U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO) officially closed a legendary chapter in airborne border defense by completing the final operational flight of its last P-3 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft.
Known throughout the federal law enforcement community as the “Dome” because of its distinctive top-mounted rotodome radar dish, the long-range command-and-control platform flew its final mission on September 30 out of the National Air Security Operations Center (NASOC) in Jacksonville, Florida.
For decades, the Jacksonville- and Corpus Christi-based P-3 AEW fleet served as the primary “eye in the sky” over the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, and critical transit zones across Central and South America. Operating at high altitudes, the airborne command centers scanned millions of square miles to detect, track, and disrupt covert drug cartels, narco-subs, fast boats, and illegal migration networks long before they could reach American shores.
While the AEW variant is hanging up its wings, AMO’s maritime interdiction work isn’t stopping. The agency will continue operating its P-3 Long Range Tracker (LRT) fleet for targeted interdictions, while modernizing its long-range aviation lineup with incoming C-130J aircraft to sustain multi-domain surveillance and border defense capabilities…