PIN - S-3A VIKING

PIN - S-3A VIKING

1.5" Pin
Features the US Navy's S-3A Viking

(The Lockheed S-3 Viking is a four-seat, twin-engine turbofan-powered jet aircraft that was used by the U.S. Navy primarily for anti-submarine warfare. In the late 1990s, the S-3B's mission focus shifted to surface warfare and aerial refueling. The Viking also provided electronic warfare and surface surveillance capabilities to the carrier battle group. A carrier-based, subsonic, all-weather, multi-mission aircraft with long range; it carried automated weapon systems, and was capable of extended missions with in-flight refueling. Because of the Viking's engines' characteristic sound, it was nicknamed the "Hoover" after the vacuum cleaner brand.

The S-3 was retired from front-line US Navy fleet service aboard aircraft carriers in January 2009, with its missions being assumed by other platforms such as the P-3C Orion, Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk, and Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Several aircraft were flown by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Thirty (VX-30) at Naval Base Ventura County / NAS Point Mugu, California, for range clearance and surveillance operations[2] on the NAVAIR Point Mugu Range until 2016, and one S-3 is operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the NASA Glenn Research Center.[1]...Wikipedia)