P-3K2 Orion Progress Report

Modification to the first RNZAF Orion is well underway at the L-3 Communications facility in Greenville, Texas. 

Installation of new looms is virtually complete and work is underway to install the new equipment.

The flight deck (right) has had most of the P-3K instrumentation and supporting systems stripped from the panelling assemblies. 

The wiring looms and routing fixtures have also been modified and installation of the new generation ‘glass cockpit’ components is proceeding. 

The mission rail (below, right) has been completely stripped of existing avionics, displays and control devices so the new workstation configuration can be installed.

The new work surfaces have been mounted (protected by cardboard in this shot) and wiring looms have been fitted.  There will be a total of seven workstations, which will be configured to support the effective operation of radar, acoustics and electro-optics sensor systems. 

The mission rail provides display and control systems for the Tactical Coordinator and mission crew, controlled by a computer network called the Data Management System.

The rear cabin area (right) is also undergoing significant refitting with components and wiring necessary for supporting the integration of the sensor and mission rail components.

The aircraft is due to rollout of the hangar for ground testing in October.

A date is not yet finalised for the RNZAF’s Test and Evaluation (T&E) aircrew and maintainers to depart for Texas to begin their systems and operator training. 

For the MOD and RNZAF teams, the upcoming training and testing phases represent exciting milestones in the project, as we learn to exploit this new range of cutting edge technology.