US Customs and Border Protection officials marked the delivery of its first set of new-production P-3 Orion wings at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia, on 18 November 2009. Under the newly renamed P-3 Mid-life Upgrade Program, or MLU, the aircraft’s outer wings, center wing lower surface, horizontal stabilizer, stabilizer leading edges, and fillet fairings are replaced. The program replaces all necessary fatigue life-limiting structures and employs new alloys that provide a fivefold increase in corrosion resistance. The MLU program removes all current airframe flight restrictions and extends the life of the P-3 for more than 15,000 flight hours. US Customs and Border Protection has ordered six replacement wing shipsets with options for eight more.
