The Customs and Border Safety describes the P-3 AEW because the world’s solely legislation enforcement airborne radar plane, supporting the anti-smuggling and border safety mission.
A U.S. Customs and Border Safety P-3 Airborne Early Warning & Management (AEW&C) plane, used for monitoring small boats smuggling narcotics in Pacific and Caribbean waters round Central America, was noticed at California’s Lengthy Seashore Airport. The P-3 AEW, because the CBP designates it, is the world’s solely airborne radar used for law-enforcement.
Aviation photograph journalist Matthew Dawson, a contributor at SkyBlazer Journal who shared a video of the plane taxiing and taking off on his Instagram profile on Apr. 9, 2026, stated the plane was seen “late in March.” Based mostly on its current flight historical past, this date may be concluded to be Mar. 29.
“For unknown causes in late March this Lockheed P-3B AEW&C flew out of Lengthy Seashore Airport for just a few days conducting flights over the southern Pacific Ocean! It was actually neat to see this hen working out of the Lengthy Seashore airport. Callsign ‘Troy 609’,” stated Dawson.
The ‘Troy’ callsign has been generally related to this plane sort, based mostly on flight historical past lately. The plane is utilized in coordination with one other CBP P-3-based plane, the P-3 Lengthy-Vary Tracker (LRT), for the maritime counter-narcotics position.
Dawson additionally shared with The Aviationist some extra photos of the elusive P-3 AEW plane, whose existence together with the P-3 LRT is public data, however has seldom figured outdoors the CBP’s counter-narcotics press releases.
Customs and Border Safety’s P-3 AEW
Each the P-3 AEW and the P-3 LRT are used for “long-range aerial patrols and surveillance missions” in assist of the counter-narcotics efforts of the DHS. They fall inside the CBP’s Air and Marine Operations, as written on the rear fuselage of the plane. The mother or father Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) and the U.S. Customs and Border Safety (CBP) flashes are emblazoned on the vertical stabilizer and the entrance fuselage, respectively.
The Lockheed Martin P-3C generally has been a well-liked sort for the maritime patrol and surveillance roles in lots of international locations, together with the U.S., Germany and Japan. The airframe has additionally seen different particular mission diversifications just like the now-retired U.S. Navy’s Alerts Intelligence (SIGINT) and ISR EP-3E Aries II plane.
As talked about within the opening, the CBP’s P-3 AEW is the one legislation enforcement devoted airborne radar plane on the planet, and is flown by the CBP’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO) division.
The plane within the pictures bears the registration N146CS, and we additionally know in regards to the existence of at the very least one other airframe, N144CS. Information from FlightAware of N146CS’s observe on Mar. 29 exhibits the plane flew an almost two-hour route off the California coast, taking off from San Clemente island at 7:11 pm (native time), and landed at Lengthy Seashore airport, California at 10:13 pm.
Flying with its ADS-B transponder turned on all through its patrol, the plane flew a circuitous sample round San Clemente, maintained an altitude of 14,500 ft, and stayed at speeds from 268 to 370 miles/hour.
The 2 HC-130Js are descending in the direction of Curaçao (🇨🇼). A U.S. Customs and Border Safety P-3B AEW and an AFSOC C-146 Wolfhound are additionally heading to the area, however the latter two flights are fairly common.
??? // 12-3060 // #AE68B9TROY072 // N142CS // #A0AA61 pic.twitter.com/dsRJqxDepb
— Bizjets of Warfare (@bizjetsofwar) Could 30, 2023
Earlier flight tracks have proven each plane variants – the P-3 AEW and the P-3 LRT – within the Caribbean Sea, the place N142CS was seen in its western half with the decision signal TROY072. A P-3 LRT had flown on Apr. 10 simply off the northwestern waters of Venezuela, close to the islands of Aruba and Curacao.
🇺🇲 Customs and Border Safety P-3B Orion N423SK descendiendo en Curaçao procedente de Jacksonville. pic.twitter.com/YfJ4FmKKzv
— 𝘼𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙤 (@Arr3ch0) April 9, 2026
CBP’s P-3 AEW detection and monitoring plane
A 2009 archived web page from the CBP web site says the P-3 AEW makes use of the AN/APS-145 radar, the identical system discovered on the U.S. Navy’s carrier-borne E-2C Hawkeye. The radar is able to monitoring targets within the air in addition to on the ocean. Developer Lockheed Martin says that the APS-145 is a doppler radar that operates within the Extremely-Excessive Frequency (UHF) vary, can observe 2,000 targets, and is proof against jamming with a Digital Counter-Counter Measures (ECCM) suite.
The CBP calls the P-3 AEW a “Detection and Monitoring (D&M)” plane and, because the “solely legislation enforcement AEW plane on the planet,” defines it as important within the company’s anti-smuggling and border safety mission. “Air and Marine’s P-3s are high-endurance, all-weather, tactical turbo-prop plane, that are utilized primarily for long-range patrols alongside all the U.S. border, and in supply and transit zone international locations, all through Central and South America,” the CBP web site stated.
The plane is operated by a crew of eight, comprising the pilot, copilot, flight engineer, and radar/sensor operators. They’re “routinely despatched on short-term responsibility to assist america and international authorities initiatives to stem smuggling into america,” the 2009 web page stated.
P-3 AEW & P-3 LRT coordinated patrols
Extra details about the P-3 AEW and the CBP’s drug-busting efforts may be present in a September 2021 characteristic by the company. The plane is utilized in missions requiring lengthy overheard station time, hemispheric vary, inclement climate and environmental situations, says the company and is taken into account “integral in AMO’s technique to safe U.S. borders and implement U.S. legal guidelines.”
Each plane can fly for 12 hours, with the P-3 AEW having a spread of three,000 nautical miles and a most altitude of 26,000 ft, whereas the corresponding figures for the P-3 LRT stand at 4,000 NM and 28,000 ft.
“Coupled with the P-3 AEW’s potential to detect and observe a number of targets, the P-3 LRT can intercept, establish, and observe these targets,” explains the CBP. The P-3 LRT has a specialised payload which incorporates an APG-66 radar, the identical put in on early variants of the F-16 Combating Falcon, and a SeaVue maritime search radar.
There are 14 P-3 LRTs operated by CBP, based mostly at Jacksonville, Florida, and Corpus Christi, Texas. Working in live performance with the P-3 AEW, the 2 observe unlawful narcotics in what the CBP calls “in-source and transit zones” within the maritime areas of Central and South America – the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Thanks to Matthew Dawson for sharing the photographs with us, yow will discover extra of his work on Instagram @mattdawson.images.
