S-3B Design
The S-3B, 53' 4" long with a wingspan of 68' 8", can weigh from 30,000 to 52,500 pounds depending on weapon and fuel loadout. It is powered by two General Electric TF34 high-bypass turbofan engines which each develop 9,275 pounds of thrust. The slightly swept wing and turbofan engines provide the S-3B with long-range or on-station endurance at cruise speeds and altitudes typical of subsonic jet aircraft. The Viking can fly at speeds of up to 450 knots and as high as 40,000 feet. The S-3B can sustain +3.5 to -1.0 G's. Inflight refueling through a retractable refueling probe can be used to further extend its mission performance. Folding wings and vertical tail provide carrier handling flexibility.
The S-3B Aircraft carries surface and subsurface search equipment with integrated target acquisition and sensor coordinating systems which can collect, process, interpret, and store ASW and ASUW sensor data. It has a direct attack capability with a variety of armament.
The mission of the S-3B continues to change as the Viking adapts to the needs of the airwing. The overall mission is defined as "Sea Control" which involves searching, tracking, and coordinating attacks on surface contacts that may threaten the battle group or allied forces. The Viking plays a critical surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting role in maintaining the sea control picture for naval and joint forces with its APS-137 Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR), ALR-67 Electronic Surveillance Measures (ESM) system and Harpoon missile capability. In the anti-surface mode, the Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar can identify hostile surface combatants from over the horizon. The S-3B can then coordinate and deliver a multi-axis Harpoon cruise missile strike autonomously or as part of a coordinated strike package. Additionally, the S-3B contributes as part of the strike package in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses role. The S-3B is utilized to deliver Tactical Air Launched Decoy missiles that energize enemy radar that are then neutralized with High Speed Anti-radiation Missiles from participating strike aircraft.
The S-3 Viking was the most versatile and widely used carrier based aircraft in the Navy's inventory. Since its entry into the fleet in 1974, the S-3 provided the carrier battle group commanders with the largest variety of missions of any carrier based aircraft. The primary and secondary missions of the S-3 include: anti-submarine warfare (ASW); surface search and coordination (SSC); anti-surface warfare (ASUW); and strike warfare, which includes mine warfare (MW); electronic surveillance measures (ESM); and electronic countermeasures (ECM).
These missions were performed by a four-man crew. This crew was composed of a pilot (designated a naval aviator), a copilot/co-tactical coordinator (COTAC) (this seat can be fill by a naval aviator or a naval flight officer), a tactical coordinator (TACCO) (this seat is always filled by a naval flight officer), and a sensor operator (SENSO). The sensor operator is the only enlisted person to fly in a carrier-based jet.
The responsibilities of the flight crew are as follows. The pilot is tasked with piloting and safety of flight. Safety is the foremost consideration job within the aircraft. The COTAC is tasked to back up the pilot, assist in radio communications, and to help the TACCO. This position can be extremely critical during the attack phase of an ASW mission. The TACCO is responsible for the accomplishment of the mission. The SENSO works with the TACCO to help monitor the computer.
To assist the flight crew, the S-3 has a general purpose digital computer (GPDC). The GPDC enables the flight crew to monitor and interface with over 45 different subsystems within the airframe. The most notable system which interfaces with the computer is the radar system. This system has three different modes to assist in surface search, weather avoidance, and the identification of small objects. An example of small objects would be periscopes or life rafts.
Another system is the forward looking infrared (FLIR) which is used to visually identify contacts at night. This feature allows the differences in the temperature of objects to be visually displayed on a computer terminal. Fog and precipitation degrade the effectiveness of the FLIR. In order to minimize this shortcoming, the radar can be used to guide the FLIR to the approximate geographical location. Using this method does not preclude the use of the FLIR when precipitation is present.
The Undersea Warfare Systems (USW) were removed from the S-3B Viking aircraft. This provides an ideal opportunity for improved technologies to be developed in the S-3B aircraft. The S-3B was a primary ASUW aircraft on the aircraft carrier. It used a variety of sensors to accomplish this mission including: Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR), Electronic Support Measures (ESM), and Foward Looking Infrared (FLIR). These sensors make the S-3 Viking a versatile Naval aircraft utilized in many different arenas. It contributes to Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW), especially in the littoral regions, and is capable of vectored attacks on hostile submarines. In this role, the S-3B can deliver a torpedo to engage a hostile contact held by another platform. The Viking could carry up to 60 sonobuoys which may be used to listen for submarines in the ocean environment. The sonobuoy transmits acoustic information back to the S-3B where it is processed by the onboard computer and presented to the operator. The operator then analyzes this information to determine the type and location of a submarine. Once a submarine has been detected, the S-3B can attack the target with either the MK-46 or MK-50 torpedo.
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