The Lockheed S-3 Viking was a carrier-borne, anti-submarine aircraft which was introduced into service with the US Navy in 1974. It was operational during the last part of the Cold War, and the period that followed, until it was completely phased out in 2016. The S-3 Viking was developed as a need to counter the menace of Soviet ballistic and attack submarines, which were the biggest threat to a carrier battle group.
The task of this naval aircraft was to find, locate and track the lethal Soviet submarines and stop them in their tracks during a potential armed conflict with the Soviet Union. Its surprisingly compact airframe held sophisticated electronics and powerful weapons, with which to fight against an enemy that lurked deep in the oceans of the world.
Designed to replace the Grumman S-2 Tracker in the anti-submarine warfare role, the prototype of the Viking, the YS-3, made its maiden flight on January 21, 1972. Although it officially entered service with the US Navy in February 1974, when it made its first carrier landing, its operational debut took place in December 1975, aboard the USS John F. Kennedy. It marked a new era of anti-submarine warfare because it was equipped with an onboard advanced digital computer, which improved detection systems. The first version of the aircraft was the S-3A, whose performance was far better than the S-2 Tracker. Most S-3As would be converted into the S-3B variant, with the addition of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and new avionics in the late 1980s, extending its operational life into the 1990s and beyond.
Below, a S-3B Viking about to touch down on the flight deck of a US Navy's carrier in the 1980s.
Technical Description
The Lockheed S-3 Viking was a four-seat, twin-engine monoplane, whose fuselage was of all-metal construction. It had swept, high wing, whose outer panels could be folded up inwards to reduce stowage space in the carrier hangar. It had a conventional tail assembly, whose vertical stabilizer (fin) could be folded down. The S-3B version of the aircraft was powered by two wing-mounted General Electric TF34-GE-2 turbofan engines, each of which could generate 9,270 pounds of thrust. To detect enemy submarines, it was fitted with one Texas Instrument APS-170 search radar, which was set up in the nose of aircraft.
Specifications
Type: anti-submarine warfare, carrier-based aircraft
Length: 16.26 m (53 feet, 4 inches)
Wing Span: 20.93 m (68 feet, 8 inches)
Wing Area: 55.56 m2 (554 square feet)
Height: 6.93 m (22 feet, 9 inches)
Power Plant: two General Electric TF34-GE-2 turbofan engines.
Maximum Speed: 814 km/h (505 mph) at sea level.
Range: 5,558 km (3,445 miles)
Service Ceiling: 10,670 m (35,000 feet)
Crew: 4
Armament: torpedoes, depth charges, and AGM-84 Harpoon air-to-surface missiles.
Below, S-3B version of the Viking in flight.
The anti-submarine warfare aircraft parked, with folded wing, on a naval base.
Below, front view of a Viking of VS-28 "Gamblers" on the deck of the USS Forrestal in 1985.
The cockpit of the S-3B, showing its advanced instrumentation panel.
