A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Finally "Orion" operates from his home country...
The Hellenic P-3 Program..." Contributed by Marco P.J. Borst p3orion@wxs.nl Website: http://p3orion.nl/index.html [27MAY99]

Thirthy-eight years after its first flight the P-3 Orion was introduced in Greece. This is a bit strange since "Orion" originates from Greece. Orion, in Greek mythology, was a handsome giant and mighty hunter, the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, and Euryale, the Gorgon. Orion fell in love with Metrope, the daughter of Oenopion, king of Chios, and sought her in marriage. Oenopion, however, constantly deferred his consent to the marriage, and Orion attempted to gain possession of the maiden by violence. Incensed at his behavior, her father, with the aid of the god Dionysus, threw him into a deep sleep and blinded him. Orion then consulted an oracle, who told him he could regain his sight by going to the east and letting the rays of the rising sun fall on his eyes. His sight restored, he lived on Crete as the huntsman of the goddess Artemis. The goddess eventually killed him, however, because she was jealous of his affection for Aurora, goddess of the dawn. After Orion's death, Artemis placed him in the heavens as a constellation. So if there is any place in the world where the P-3 Orion feels really at home, it would be Greece.

The Hellenic Air Force's 353 Maritime Patrol Squadron was established at Elefsis Air Base in August 1969. The squadron received twelve second-hand HU-16B Albatross amphibians, acquired from the Royal Norwegian Air Force through an international defence aid program. The good old Albatrosses did quite well in Greek service. Until the retirement of the last HU-16B in May 1997, they logged over 65,000 accident free flight hours. In 1990 the first plans for the purchase of some P-3 Orions were discussed with the US government. The latter offered to supply six P-3A Orions as a part of a Defence Cooperation Agreement. This same arrangement made sure that the US were allowed to continue making use of some Greek military facilities like Souda Bay airbase at Crete. Two years later Greece accepted the offer although due to the increased number of P-3B Orions available in desert storage, it was decided to deliver four P-3As (for ground instruction and spare parts) and six P-3B TAC/NAV MOD Orions for 353 Sqn's operations. The first P-3A arrived at the Hellenic Aerospace facilities at Tanagra AB in May 1995 where maintenance crews were trained to get ready for the new planes. The P-3Bs were restored into flying condition at the Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) at Davis Monthan AFB and flown to Waco in Texas where the aircraft received attention from Raytheon E-Systems Inc. This company was responsible for some maintenance work, interior refurbishments and painting of the aircraft before their final delivery to Elefsis AB.

The first P-3B arrived at 353 Sqn in May 1996. The squadron is part of the Hellenic Air Force's 112 Combat Wing. However the Orions are owned and maintained by the Hellenic Navy. 353 Squadron operates the aircraft with a flight crew from the air force (pilots, flight engineer and the NAV/COM) and a mission crew from the navy. Operational requirements for the Orions are defined by the navy.

The introduction of the P-3 Orion marked a significant change for the members of 353 Squadron. They had to leave the Albatross era of 'real flying' behind them and entered a new 'state-of-the-art' world: the world of the Orion. Logistic Services International Inc. (LSI), a private company that specializes in the training of maintenance and flight crew personnel for P-3s, was chosen to support the squadron's new start. LSI was founded in 1978 to perform S-2 Tracker flight training in South Korea and the Republic of China and has since grown to over 325 people in support of many aircraft like the P-3 Orion, F-14 Tomcat, S-3 Viking, several types of military helicopters and even naval surface combatants. In April 1996 a group of LSI instructors took up residence in Athens for an 18-month training period. The training of Hellenic P-3 maintenance and flight personnel was conducted in-country at Elefsis AB, just 35 kilometers from Athens. With the arrival of the squadron's first P-3B in May 1996, LSI started the flight training for the first three Hellenic P-3 crews. For the pilots it was a big difference. Being in the large and modern cockpit of the Orion is much different from working in the narrow and old fashioned cockpit of the Albatross. But flying lost a bit of its charme with the introduction of the new aircraft for sure. During the eighteen month program 186 sorties were flown with a total of 627 flight hours. A very interesting part of the training was the succesful detachment of a single Hellenic P-3 with a newly-qualified 353 Squadron crew to NAS Sigonella (Sicily) in support of the NATO ASW exercise "Dogfish" in February 1997. LSI's flight crew and maintenance instructors accompanied the Greek detachment which succesfully prosecuted several diesel submarines during four operational missions.

The Hellenic P-3's main task is to strengthen the maritime defence of Greece in close cooperation with navy units. Surface patrol and ASW requirements increased over the years and the old Albatrosses had to be replaced by an aircraft with much more capabilities. The P-3B Orions currently in operation with 353 squadron are still equipped with the standard TAC/NAV Mod mission suite as installed during their career in the USN reserve force. It is the intention of the Hellenic ministry of defence to upgrade the Orions with excisiting systems which proved their capabilities during operations with fellow P-3 operators. In the future the P-3s will be equipped with systems that enable the aircraft to act as on on-scene command platform by transmitting real-time intelligence to command headquarters on shore or on board of NATO vessels. Also under consideration is the installation of an Electro Optical System (EOS) or an improved Infra Red detection System (IRDS) to improve the P-3's maritime surveillance role.

The areas of responsibility for 353 squadron's Orions are the Ionian and Aigian Seas. In the past the Albatross aircraft were tasked with the continuous surveillance and tracking of Soviet combatants transiting through the Aigian Sea. This important job is taken over now by the Orions. Because they were flying the ageing HU-16B, 353 squadron did not have much opportunities to take part in international personnel exchange programs but they hope to take part in this kind of programs in the near future now that they have entered the 'world of modern maritime surveillance' with an airframe that is one of the most common types in the job: the Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion.

"Greek Hellenic Air Force History Summary Page"

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