The U.S. Navy is advancing in the retirement of its last EP-3E Aries II signals intelligence aircraft, following an announcement that the final operational flight of one of these units took place on October 29. The mission was conducted in the Fifth Fleet’s area of operations under Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron (VQ) 1. These aircraft have been in service for nearly six decades, with plans to replace them soon with two types of platforms: the P-8A Poseidon aircraft and the MQ-4C Triton drones.
Specifically, the EP-3E Aries II that completed its last flight is registered as 159893, departing from the aforementioned operational area and returning to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington. Throughout its service, this aircraft was deployed on numerous intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions covering an area of over 2.5 million square miles, encompassing strategic regions in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as the Middle East (including the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait). Due to ongoing tensions in the latter region, its retirement had been postponed, with the aircraft undergoing multiple maintenance efforts.
In this context, the officer in charge of the VQ-1 detachment, Lieutenant Commander Justin “Gump” Roberts, remarked, “It’s amazing to think about the number of people who have been part of the EP-3 legacy over the last 55 years (…) The success of this platform has been due solely to our hard-working maintenance team on the deck and the superior ISR of our crew on station. It’s an honor to be part of a legacy that’s greater than the sum of its parts.”
According to the specialized outlet The War Zone, the U.S. Navy’s initial plan was for the VQ-1 unit to cease its operations on September 30, 2024, in preparation for formal deactivation by the end of March of the following year. However, as mentioned, VQ-1 was asked to continue operations until October 8, 2024.
In parallel, another EP-3E Aries II aircraft, registered as 161410, was retired from active service and operated out of Crete, under U.S. Central Command. This unit returned to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island on November 4, from where it will be transferred to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) for storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. A similar fate awaits the aircraft registered as 156511, known for its incident with a Chinese J-8 fighter over Hainan Island in 2001.
Finally, regarding the replacement of these retired platforms, the U.S. Navy detailed in a statement, “The transition from EP-3E platforms to the P-8A Poseidon and MQ-4C Triton has been carefully planned to avoid capability gaps (…) These platforms provide enhanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, with greater range, endurance, and the ability to operate in more complex environments.”
Cover photo: Petty Officer First Class Macadam Weissman.
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