After more than forty years of service, the last two S-3B Viking in US Navy service were flown from Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, California, on 11 January 2016 to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. Originally introduced in 1974 as a replacement for the S-2 Tracker, the Viking’s role expanded from carrier-based antisubmarine warfare to numerous other roles including tanking, electronic intelligence, carrier onboard delivery, and overland surveillance. The Viking officially retired from Navy service in early 2009, but three S-3s were assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30 (VX-30) at Point Mugu primarily for range control. The last remaining VX-30 Viking later joined the NASA three-aircraft S-3 fleet at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
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P-3 Fiftieth Anniversary
First Flight Of A P-3 With MLU Improvements Installed
