South Korea starts process to acquire P-3CK replacement

Aging P-3CK fleet is on the verge of retirement amid Seoul’s focus on anti-submarine warfare.
South Korea’s navy aims to retire its seven Lockheed P-3CK Orions in 2030, as it eyes a replacement maritime patrol aircraft (MPA).

The navy intends to procure the aircraft under a maritime patrol aircraft-iii (MPA III) requirement, according to the Seoul’s official Yonhap news agency, citing a navy proposal for the aircraft.

The new aircraft will enter service in mid-2030s, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff will decide on the acquisition by the end of 2026.

Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that South Korea’s navy operates 15 Lockheed P-3s, of which eight are in the P-3C-III+ and seven in the P-3CK standard.

The average age of the P-3CKs is 60.3 years, while that of the P-3C-III+ aircraft is 31.1 years.

At the Seoul ADEX show in 2025, industry sources told FlightGlobal that the navy had a tentative requirement for six new MPAs.

News that a fresh MPA acquisition was on the cards came after South Korea started operations with six Boeing P-8A Poseidon MPAs.

The P-8A is likely to be a candidate for MPA III. Seoul ADEX also saw Embraer suggesting conceptual MPA variants of its E190 E2 regional jet and C-390 tactical transport. South Korea is already a customer for the C-390, with three examples on order.

KAI also promoted a possible MPA derived from a large business jet, with four hardpoints under the wing for weapons and a canoe fairing underneath the fuselage for the internal carriage of torpedoes.

While fleet commonality would suggest that a follow-on P-8A acquisition makes sense, South Korea is highly focused on developing its local aerospace industry, creating potential for a locally designed and produced aircraft.

Seoul’s P-3 fleet is gradually returning to service following a fatal crash of a P-3CK (100917) in May 2025 that claimed four crew.

Investigators were unable to find the exact cause of the crash but believe that it may have been caused by an aerodynamic stall.

Advances in the submarine capabilities of North Korea have prompted Seoul to beef up its ASW capabilities. This includes a recent decision to acquire additional Sikorsky MH-60R naval combat helicopters to replace aging Leonardo Mk.99/99As.

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