Yesterday was a sad day for U.S. naval aviation. Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Thirty (VX-30), nicknamed the “Bloodhounds,” sent their last S-3B, Bloodhound 702, to . This marks the end of the Viking’s U.S. Navy service.

VX-30, located at Naval Air Weapons Station Point Mugu near Oxnard, California, took on three S-3Bs not long after the type was controversially pulled from front-line service in 2009. VX-30 has used the jets primarily for range patrol and clearing duties,

Reports flooded in today stating that the warning areas off the coast of Southern California—around

The last Navy crew to fly the S-3B Viking included (left to right): LT Mowle, VX-30 LCDR Tschanz, VX-30, CAPT Rousseau, and CDR Hanaki, VX-30's Commanding Officer.

The S-3's 10-hour endurance, fantastic cockpit visibility, FLIR, capable radar and relatively high-speed, at least compared to prop aircraft, and its stability at low altitudes made it a great fit for such a mission. VX-30's KC-130Ts have been adapted to takeover the Viking’s role,

An S-3 pilot Signs the jet before it gets sent to the boneyard.

Sonobuoy test support engineer Ansel Toutsch with the Navy’s Anti-submarine Warfare Systems program office regarding the plug-and-play program:

We brainstormed and came up with the idea of putting two SH-60B launchers on a pallet to roll on and off from a C-130. The C-130 was a perfect choice because the squadron that had been performing the tests using their soon-to-be retired S-3s also flew C-130s. Plus, we hope this may spawn ideas for other uses with other platforms.

At for the squadron’s other two S-3Bs, Bloodhound 700 and 701, they were recently flown to the Pentagon’s boneyard at Davis Monthan AFB. Still, the news is not all bad for the Bloodhounds, or the S-3 Viking for that matter.The unit still flies the P-3C Orion and KC-130T, and it has been recently reported that theradar telemetry aircraft in the form of two highly-modified Gulfstream jets.

This new system will be based on Israel’s advanced , known locally as the Eitam. The type has also been delivered to Singapore. These new aircraft will require little modification and will feature 360 degree radar coverage using large actively electronically scanned (AESA) radar arrays. The first is supposedly slated to be delivered in 2017.

The S-3, on the other hand, will sadly no longer be flying with the U.S. military, although there have been great attempts by Lockheed, the jet’s manufacturer, . This role will be . Other concepts have also been floated, including turning

The Navy's choice to retire the S-3 Viking in 2009 was thought of by many as extremely nearsighted…

The S-3's story is not ending though. The . This will likely result not just in S-3s being put back into service, but they will be fitted with new avionics and sensors that should make them more capable than ever.

There are just four S-3 Vikings plying the skies these days and none of them are executing the…

Who knows, maybe South Korea’s use of the S-3 will bring the Navy to reevaluate the type’s status. The mothballed S-3 fleet has tons of life left on it, and new sensors could make the aircraft so much more capable than it ever was.

I took this shot in the Bloodhound’s hangar of #701 wearing a WWII-era inspired paint scheme applied as part of the Centennial of Naval Aviation.

This is especially relevant considering the , which puts America’s lumbering aircraft carriers in jeopardy—not to mention having a high-endurance combat jet with an internal weapons bay, and the ability to load all sorts of sensor packages onto with relative ease, sure seems like a relevant weapon in the War on Terror and our current fight against ISIS. Maybe even more so than a fuel thirsty F/A-18.

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