Norwegian P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft follows two Russian ships


According to information published by the Norwegian Armed Forces on March 14, 2022, a Norwegian P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft followed two Russian warships (one Udaloy-class destroyer and one Kirov-Class cruiser) off the coast of Finnmark, Norway.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 Russian Kirov-class cruiser Pyotr Velikiy (Picture source: Norwegian Armed Forces)


The Udaloy class, Russian designations Project 1155 Fregat and Project 11551 Fregat-M, are a series of anti-submarine guided-missile destroyers built for the Soviet Navy, seven of which are currently in service with the Russian Navy.

The Kirov class, Soviet designation Project 1144 Orlan (sea eagle), is a class of nuclear-powered guided-missile cruisers of the Soviet Navy and Russian Navy.

The Kirov class's main weapons are 20 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) missiles mounted in the deck, designed to engage large surface targets. Air defense is provided by twelve octuple S-300F launchers with 96 missiles and a pair of Osa-MA batteries with 20 missiles each.

The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.

The P-3 has an internal bomb bay under the front fuselage, which can house conventional Mark 50 torpedoes or Mark 46 torpedoes and/or special (nuclear) weapons.