The first P-3C Orion of the Argentine Navy performed its first patrol flight and exercised with a U.S. submarine.

Gastón Dubois

P-3C Orion Armada Argentina

The first P-3C Orion aircraft, recently incorporated, is already performing patrol flights over the Argentine maritime littoral.

According to Gaceta Marinera (Argentine Navy publication), on Tuesday afternoon, September 24, the first patrol flight of the recently incorporated P-3C Orion, registration number 6-P-57, belonging to the Air and Naval Exploration Squadron of the Air and Naval Force No. 3, over the Argentine maritime coastline took place.

During its initial maritime surveillance and control missions, and as a demonstration of sovereign presence, the aircraft overflew a concentration of fishing vessels at the 201 nautical mile limit. Additionally, it conducted exercises with the USS «Hampton» (SSN-767), a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine returning from Valparaíso, Chile, after participating in the multinational naval operation UNITAS LXV.

The training with the US Navy submarine took place 320 nautical miles east of Puerto Madryn and consisted of surface detection and identification, appendage identification, radar, FLIR, and MAD detection, and the establishment of a series of operational communications.

P-3C Armada Argentina
6-P-57, the first P-3C of the Argentine Navy.

This opportunity exercise, called PASSEX, proved to be an excellent chance to test and operate the aircraft’s equipment, as well as to put into practice the current operating procedures and increase the training and experience of the Argentine Navy’s personnel.

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