United States Navy P-3C Retired

The Naval Research Laboratory's Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS-1) retired its last NP-3C Orion on 22 September 2026, flying it from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, for long-term storage, according to Seapower Magazine. A ceremony at Patuxent River on 17 September marked the end of the type's service with the squadron, which had flown the research Orion for more than three decades on airborne research campaigns including counter-IED support and an aerogeophysical survey in Afghanistan, and hurricane reconnaissance. The aircraft was the U.S. Navy's last active-duty P-3 on the East Coast. VXS-1 is replacing it with the MC-12S Super King Air.