, and was the world's first jet anti-submarine aircraft.
Historical review
The S-3 was a carrier-based anti-submarine aircraft designed for the U.S. Navy's anti-submarine missions in the second half of the 1970s to replace the S-2 anti-submarine aircraft for use with the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft. The U.S. Navy proposed a development plan in December 1967, signed an S-3 development contract with Lockheed on August 1, 1969, left the prototype on November 8, 1971, first flew on January 12, 1972, and began to be delivered to the Navy on February 20, 1974.
Main structure
The S-3 anti-submarine aircraft uses a cantilevered upper wing, with two turbofan engines hoisted under the inner wing, positioned relatively close to the fuselage, in order to fly with a single engine, thus saving fuel consumption. The fuselage is an all-metal semi-hard shell damaged safety structure, and the divided weapons compartment has a mussel shell hatch. The outer wing and vertical tail are foldable for easy carrier-based use. There are 4 crew members, namely the front co-pilot of the front cabin and the tactical coordinator and sonar of the rear cabin.
Comprehensive performance
In order to search for submarines at sea for a long time, the S-3 anti-submarine aircraft used a low-fuel general dynamics TF34-GE-24 turbofan engine, and there were also long magnetic anomalous detectors in the tail to help search for submarines. The aircraft adopts the AN/ALR-47 ECM electronic warfare system, which has three functions: electronic support (ESM), electronic intelligence gathering (ELINT), and radar detection (RWR). The weapons compartment and underwing pylons of the S-3 anti-submarine aircraft can carry conventional bombs, depth charges, air-dropped mines, torpedoes and rocket nests.
Important modifications
The ES-3 Shadow electronic reconnaissance aircraft was developed by Lockheed Martin specifically to monitor enemy electromagnetic communications. The aircraft was first test-flown in May 1991 and entered service with the U.S. Navy the following year. Based on the fuselage of the S-3 anti-submarine aircraft, the ES-3 is equipped with state-of-the-art avionics, including GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation, full-spectrum RF receivers and passive record detection sensors, while the S-3's infrared radar, electronic war chamber, and electronic navigation equipment have been preserved.
