Can a P3C Orion be modified to carry and launch a Tomahawk equivalent?

Easily. If the USN had adopted the air-launched Tomahawk (MRASM) back in the day, at least some of the Orion squadrons would have likely been equipped with the AGM-109C and probably later the AGM-109L alongside it. Another possibility was the AGM-109I [interim/unofficial designation for a proposed land-attack/anti-shipping MRASM].

Via Designation-Systems.net (originally from Norman Friedman's "World Naval Weapons Systems, 1997/98"):​
 

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which orion pylon can both carry and launch a 1000 kg plus class weapon?

The center pylons ( and two outer pylons on either wing) can each lug a mk 56 mine (909kg), but would they be able to carry a 1000 kg plus weapon and launch it?

and only the two outer pylons near to the last prop on each side can actually launch harpoons. The center pylons can only ferry them.
 
I've got conflicting sources, but at the moment it looks like it would have been Stations 11 & 16 and/or Stations 13 & 14 that would have been used for external carriage of the AGM-109C/L.
 
okay questions:

1. external carriage and launch or just ferry?

2. is the conflict about which hard points could carry and launch or about whether carriage was at all possible?

13 &14 don't actually launch harpoons. just ferry them. 11 and 16 launch and carry.
 
To answer your questions in order:

External Carriage and launch.

Which hard points could carry and launch.

While not normally used for launching Harpoons, they have apparently been used for dropping Mark 46 torpedoes (seemingly a field modification within operational squadrons), so modifying them for MRASM launches wouldn't be a stretch.
 
Yeah. field modification sounds right, because externally carried torpedoes are usually ferry only on all hardpoints for the P-3C.
 
If it's not immediately possible right now, I can see a field modification being done pretty quickly under pressure of need. Although I understand Harpoon has a somewhat extended range cf. the original these days, so converting those ferry pylons to launch capability might be an easier bet.
 

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