Encyclopedia of the Persian Gulf War

Page 241

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S-3B Viking–Syria

S-3B Viking

A two-engine, four-seat Navy antisubmarine warfare (ASW) carrier aircraft, the S-3B Viking was used in an electronics warfare role during Operation Desert Storm, flying 1,674 sorties chiefly, reports one source, “in force-interdiction operations in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea,” as well as “SCUDCAP (Scud Combat Air Patrol) missions in western Iraq.” Other missions included the bombing of “an Iraqi AA site in Kuwait, providing emergency tanker service throughout the theater, and taking part in minedetection operations in the Persian Gulf.” The S-3B’s main mission during Operation Desert Storm was as a reconnaisance craft and sometimes, equipped with a D-704 refueling package, as a refueling tanker.

With a wingspan of 68 feet 8 inches (20.93 m), the S-3 is 53 feet 4 inches (16.26 m) in length. Powered by two General Electric TF34-GE-400B turbofan engines, the plane’s maximum speed is 450 knots (518 mph; 834 km/h), its maximum unrefueled range is more than 2,300 nautical miles (2,650 mi; 4,263 km), and the plane can be equipped with various types and combinations of missiles, rockets, and depth charges for antisubmarine warfare. Under a weapons system improvement program instituted by the S-3’s manufacturer (Lockheed), original S-3As were turned into S-3Bs with the inclusion of updated avionics packages and weapons systems, expanding the plane’s capability to carry modernized Harpoon missiles.

References:

Dunnigan, James F., and Austin Bay, From Shield to Storm: High-Tech Weapons, Military Strategy and Coalition Warfare in the Persian Gulf (New York: Morrow, 1992), 200;

Gulf War Air Power Survey, Volume IV: Weapons, Tactics, and