Chilean Naval Air Force (1993)
In 1992 the Chilean navy expressed her interest in second hand Orions. At AMARC seven ex USN and one ex SpAF P-3A Orions were reserved for Chile. Early 1993 the first aircraft was taken out of storage and restored into flying condition by Western International Aviation Inc. of Tucson, AZ. This aircraft was handed over to Chile as a UP-3A in March 1993. The transaction was part of the Foreign Assistance Act which meant that Chile hardly had to pay anything for the Orions. Delivery of the eight UP-3A Orions was the first US military equipment delivery to Chile since the re-introduction of democracy after the resignation of president Pinochet in 1989. All weapons systems were removed form the Orions and the aircraft were primarily meant for coastal patrol, maritime surveillance, search and rescue and counter drug operations. By the end of 1994 all eight Orions had been delivered. Initial training of Chilean crews was done at the RNLN ground school and flight simulator at RNLNAS Valkenburg in The Netherlands. Additional training was provided by US company Tracor as well as at the flight simulator of the USN at NAS Willow Grove.
Four of the Orions were grounded almost immediately after delivery and used as ground instruction and spare part birds. Two of these (401 and 406) are being held in operational reserve and can be restored into flying condition within 35 days. 403 and 405 were completely dismantled. One of the remaining four aircraft is modified as a staff transport aircraft (408) under project "Parina" by a Miami based company. The other three are locally modified under Project "Imagen" with mission equipment based on systems used onboard of Chilean surface ships, helicopters and submarines. These three aircraft (402, 404 and 407) are equipped with data link, a French "Varan" radar system, Condor Systems ALR-801 ESM and a digital self-compensated MAD. All three operational Orions and the staff transport aircraft have been re-designated P-3ACH.
Fuente: Grupo de Investigación Holandés del P-3 Orion.
