War Hoover: The Fabulously Flexible Lockheed S-3 Viking (2024)

All Those Blades and Bumps

The S-3A Viking sensor suite included the Texas Instruments (TI) AN/APS-116 three mode sea search radar in the nose of the jet, the TI OR-89 Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) imager mounted in a retractable turret on the port side of the aircraft, the IBM AN/ALR-47 Electronic Support Measures (ESM) emitter-location system housed in wingtip receiver pods, the AN/ARS-2 sonobuoy receiver system featuring a total of 13 blade antennae sprouting from several locations on the airframe, and the computer that tied it all together: a Univac 1832 (AN/AYK-10) digital processor, itself an improved version of the Univac 1831 found in the Lockheed P-3C Orion. Additional black boxes in the jet included encrypted UHF and HF radios and datalink, identification friend or foe (IFF) and the Litton AN/ASN-92 inertial navigation system (INS) along with a TACAN radio beacon navigation system and a Doppler navigation radar. Finally, the Viking also carried a radar altitude warning system and an automatic carrier landing system with autothrottle.

Getting From A to B

During the mid-1980s S-3A Vikings were being looked at to take on roles in the fleet that aircraft like the Douglas KA-3B Skywarrior were leaving unfilled when retired. Modifications of 119 S-3A aircraft to S-3B specification began in 1987. The B Hoover was equipped with new and/or improved radar, ESM, and FLIR sensors; the improved AN/ARR-78 sonobuoy receiver system, the AN/UYS-1 Proteus acoustic signal processor, the Joint Tactical Information Datalink System (JTIDS), and revised radios. Ability of pass gas to other aircraft was added via D-704 or similar refueling pods. Now capable of finding targets with inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) and taking them down with the McDonnell Douglas AGM-84 Harpoon missile, Hoovers soon earned the revised sobriquet of War Hoover. S-3Bs entered service with VS-30 Diamondcutters in July of 1988. Nearly all operational S-3As were reworked to bring them up to S-3B specs, except for the six airframes modified as long-range COD US-3As and 16 modified as ES-3A Shadow electronic intelligence (ELINT) aircraft. Studies into a dedicated tanker version of the S-3, designated KS-3A, were made but cancelled after a single airframe was converted.

Lighter on Their Feet But Far Less Capable

Somewhat ironically when the Cold War came to a close and Grumman KA-6D Intruder tankers were retired, multi-purpose Hoovers largely became single-purpose Texaco Hoovers. Fleet Vikings were no longer seen as needed for antisubmarine work and had the majority of their ASW mission equipment and their SENSOs and TACCOs removed. Occasionally tasked with surface search, sea and ground attack, over-the-horizon targeting, or refueling work, after 1997 Hoovers were typically crewed by a pilot and a co-pilot only, though for special tasking the unused crew stations could be occupied as necessary. Even the names of the squadrons flying Vikings changed from Air Antisubmarine Warfare Squadrons to Sea Control Squadrons. Fleet Hoovers passed so much gas their squadron designations could have been changed to VSK.

War Hoovers Taking Their Shots

When the Desert Shield and Desert Storm came along, War Hoovers earned their keep. By then modified with improved avionics and able to employ AGM-65E or AMG-65F Maverick missiles and standoff land attack missiles like the AGM-84H/K Stand-off Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM/ER), War Hoovers flew land and sea attack and simple ELINT missions- and still passed plenty of gas. War Hoovers also launched ADM-141 Tactical Air Launched Decoys (TALDs) and sank Iraqi patrol boats. A VS-24 Scouts S-3B War Hoover took out an Iraqi Silkworm missile site. War Hoovers also flew sorties in the Med during the 1990s and during Enduring Freedom. During Iraq II a VS-38 Red Griffins S-3B heavily damaged Saddam’s yacht at Basra with a laser-guided Maverick. Also in 2003 a VS-35 Blue Wolves jet briefly became Navy 1when President George W. Bush trapped aboard the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).

Special Mission Vikings

Interesting Viking variants included the Aladdin Viking– six S-3Bs converted for overland surveillance and ELINT missions. Aladdin Vikings are rumored to have dropped ground sensors during the Bosnian War. Beartrap Vikings were specialized ASW Hoovers with still-classified mods. The Calypso Viking was to be a dedicated anti-smuggling platform but never got out of the discussion stage. The single Gray Wolf Viking was equipped with a pylon-mounted Norden AN/APG-76 radar pod and sometimes referred to as SeaSTARS. The Orca Viking was Lockheed’s avionics testbed aircraft. The Outlaw Viking, an S-3B modified with the Over-the-horizon Airborne Sensor Information System (OASIS III), was reworked to S-3B standards and now adorns the deck of the museum carrier USS Midway.

Bowing Out After a Distinguished Career

Some of the last War Hoover combat sorties were flown by VS-22 Checkmates from Al Asad airbase about 180 miles west of Baghdad during December of 2008. The four S-3B Vikings were fitted with AN/AAQ-13 Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting for Night (LANTIRN) pods. The jets were said to be performing non-traditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (NTISR). VS-28 returned to NAS Jacksonville from the sandbox on 15 December 2008. The Checkmates were no more less than two months later. VS-22, the last operational Viking squadron, was decommissioned on 29 January 2009. Sea Control Wing Atlantic was decommissioned the next day. VX-30 Bloodhounds operated the last Vikings in the Navy out of NAS Point Mugu up until 2016. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) still flies a Hoover or two.

What Dreams May Come

Those Hoovers stored in the desert are mostly low-time airframes with plenty of life left in them. Over the years since their retirement their inherent flexibility and efficiency have been mentioned in discussions about replacement COD aircraft, dedicated refueling platforms to stretch fleet legs, and giving them their old ASW jobs back. After all, Super Hornets make such splendid tankers! The South Koreans expressed interest in buying some of the retired Hoovers to replace their own turbine-powered S-2 Trackers. Modified S-3Bs were again mentioned as replacement COD aircraft but the Navy selected the Bell-Boeing CMV-22B instead. Once dubbed the Swiss Army Knives of Naval Aviation, the Vikings are still waiting for another shot out there in the desert. We genuinely hope they get one.

Related Topics

• ES-3A Shadow
• Hoover
• Navy One
• S-3A Viking
• S-3B Viking
• US-3A Viking
• War Hoover