1984-Contin ued

25 July Commodore Oakley E. Osborn,

ComPatWingsPac, accepted the first Navy P-3C Orion

Update III from Lockheed during a ceremony held at

NAS Moffett Field, Calif. VP-3l would train personnel

in the operation of the updated P-3 beginning with

VP-40, the first fleet operational squadron scheduled

to receive the aircraft.

17 August HM-14, after receiving a Joint Chiefs of

Staff notice of tasking for rapid deployment to the

Gulf of Suez, commenced mine-hunting operations

that continued for 22 consecutive days in the troubled

area. Earlier, on 6 August, HM-14 had embarked

aboard Shreveport (LPD 12) with four RH-53Ds which

were later augmented by others from the squadron's

detachment, as well as an RH-53D from HM-12.

13 September The newly configured S-3B Viking

made its first flight at Lockheed facilities in Palmdale,

Calif. The latest version of the Viking featured

improved avionics and weapons systems, including

the Harpoon missile.

22 September HM-14 conducted flight operations to

support logistics, medevacs and embassy personnel

evacuation after a terrorist bombing of the U.S.

Embassy Annex in Beirut, Lebanon.

26 September The XV-IS tilt-rotor aircraft demon-

strator completed two weeks of concept tests at NATC

Patuxent River, Md.

2 October The U.S. Navy signed a contract to initi-

ate full-scale development of the T-45TS Jet flight

training system by McDonnell Douglas. The system's

aircraft, the T-45, would replace the T-2Cs and TA-4Js

used by the Chief of Naval Air Training in the interme-

diate and advanced phases of jet flight training.

12 October VF-30l's acceptance of its first F-14

Tomcat marked the introduction of the F-14 into the

Naval Air Reserve Force as part of the Navy's total

force defense concept.

28 November Deliveries of the F/ A-18 Hornet were

resumed four months after the McDonnell Douglas

Corporation announced it would bear costs of modifi-

cations to correct a fatigue-related problem in the tail

area of the aircraft.

30 November Nimitz, with CVW-8 embarked, sor-

tied in response to national tasking. After the Cuban

government denied the U.S. Coast Guard permission

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

343

to tow a u.s. vessel which had lost power and drifted

into Cuban waters, a brief show of force by Nimitz

difused the incident. The carrier later resumed a

scheduled four-day port visit to St. Thomas, V.l.

8 December VA-l 05 Gunslingers returned from a

six-month deployment to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, in the

Western Pacific. The squadron's assignment to MAG-

12, 1st MAW marked the first time a Navy squadron

participated in the Marine Corps Unit Deployment

Program and the first time a Navy squadron came

under the operational control of the Marine Corps

since World War II.

28 December VXE-6 rescued the aircrew and pas-

sengers of a downed LC-130 Hercules near McMurdo

Station in the Antarctic. The successful rescue was

made by another LC-130 in unexplored terrain under

extreme environmental conditions within 16 hours of

the incident.

31 December The first T-47A for Naval Flight Officer

navigation training was delivered to the Naval Air

Training Command by Cessna Aircraft Corporation under

a five-year agreement with the Navy, which encom-

passed a total training concept. Cessna would provide

maintenance and support of the T-47 A aircraft, which

would replace T-39Ds used in flight officer training.

1985

7 January The Navy selected the F-16N for its

aggressor aircraft program. The purchase of 14 of the

new aircraft from General Dynamics included support-

ing material and services. These aircraft would simu-

late Soviet tactical aircraft during the Navy's air-to-air

combat training for fighter pilots.

24 January VA-83 became the first fleet operational

squadron to fire successfully an AGM-88 HARM. The

missile was launched from an A-7E Corsair II piloted

by Lieutenant Commander John Parker who was

assigned to a HARM detachment deployed to Naval

Weapons Center, China Lake, Calif.

30 January The AV-8B Harrier II became the U.S.

Marine Corps' newest tactical aircraft when it began

operational service with combat squadron VMA-331 at

MCAS Cherry Point, N.C. The new AV-8B was

designed to provide close air support for Marine

ground troops.

17 February Independence, the third carrier to

undergo SLEP, arrived at the Philadelphia Naval

Shipyard, Pa., for a modernization and overhaul