page_title: Lockheed S-3 Viking
section_title: Operational history
hierarchical_section_title: Lockheed S-3 Viking / Operational history
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Navy S-3 Viking aircraft refuels another S-3 Viking aircraft during routine flight operations in the Caribbean Sea May 10, 2006. George Washington Carrier Strike Group is participating in Partnership of the Americas, a maritime training and readiness deployment of the U.S. Naval Forces with Caribbean and Latin American countries in support of the U.S. Southern Command objectives for enhanced maritime security. The Vikings are assigned to the "Checkmates" of Sea Control Squadron 22.
context_page_description: The Lockheed S-3 Viking is a 4-crew, twin-engine turbofan-powered jet aircraft that was used by the U.S. Navy primarily for anti-submarine warfare. In the late 1990s, the S-3B's mission focus shifted to surface warfare and aerial refueling. The Viking also provided electronic warfare and surface surveillance capabilities to a carrier battle group. A carrier-based, subsonic, all-weather, long-range, multi-mission aircraft; it carried automated weapon systems and was capable of extended missions with in-flight refueling. Because of its characteristic sound, it was nicknamed the "War Hoover" after the vacuum cleaner brand.
  The S-3 was phased out from front-line fleet service aboard aircraft carriers in January 2009, with its missions taken over by aircraft like the P-3C Orion, P-8 Poseidon, Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk and Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Several aircraft were flown by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Thirty at Naval Base Ventura County / NAS Point Mugu, California, for range clearance and surveillance operations on the NAVAIR Point Mugu Range until 2016 and one S-3 is operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the NASA Glenn Research Center.
context_section_description: On 20 February 1974, the S-3A officially became operational with the Air Antisubmarine Squadron FORTY-ONE (VS-41), the "Shamrocks," at NAS North Island, California, which served as the initial S-3 Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) for both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets until a separate Atlantic Fleet FRS, VS-27, was established in the 1980s. The first operational cruise of the S-3A took place in 1975 with the VS-21 "Fighting Redtails" aboard USS John F. Kennedy.
  Starting in 1987, some S-3As were upgraded to S-3B standard with the addition of a number of new sensors, avionics, and weapons systems, including the capability to launch the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile. The S-3B could also be fitted with "buddy stores", external fuel tanks that allowed the Viking to refuel other aircraft. In July 1988, VS-30 became the first fleet squadron to receive the enhanced capability Harpoon/ISAR equipped S-3B, based at NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida. 16 S-3As were converted to ES-3A Shadows for carrier-based electronic intelligence (ELINT) duties. Six aircraft, designated US-3A, were converted for a specialized utility and limited cargo Carrier onboard delivery (COD) requirement. Plans were also made to develop the KS-3A carrier-based tanker aircraft, but this program was ultimately cancelled after the conversion of just one early development S-3A.
  With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the breakup of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet-Russian submarine threat was perceived as much reduced, and the Vikings had the majority of their antisubmarine warfare equipment removed.  The aircraft's mission subsequently changed to sea surface search, sea and ground attack, over-the-horizon targeting, and aircraft refueling. As a result, the S-3B after 1997 was typically crewed by one pilot and one copilot [NFO]; the additional seats in the S-3B could still support additional crew members for certain missions.  To reflect these new missions the Viking squadrons were redesignated from "Air Antisubmarine Warfare Squadrons" to "Sea Control Squadrons."
  Prior to the aircraft's retirement from front-line fleet use aboard US aircraft carriers, a number of upgrade programs were implemented. These include the Carrier Airborne Inertial Navigation System II (CAINS II) upgrade, which replaced older inertial navigation hardware with ring laser gyroscopes with a Honeywell EGI (Enhanced GPS Inertial Navigation System) and added digital electronic flight instruments (EFI). The Maverick Plus System (MPS) added the capability to employ the AGM-65E laser-guided or AGM-65F infrared-guided air-to-surface missile, and the AGM-84H/K Stand-off Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM/ER). The SLAM/ER is a GPS/inertial/infrared guided cruise missile derived from the AGM-84 Harpoon that can be controlled by the aircrew in the terminal phase of flight if an AWW-13 data link pod is carried by the aircraft.
  The S-3B saw extensive service during the 1991 Gulf War, performing attack, tanker, and ELINT duties, and launching ADM-141 TALD decoys. This was the first time an S-3B was employed overland during an offensive air strike. The first mission occurred when an aircraft from VS-24, from the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), attacked an Iraqi Silkworm missile site. The aircraft also participated in the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s and in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001.
  The first ES-3A was delivered in 1991, entering service after two years of testing. The Navy established two squadrons of eight ES-3A aircraft each in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to provide detachments of typically two aircraft, ten officers, and 55 enlisted aircrew, maintenance and support personnel (which comprised/supported four complete aircrews) to deploying carrier air wings. The Pacific Fleet squadron, Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron FIVE (VQ-5), the "Sea Shadows," was originally based at the former NAS Agana, Guam but later relocated to NAS North Island in San Diego, California, with the Pacific Fleet S-3 Viking squadrons when NAS Agana closed in 1995 as a result of a 1993 Base Re
caption: After the KA-6D retirement the S-3B became the main aerial refueling aircraft
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