Multi-mission maritime aircraft survivability in modern maritime patrol and reconnaissance missions

The Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA), scheduled to become operational in the 2012-2014 time frame, will be the next-generation U.S. Navy Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance (MPR) aircraft, intended to replace the functionality of the P-3C aircraft. MMA will follow a tong legacy of Navy land-based maritime patrol aircraft. The P-3 Orion entered service in 1962, replacing the P2V and P5M fleet, but was not designed for survivability. A number of survivability studies were done in the 1980s to assess the survivability needs of the P-3, concluding that the aircraft needed several enhancements to protect it during its maritime missions. As the MPR force operates more in littoral areas, there will be an increased likelihood that MMA will encounter land-based, as well as ship-based and air-to-air, threat systems. Survivability analysis of the P-3C against several radar-guided surface-to-air missile systems was performed to assist the Naval Air Systems Command, PMA-290, in developing survivability requirements for MMA.