P-3s are pretty much done in reality. They are still kept on respirators by the brass who are clinging to their jobs. Fact is though, P-3s dont have a real mission anymore. ASW is all but unheard of, very few crews have any real on top time and its a fading skill due to the aircrafts unreliability at flying safely. Overlands work to an extent, I wont go further with that. Also they spend time and money training to launch weapons that will never happen, again burning valuable life out of the airframe.
If the politicians who will ultimately make this decision would go just unexpectedly show up to VP squadron and see how many aircraft are ready to fly and then go fly if possible and get a good understanding of what hundreds of knots at a few hundred feet do to a aircraft and a crew then consider that its been happening for 30 years to some of these birds., Common sense would tel them to get off the bird and kiss the ground in thanks that the wings didnt rip off. Even better sit as an observer in the bounce pattern, let them hurl for 5 hours straight and see if they sing the praises of the P-3.