Portugal signs with Canada to upgrade additional Orion aircraft
The Portuguese P-3C Orion plays a vital role in anti-submarine warfare, ISR, and search and rescue missions across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean regions. (Victor Barreira)
The Portuguese Air Force (Força Aérea Portuguesa - FAP) is to upgrade additional Lockheed P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), contracting General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada (GDMS-Canada) to modernise five further aircraft.
Announced by the Portuguese and Canadian governments in March, the three-year EUR24 million (USD27.8 million) contract was awarded in December 2025.
The modernisation principally involves adding Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS-JTRS) Link 16 tactical datalink capability. It also involves adding an Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) Mode 5 transponder, and upgrading both the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and AN/USQ-78B acoustic processing system.
The five P-3C CUP Upgrade II Orion aircraft are part of a batch of six airframes received from the German Navy in September 2023. Major-General João Rui Ramos Nogueira, Director of the Maintenance and Weapons Systems Directorate, told Janes at that time that the operation and upgrade of some former German aircraft was under consideration. The sixth former German airframe will likely be used for spares.
Previously, the FAP had already upgraded five P-3 CUP+ Orion MPAs.
For more, please see:Portugal receives former German Orion MPA
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