Lockheed Martin recently delivered its third P-3 Orion with a new Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) kit to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
This P-3 Orion joins two additional upgraded P-3s that CBP is currently operating to support its critical homeland security missions. Lockheed Martin delivered the first CBP MLU P-3 in July 2010 and the second airplane in April 2011. From October 2010 to April 2011, CBP used P-3 Orions to stop more than 117,000 pounds of drugs worth more than $1.5 billion from entering the United States. To date, the amount of cocaine seized by CBP crews equals about $240,000 for every hour the P-3 flies.