Changing the game: USN sets new approach to sub threats

摘要

For the last decade-and-a-half, the US Navy's (USN's) P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPAs) have been flying missions not only over the world's oceans, but over the deserts of Iraq and the peaks and valleys of Afghanistan. With operations in these land theatres now largely concluded, USN leaders have returned their attention to the high seas and, in particular, to the growing threat beneath the waves. Since the end of the Cold War, the navy's leadership has held the belief that the United States maintains dominance in undersea warfare. However, in an attempt to sustain the edge and to keep pace with evolving threats, the service has been funding the recapitalisation of its ageing airborne anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability. SH-60B and SH-60F helicopters, and the P-3C Orion MPAs are yielding to the MH-60R Seahawk and the P-8A Poseidon, respectively.