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, the S-3A Viking was being considered to fill roles in the fleet that aircraft like the Douglas KA-3B Skywarrior had left unfilled upon retirement. 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.
The ability to 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. The Fleet Vikings were no longer seen as needed for antisubmarine work and had the majority of their ASW mission equipment, as well as 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 that 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 AGM-65F Maverick missiles and standoff land-attack missiles like the AGM-84H/K Standoff 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 Scout 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 1 when President George W. Bush was trapped aboard the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).
Special Mission Vikings
Interesting Viking variants included the Aladdin Viking, which featured 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 intended to be a dedicated anti-smuggling platform, but it never progressed beyond the discussion stage.
The single Gray Wolf Viking was equipped with a pylon-mounted Norden AN/APG-76 radar pod, also 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 combat sorties of the War in Iraq were flown by VS-22 Checkmates from Al Asad Airbase, approximately 180 miles west of Baghdad, in December 2008. The four S-3B Vikings were fitted with AN/AAQ-13 Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting for Night (LANTIRN) pods. The jets were reportedly 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 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 extend the fleet’s legs, and restoring them to their old ASW roles. 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.
