The sixth upgraded P-3 Orion for US Customs and Border Protection was delivered from the Lockheed Martin facility in Greenville, SC, on 9 November 2012, approximately forty days ahead of schedule. The aircraft, one of eight P-3 airborne early warning aircraft flown by Customs, went through the Mid-Life Upgrade, or MLU, process in approximately eleven months. The MLU program, which primarily consists of replacement wings, removes current aircraft flight restrictions and extends the structural service life of the P-3 up to 15,000 hours, adding more than twenty years of operational service. Through the third quarter of 2012, US Customs and Border Protection P-3 crews have aided in the interdiction of approximately 82,000 pounds of cocaine.
P-3 Fiftieth Anniversary
First Flight Of A P-3 With MLU Improvements Installed
