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Bombs for S-3A Viking


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The S-3A Viking could carry the MK-80 series weapons on the parent rack, and on a TER.  MK-82 500lb could be single on the parent rack, two slant loaded on a TER, or three loaded on a TER.  MK-83 1000lb bombs could be single loaded on the parent rack, or two could be slant loaded on a TER.  Only a single MK-84 2000lb bomb could be carried on the wing station parent rack.   MK-20 ROCKEYE could also be carried, single on the parent rack, two slant loaded on a TER, or three loaded up on a TER. 

 

LAU rocket pods could also be carried on the wings of the S-3 series, and some of the more senior aviators in my squadron who cruised in the S-3A did carry/shoot rocket pods now and then, but it was a rarity and I never saw rockets on an S-3B during my flying career in the aircraft. 

 

Of course fuel tanks are always an option on the wings.  The S-3B finally brought the cockpit controls for the ARS pod, that's why you see the S-3B's carrying the refueling pod and not the S-3A (plus in the early days of the S-3A, AirWing primary mission and recovery tanking was being completed by the A-6E or KA-6).

 

Cheers

Collin

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Here is a Viking with a load of 3 Rockeyes on a TER:

 

Lockheed_S-3_Viking.jpg

 

a slant load would be one bomb on the bottom station of the TER and one on the shoulder station with the other shoulder station being empty. Note there is a refueling pod on the other pylon in the pic above. 

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16 minutes ago, habu2 said:

 

I've seen Harpoons on pylons on Vikings, is that an S-3B only thing?

 

Yes, that's an S-3B only thing.  S-3A can't carry or fire Harpoons.  If your S-3A model has Harpoons on it, then you did it wrong.

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Example of a slant load (F-16 with CBU's in this case: http://www.f-16.net/g3/f-16-photos/album38/album87/album85/aas

 

Another example of a slant load (LAU rocket pods on USMC A-6E):

161090_1.jpg

 

Here are some S-3A's with both high and low drag MK-82's loaded out on wing pylon mounted TERS:

http://www.cloud9photography.us/Military-Aviation-10/Lockheed-S-3-Viking-Military/i-R3FD7bW

http://www.cloud9photography.us/Military-Aviation-10/Lockheed-S-3-Viking-Military/i-hpxTKSj/

 

Of course we could carry the MK-30 and MK-60 series Destructor and QuickStrike mine weapons on the wings or in the bomb bay. They looked very similar to standard MK-80 series weapons (except the MK-65), but they were painted differently and had different fuzing.  We could carry torpedoes and 500lb bombs in the bomb bay as well. 4 x MK-46, 2 x MK-50 (they were to big to fit 4), or 2 or 4 MK-82 slick 500lb bombs.  Other than the MK-50, there was no difference in what the S-3A and S-3B could carry in the bomb bay (the MK-50 was introduced only after the S-3 fleet was converted fully over to the Bravo model).

 

Both the S-3A and S-3B also carried the MK-52/55 series bottom mines on the wing pylons.  The Viking was a pretty decent mining platform (given a low threat environment). 

 

 

Cheers

Collin

 

Edited by Collin
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On 2/16/2018 at 2:25 PM, RichardL said:

Thanks for the great info.  I'm thinking about starting the 1/48 S-3A that has been sitting in my stash since the mid 80's.  I don't think the kit came with wing fuel tanks, hence my question in the first post.

 

When I built my S-3A Viking I used the ESCI kit and you are right there are no wing tanks. I believe when Italeri remoulded the kit the did not add the tanks. I added tanks to mine using some extras from the many Monogram A-4 Skyhawk kits that I have. Looks a lot better with the tanks in place I think.

 

 

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On 2/16/2018 at 4:52 PM, Collin said:

Of course we could carry the MK-30 and MK-60 series Destructor and QuickStrike mine weapons on the wings or in the bomb bay.

 

Found the 1/48 TER by Eduard:

648232_3.jpg

 

Mk.82 bombs with air brake:

648128_1.png

 

Mk.84 bombs:

648212_1.jpg

 

Found the Mk 65 Quickstrike Mine by Shapeways:

710x528_19001762_9542068_1496349966.jpg

 

I think I'm all set :)

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Depending on the time frame you are doing will determine if you can put a Mk 65 Quickstrike on it, they were introduced to the fleet until 1983.

 

Also, those Mk 84's don't look right, the bomb body is too flat in the middle.

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collinrockeye.jpg

Bomb dump day.  Single MK-20 ROCKEYE/MK339 fuze loaded out on the bottom rack of the ITER.  We received FMU-140 fuzed ROCKEYE in 1997.

TatuskostandingnexttoAC700HawaiiBombDet2

 

Slant load of non-TP MK-83's on the outer upper and lower middle racks of the ITER.  Hawaii 1996

 

VS-21AC700beforeHawaiiBombsortieTatuskoa

Same slant load.

 

Hard to believe that was 22 years ago, and there was no grey hair under that helmet.

 

Cheers

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3 hours ago, GW8345 said:

Depending on the time frame you are doing will determine if you can put a Mk 65 Quickstrike on it, they were introduced to the fleet until 1983.

 

I'm thinking about doing the S-3A CAG aboard the USS Enterprise circa 1975, so I can't arm it with the QuickStrikes.

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You can still arm it with Destructor mines, which again other than the painting look pretty darn close to MK-82/83's.

 

I looked through the '75-'76 cruisebook and didn't see any Viking pics other than slick wings or wing tanks.  1976 is early in the career of the Viking...but putting MK-82 or 83's on the wings, or ROCKEYE you would have a pretty accurate loadout for that timeframe. 

 

There are some nice pics here (including a inert MK-82 along with a mine on a TER...near the middle of the page):

http://www.cloud9photography.us/Military-Aviation-10/Lockheed-S-3-Viking-Military/

 

Lockheed S-3A, 158870, VS-29

 

VS-28 Gamblers S-3A Viking BuNo 159741

 

 

19495884232_26c0d80886_b.jpg8678360115_580d36b057_b.jpg

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15 hours ago, RichardL said:

 

I'm thinking about doing the S-3A CAG aboard the USS Enterprise circa 1975, so I can't arm it with the QuickStrikes.

Not the Mk 62, 63 or 65 Quickstrikes.

 

But you can do Mk 36 and Mk 40 (500 lb and 1000 lb) Destructor Mines which look identical to the Mk 62 and Mk 63 externally.

 

You can also do Mk 52 and Mk 55 mines which are on shapeways.

 

The Destructors and Quickstrike mines with Mk 80 series bomb bodies will have the yellow stripe (either one or two depending on bomb body used) plus a white stripe going vertically around the middle of the bomb body and four horizontal stripes on the aft end of the bomb body in an "X" fashion.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fthediplomat.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F12%2Fthediplomat_2015-12-03_07-27-09.png&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fthediplomat.com%2F2015%2F12%2Fnew-wrinkles-in-maritime-warfare%2F&docid=xp2emNd6TX3DAM&tbnid=llULZbaySlBg0M%3A&vet=10ahUKEwin8prI3LLZAhUOm-AKHRcmClMQMwh0KAwwDA..i&w=900&h=275&bih=719&biw=1270&q=quickstrike Mines&ved=0ahUKEwin8prI3LLZAhUOm-AKHRcmClMQMwh0KAwwDA&iact=mrc&uact=8

 

hth

GW

Edited by GW8345
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Inert practice mines are painted high vis colors (White, orange typically) which aids the recovery divers in marking and recovering the mines after they are dropped in the water.

 

Tactical mines typically are painted OD or really really dark colors so you can't see them.

 

Cheers

Collin

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On 2/20/2018 at 9:03 AM, Collin said:

 

Mk52.jpg

 

 

I purchased 4 x resin MK-52's recently, don't have the order details here, but they are beautiful.

 

Cheers

Collin

 

It's kind of cool to see one of my photos being used as a reference. Glad to see that some of them are useful, anyway. :salute:

Edited by DonSS3
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