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the Neptune
Home
The Aircraft
International
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  • Armaments
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Chronicles
  • The Flight of the Turtle
  • In the Shade of the Wing
  • Recalled Weekend Warriors
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More
  • Home
  • The Aircraft
  • International
  • Features
    • Armaments
    • Neptune Colors
    • Walkaround
  • Chronicles
    • The Flight of the Turtle
    • In the Shade of the Wing
    • Recalled Weekend Warriors
  • P4M Mercator
  • P5M Marlin

  • Home
  • The Aircraft
  • International
  • Features
    • Armaments
    • Neptune Colors
    • Walkaround
  • Chronicles
    • The Flight of the Turtle
    • In the Shade of the Wing
    • Recalled Weekend Warriors
  • P4M Mercator
  • P5M Marlin

PORTUGAL - FORÇA AÉREA PORTUGUESA

PAF P-2E 4807

     Following negotiations between the governments of the Netherlands and Portugal, 12 Dutch Navy P2V-5s were transferred to the Portuguese Air Force. The P2V-5s would replace the aging PV-2 Harpoons of Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron 61 at Base Aerea (BA) No. 6 at Montijo, near Lisbon on Portugal's west coast.  Prior to the Portuguese handover, the original Aero 9C nose turrets were replaced with the clear observation nose.  A few Neptunes retained their original dorsal turrets during the early part of their FAP careers, eventually all of the Martin turrets were removed.  The FAP Neptunes were given the serials 4701 through 4712 and designated P-2E. 


    Contrary to the NATO charter, FAP Neptunes were used in combat operations during Portugal's colonial wars in Africa during the early 1960s and again, late in the decade. During 1968 and '69, two Neptunes were assigned to BA 9 at Luanda, on Angola, South Africa's west coast. From there, the P-2Es carried out bombing missions in support of Portuguese troops and flew coastal patrols. Others operated from the island of Sao Tome, nearly 200 miles off Gabon's shore, during the Biafra war, watching for armed ships. At Bissau, Portuguese Guinea in North Africa, BA 12 operated a pair of P-2Es along with a Douglas C-47, modified as a bomber.


    By 1977, of the original 12, only four P-2Es remained operational with BA 6, the remainder having been scrapped or stripped for parts. Numbers 4707 and 4711 were the last Neptunes in Portuguese service, until they were finally withdrawn from use during 1978.   4711 is on display at The Museu do Ar in Sintra, Portugal.

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    Neptune - Cold War Anti-Sub Patrol Bomber

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    Updated 07/10/2025

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