P2V-7 (P-2H) / model 726

The Lockheed Model 726 was the final Neptune variant off the Lockheed production line. First flown on April 26, 1954, Model 726-45-14 was powered by a pair of 3,700hp (with water injection) Wright R-3350-32W Turbo Compound engines and a pair of Westinghouse J-34-WE-36 turbo jet engines. This model had a top dash speed of 364mph making it the fastest of the Lockheed produced Neptunes. 

The APS-20 search radar with its larger radome was mounted further forward than that on the earlier P2V-5s. The P2V-7 could carry an ordnance load of 10,000 lbs. in a larger weapons bay. The flight deck was raised and a redesigned canopy provided improved visibility. The smaller wing tip tanks of the later P2V-5s were also fitted. 

A total of 287 Neptunes, including forty-eight assembled in Japan by Kawasaki at Gifu, were built under the P2V-7 designation as Model 726-45-14s (148 aircraft for the US Navy, Aéronavale and Japan.) 

Model 726-45-17s (114 aircraft, with revised accommodation, for the same customers and the RAAF)

Model 826-45-14 (25 aircraft for the RCAF, delivered without the under-wing J-34s). 

The P2V-7B (Model 726-45-18) designation was given to 15 aircraft built for the MLD. 

Lockheed production of the Neptune ended in 1962.  By the 1970s, P-2s had been phased out from all Fleet Patrol Squadrons remaining in service with 11 of the 12 Reserve Patrol Squadrons. In July 1977, VP-67 transitioned to the P-3 Orion ending 31 years of Fleet and Reserve patrol operations with the US Navy.