Editing Lockheed P-3 Orion (section)

===In Afghanistan===
{{Main|War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)}}

Although the P-3 is a MPA, armament and sensor upgrades in the Anti-surface Warfare Improvement Program (AIP)<ref name="lockheedmartin.com">Chudy, Jason.
[http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/P3CAntiSurfaceWarfareImprovementPro/index.html "P-3C Anti-Surface Warfare Improvement Program (P-3C AIP)."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029105236/http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/P3CAntiSurfaceWarfareImprovementPro/index.html |date=29 October 2009 }} ''lockheedmartin.com.'' Retrieved: 14 July 2010.</ref> have made it suitable for sustained combat air support over land.<ref name="lockheedmartin.com"/> In what became known as the "Decade in the Desert", Navy P-3Cs patrolled combat zones in the Middle East and Southwest Asia.<ref name="rogoway20140702">{{Cite web |url=https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/confessions-of-a-pilot-behind-the-us-navys-airborne-sub-1598415741 |title=Confessions Of A US Navy P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol Pilot |last=Rogoway |first=Tyler |date=2 July 2014 |website=Foxtrot Alpha |language=en-US |access-date=11 August 2019}}</ref> From the start of the war in Afghanistan, U.S. Navy P-3s operated from Kandahar in that role.<ref>Chudy, Jason.[http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,SS_070505_Navy,00.html "P-3C Anti-Surface Warfare Improvement Program (P-3C AIP)."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611102645/http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,SS_070505_Navy,00.html |date=11 June 2009 }} ''military.com.'' Retrieved: 14 July 2010.</ref> Royal Australian Air Force AP-3Cs operated out of Minhad Air Base in the UAE from 2003 until their withdrawal in November 2012. Between 2008 and 2012, AP-3Cs conducted overland intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks in support of coalition troops across Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/2012/11/29/minister-for-defence-and-minister-for-defence-science-and-personnel-joint-media-release-last-ap-3c-orion-aircraft-welcomed-home-from-middle-east/|title=Defence Ministers » Minister for Defence and Minister for Defence Science and Personnel – Joint Media Release – Last AP-3C Orion Aircraft welcomed home from Middle East|work=defence.gov.au|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429031651/http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/2012/11/29/minister-for-defence-and-minister-for-defence-science-and-personnel-joint-media-release-last-ap-3c-orion-aircraft-welcomed-home-from-middle-east/|archive-date=29 April 2013}}</ref>

The [[United States Geological Survey]] used the Orion to survey parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan for lithium, copper, and other mineral deposits.<ref name="nytimes.com">Risen, James. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?pagewanted=2&hp "U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215054401/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?pagewanted=2&hp |date=15 December 2014 }} ''The New York Times,'' 13 June 2010. Retrieved: 14 July 2010.</ref>