Argentina Receives Second P-3C Orion from Norway
The new P-3C Orion enhances Argentina’s surveillance and ASW capabilities.
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The Argentine Navy has received the second Lockheed P-3C Orion acquired from Norway, as part of its ongoing effort to restore long-range maritime patrol and reconnaissance capabilities.
The aircraft, registered as 0890 / 6-P-58, departed from Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima at 11:30 (Argentina time) and landed at Comandante Espora Naval Air Base around 18:00. In the coming days, it will be transferred to Almirante Zar Naval Air Base in Trelew, where it will be repainted with Argentine markings and officially presented.
Defense Minister Luis Petri confirmed the aircraft’s arrival, emphasizing that it strengthens the country’s capacity for maritime surveillance and control. This is the second of four P-3 aircraft acquired from Norway—three P-3C for maritime patrol and one P-3N for logistical support—all of which have undergone an Aircraft Service Life Extension Program (ASLEP) providing an estimated 17,000 flight hours, equivalent to roughly 15 years of operational service.
Ex Norwegian Air Force 3297
The newly arrived P-3C is the former Norwegian Air Force aircraft no. 3297, originally delivered in 1989, serial number 5818 (U.S. Navy Bureau Number 163297). It will be assigned to the Naval Exploration Squadron (EA6E) of the Third Naval Air Force, the same unit that operates the first P-3C Orion (tail number 6-P-57) received in September 2024.24.
With this delivery, the Navy continues to recover its strategic long-range maritime patrol capability, which had been inactive since the retirement of the P-3B fleet in 2019 after more than four decades of service.
Capabilities and Systems
The P-3C Orion is a long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft with an endurance of up to 12 flight hours and an operational radius of 1,500 nautical miles (2,780 km). This allows it to cover Argentina’s entire coastline, continental shelf, and parts of the South Atlantic.
The Norwegian P-3Cs acquired by Argentina are equipped with advanced sensors, including the Raytheon AN/APS-137(V)5 synthetic aperture radar (SAR/ISAR), AN/AAS-36 Infrared Detecting Set (IRDS) EO/IR turret, and ALR-66B(V)6 ESM suite, along with AN/AAR-47 missile approach warning systems and chaff/flare dispensers for self-protection.
Their upgraded avionics include ARC-207 HF radios, satellite communications, inertial and GPS navigation systems, an OASIS-III over-the-horizon navigation system, and a mission computer ASQ-212(V). Together with modern acoustic processors, a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), and automatic identification systems (AIS), these features provide the Argentine Navy with unprecedented surface and subsurface detection and tracking capabilities.
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