The P-2 Neptune is one of the beautiful and unforgettable aircraft of the First Cold War.
It played essential roles in keeping the communist navies under observation for the
Western World and was behind the scenes of historical events in naval battles.
Today, we are investigating the P-2, the flying watchtower over the seas.
The P-2 Neptune performed critical maritime patrol and reconnaissance missions during the First Cold
War. Between 1947 and 1996, more than 1,000 of them fulfilled their duties over the seas,
successfully. The story of the P-2 goes back to the Second World War.
In 1941, Vega, the subsidiary of Lockheed, began to design a new land-based maritime patrol bomber.
However, since the existing aircraft were sufficient for this task,
Washington did not allocate enough resources to the development efforts.
So, the new aircraft, called the P2V, made its maiden flight on May 17, 1945. Production began in
1946, and it became operational two years later. The Neptune was in constant development.
In later versions, the engine power, which was 2,300 horsepower in the first production model,
was increased to 2,800 and 3,200, respectively. The P2V4 version initially
had the 3,200-horsepower R-3350-26WAs, while the latest production models
were equipped with 3,250-horsepower R-3350-30W turbo-compound engines.
This model had better anti-submarine warfare capability. It was renamed the P-2D in 1962.
Besides, this model had a search radar, provision for dropping sonobuoys, and underwing tip-tanks.
The P2V-5 had new, larger and jettisonable tip tanks, the AN/APS-8 radar in the nose of
the port tip-tank and the AN/APS-20 search radar under the fuselage.
Later aircraft featured a glazed observation nose and a magnetic anomaly detector, shortly MAD.
With 424 units, the P2V-5 became the most produced model of the Neptune.
The Royal Air Force and Brazillian Air Force designated their P2V-5s
as the Neptune MR.1 and P-15, respectively.
Beginning with the P2V-5F model, the Neptune became one of the first operational
aircraft fitted with both piston and jet engines. It was renamed the P-2E in 1962.
Generally, these two jet engines were run at full power to take-off, then shut down
upon reaching a safe altitude. They were also started and kept running at flight idle during
low altitudes as a safety measure should one of the radial engines develop problems.
The P2V-6 had a smaller radar, lengthened weapons bay and provision for aerial
minelaying and photo-reconnaissance equipment. It was renamed P-2F in 1962.
The P2V-6B was developed to carry two AUM-N-2 Petrel anti-ship missiles, whose payload was a
passive acoustic homing torpedo. However, since the U.S. Navy found the weapon ineffective,
only 16 aircraft were ever produced. The P2V-7 was the second most produced Neptune
model, with 287 units. The U.S. Navy changed the aircraft’s designation to P-2H in 1962.
The Royal Canadian Air Force designated its P2V-7s as the CP-122.
Initially, these aircraft did not have jet pods, which were subsequently retrofitted.
There were also modified P-2 variants for special missions. For example, Lockheed
developed the P2V-3C as a carrier-based nuclear bomber. This heavy aircraft used jet-assisted
take-off rocket boosters for short take-off. Yet, P2V-3C could not land on a carrier.
Another modified Neptune, the Truculent Turtle, flew non-stop from Perth, Australia,
to Ohio, the U.S.A., in 1946, without air-refuelling. The flight of 18,083.6
kilometres lasted 55 hours and 18 minutes. The Truculent Turtle had held the longest
flight record until a B-52 broke it in 1962. During the Vietnam War, the U.S.A. converted
four Neptunes for night and all-weather ground attack missions. This model was called the AP-2H.
For C.I.A. covert operations, seven Neptune-based RB-69As were produced.
The DP-2E and H versions performed drone launch missions.
The unarmed TP-2F was for pilot training. The LP-2J had wheel/ski landing gear
and jet-assisted take-off rocket boosters for Antarctic operations.
The EP-2H was fitted with UHF telemetry equipment. Twelve Neptunes were modified for sensor
deployment over South-East Asia. This variant, designated OP-3E,
had a terrain avoidance radar in the nose, chaff dispensers, wing-mounted gun pods and waist guns.
Also, the Japanese Kawasaki company developed the P-2J variant for the
Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force as an alternative to the P-3 Orion.
This model had two 2,850-horsepower T64-IHI-10 turboprop engines and two 13.7 kiloNewton
J3-IHI-7C booster turbojets. The P-2J could reach a top speed of 650 kilometres per hour.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Taiwan, the U.K., and the U.S.A. were users of the P-2.
The P-2H variant had a seven to nine-person crew. The aircraft had a length of 27.94 metres,
a wingspan of 31.65 metres, and a height of 8.94 metres. Its wing area was 93 square meters.
The P-2H had an empty weight of 22,650 kilograms and a maximum take-off weight of 36,240 kilograms.
Two 3,700-horsepower Wright R-3350-32W Cyclone Turbo-compound radial engines
and two 15-kiloNewton Westinghouse J34-WE-34 turbojets provided nearly 590 kilometres per hour.
The cruise speed of the aircraft was 333 kilometres per hour. Its range was 3,471
kilometres. The P-2H could climb to an altitude of 6,800 metres, in other words, 22,400 feet.
It could carry over 3.5 tons of ordnance, including rockets, free-fall bombs,
depth charges, and torpedoes. Different models of the P-2 had
12.7mm machine guns or 20mm guns, which were housed in the turrets. Besides,
there were 20mm fixed nose guns on some versions. According to U.S. Navy doctrine, the P-2 performed
the hunter roles in a hunter-killer group while the destroyers were employed as killers.
From this perspective, it was not an actual offensive system.
The P-2 started its career as a maritime patrol aircraft,
but it was baptized with fire as a bomber. When North Korea attacked South Korea on
June 25, 1950, the U.S.A. did not have enough combat aircraft in the region.
That's why Neptunes stationed in Japan performed bombing missions against North
Korean troops in the early days of the war. Even though they soon returned to their original
duties, life was not easy for the Neptunes in the early stages of the First Cold War.
In 1951, the Soviet La-11 fighters shot down one U.S. P2V over international waters
off Vladivostok. One year later,
the Soviet MiGs intercepted an early warning model P2V-3W, which flew over Kamchatka.
This time, the Russian acted cold-blooded and did not open fire on the aircraft.
In 1953, the Chinese anti-aircraft guns shot down a U.S. P2V near Shantou in the Formosa Straits.
Although it was addressed as an accident in the U.S. sources, the Russian sources
claim that a P2V-5 was shot down in the Yellow Sea near Dairen on January 4, 1954.
At the end of the same year, a Neptune,
which took-off from Japan, ditched into the sea due to the fire of the Soviet MiG-17s.
The Soviet fighters also shot down four additional U.S. P-2s between 1954 and 1956.
In 1964, a Chinese MiG-15 shot down an RB-69A, which flew over mainland China.
The U.S. Army operated the OP-2Es over Vietnam to particularly observe the Ho Chi Minh Trail,
a logistical system that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia.
A P-2 of the Argentine Navy conducted the first reconnaissance mission over
the Falkland Islands in 1961. During the Operation Soberanía,
the Argentine invasion plan of Chile, these aircraft monitored the Chilean naval activities.
In 1982, the P-2s once more performed reconnaissance missions
over the Falklands and collected valuable information for the Argentine invasion.
One of these Neptunes played a crucial role in the Falklands War on May 2, 1982. Its AN/ALR 8
receiver detected D-band emissions of the Type 965 radar belonging to HMS Sheffield. However,
later, the aircraft experienced a radar malfunction. After the crew's hard work, the radar
became operational again, and the P-2 determined the exact position of the British destroyer.
With this information, Argentine Super Étendards hit HMS Sheffield with Exocet missiles.
Brazil acquired 14 P-2s from the U.K. in 1958. After being refurbished in the U.S.A.,
these aircraft took off from this country and headed for the Salvador Air Base.
Two P-51 Mustangs and a de Havilland Vampire of the
Air Force of the Dominican Republic intercepted one of these Neptunes.
The Dominicans forced the aircraft to land at the air base at San Isidro by opening fire.
After the investigation, the Brazilian P-2 was allowed to continue on its flight.
In 1972, the Soviet Union sent the space control monitoring ship Kosmonavt Yuriy
Gagarin to Barreira Do Inferno in Launch Center to collect information about the
Brazilian rocket launch programme. After the Brazilian P-2s spotted
the ship, she had to leave that area. During the Algerian War, the French
Neptunes monitored the western Mediterranean and laid mines off the coast of Algeria.
In 1976, near Sakhalin Island, a Su-15 intercepted a P-2J of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
The Soviet aircraft also fired two air-to-air missiles, which luckily missed their targets.
In 1962, the Indonesian naval commandos attempted to infiltrate Dutch New Guinea.
But, the Dutch intelligence discovered this plan. So, the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service sent
the P-2s to the area to intercept three Indonesian boats. These boats opened fire on the aircraft,
and after that, the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Evertsen responded and sank one of them.
The other two had to leave the scene. Also, on May 17, 1962, a Dutch Neptune shot
down an Indonesian C-47 transport aircraft. During the colonial independence wars,
the Portuguese Air Force used its P-2 for bombing missions over Angola and Guinea-Bissau.
China shot down three Taiwanese RB-69As between 1961 to 1964.
The P-2 performed its heroic missions on many fronts of the First Cold War.
Many aircraft were lost due to the intense use in dangerous areas.
However, the Neptune managed to make more gains than losses. He would probably be able to fly
in the sky much longer if the more efficient turboprops did not replace the radial engines.
Still, as in the Falklands War, it has proven its worth until the last moment. A few P-2s still fly
in Australia and the U.S.A., making fans of this beautiful and legendary aircraft happy.
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