![]() ![]() Her long loiter-time, enhanced by her ability to refuel while in flight, allowed her to stay overhead a sinking ship or downed aircraft for well over six hours if necessary. Additionally, the S-3’s extremely sensitive ESM system was used by Air Wing strike missions to detect coastal air defense early warning radars and SAM/AAA (surface to air missile/anti-aircraft artillery) sites allowing the attack aircraft to thread their way through to a target.Īnother critical mission that suited the Viking well was on-scene commander, primarily during SAR (search and rescue) missions. Of course, if the balloon went up and, say, a Soviet Kashin class destroyer or Kresta I class cruiser was posing a threat that other Air Wing or escort assets couldn’t attend to, then our bombs were as good as anyone else’s, and we were…expendable. The “A” model did not carry the AGM-84 Harpoon missile so our weapons delivery was limited to a warship that didn’t pose a significant Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) threat. Her FLIR, if needed, both day and night, allowed for visual confirmation of the surface contacts at stand-off ranges. We called these missions Surface Surveillance & Control (SSC). Her radar allowed her crew (and the rest of the battle group via secure Data Link 11), to create an accurate surface plot. Of course, the S-3A was not limited to ASW.
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