competitive bidding process,
IMP Aerospace & Defence was
awarded a contract by the navy
for the service life extension,
depot maintenance and avionics
upgrade of two P-3 MPAs, serials
404 and 407. In January 2016,
under the command of the VP-1
squadron boss, P-3ACH 404 flew
to IMP in Halifax, Canada via
stopovers in Panama and the US.
The P-3ACH Orion III programme
introduces Lockheed Martin’s
structural Mid-Life Upgrade
(MLU) modification as well as
wing replacement. The project
also includes the design and
installation of a state-of-the-
art glass cockpit, upgraded
engines and a phased depot
maintenance inspection package.
According to IMP, the work
provides approximately 15,000
additional hours – equivalent
to 20 years of operational use- per airframe. To put this in
perspective, the P-3s have already
served for 24 years with the
navy, exceeding 19,000 hours’
flying time in the process.
Aircraft 404 remained in Canada
at the time of writing but was
expected to return to Concón
in the second quarter of the
year, after which it is planned to
ferry P-3ACH 407 to Halifax.
Persuaders
The C295MPA, locally designated
P-295, entered service when the
first of three examples, equipped
as an MPA, arrived in April 2010.
The two remaining aircraft are
optimised for ASW. The C295 won
the US$120m Alcatraz project,
in which it competed against the
Bombardier Q400/Dash 8 MPA and
the former Royal Netherlands Air
Force (RNLAF) Fokker 60 MPA, to
improve the anti-submarine, anti-
surface and transport capabilities
of the Armada de Chile. While
the competition was close in most
respects, the Airbus’s transport
capability proved superior to
its rivals. The modular nature
of the cargo bay enables the
aircraft to be swiftly modified
from patrol aircraft to tactical
transport, thanks to its palletised
equipment, and it can also operateAbove: A P-111 (EMB-111AN) leads
a formation of Persuader and Orion.
An initial batch of four P-111s
was delivered in December 1977,
followed by another pair in June
1979, and three remain in service
today. Below: P68 Observer 2 serial
321 ‘1’, the fi rst of seven examples
in service. The aircraft is equipped
with two 210hp Lycoming TIO-360-
C1A6D engines.64 // APRIL 2018 #361 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
Chilean Naval Aviation
Force
Report