You can talk about your F-22,

And speak of the F-35.

But the F-15 is coming back,

And that ain't no jive!

Yep, Two F-15EXs are being delivered to Eglin Air Force Base for evaluation.

Externally the F-15E and F-15EX look identical except the F-15EX has a single place cockpit.  No WSO.

The external dimensions are the same as is the takeoff weight (81,000 pounds)

The F-15EX will have a range of 2992 miles as opposed to the F-15E's 2400 miles.

The F-15EX has a service ceiling of 60,000 feet as opposed to the F-15E's 50,000 feet.

The F-15EX will have an improved defensive system and fly-by-wire instead of the F-15E's analog/hydraulic/cable system.

It ain't your father's F-15.

The Air Force is planning to buy 144-200 of them.

Noel

It will still paint a picture the size of a barn door.

Edited November 25, 20205 yr by Gary1124

I don't see how they could make it as stealthy as the F-117, F-22, or F-23, so it's not going to be a front line, stealth aircraft.  The current F-15 fleet is quite old and worn, this is the least expensive way to re-equip the Air National Guard units currently flying outdated and worn F-15C and D models with a more advanced, yet proven and relatively inexpensive new aircraft.

5 hours ago, stans said:

I don't see how they could make it as stealthy as the F-117, F-22, or F-23, so it's not going to be a front line, stealth aircraft.

Yup, it's the same situation as ever really. The Air Force of Navy develop a big, expensive super-funky jet, then the Government go, hmm, that's nice, but it's expensive, so you can either have ten of them, or, you can develop something cheaper fairly quickly and you can have fifty of those.

It's not a bad thing, that's how we ended up with aeroplanes such as the F-16, F-5, F-20, F/A-18, MiG-23, MiG-27, MiG-21, MiG-29 coming into existence. If you go back further, it's how the P-51 Mustang ended up being made too, the UK asked North American to licence build the P-40 for them when they we potentially going to be short of front-line fighters in the Battle of Britain and NA replied, we can have something better for you in just a few months...

Here's the article I read about it in Air Force Magazine.  The latest issue arrived yesterday.

https://www.airforcemag.com/article/joining-up-on-the-f-15ex/

Noel

The "E" model, aka "Mudhen", is the ground-support variant of the F-15...I don't see the end game for the EX as replacement of the air superiority C models--those are being replaced by the F-22 and F-35.  It can serve as a gap-filler, perhaps. And the AF loves multi-role aircraft, anyway.

The F-15EX can carry a truckload of ground support munitions and deliver them across a wide area of operations due to its speed.  The R&D on the airframe itself is already mostly bought and paid-for.  The costs of the advanced avionics package are at least partially offset by not needing to train and maintain thousands of WSOs. 

It makes some sense to me.  It's effective and a lot cheaper than designing another whole new generation of aircraft.  Look at what the Navy has been able to do with the F-18 as an example of piggybacking on the success of an existing platform.

Chuck Yeager's favorite airplane is the F-15.  Therefore it is my favorite airplane.  Barn doors and all.   😆

It's funny how the circle turns...I remember when the F-15 was the latest and hottest.  And those old F-106's and F-8's were just outdated relics.

The f-15 is still like the 4th best on Earth which is something for it's length of service.

The F-15 is such an incredible aircraft, it’s long life and track record is such a testament to its design.

We can hope...

12 minutes ago, NormH3 said:

We can hope...

I remember playing that sim, a long, long time ago.

Yes...that was a long, long time ago.

On 11/25/2020 at 5:53 AM, birdguy said:

You can talk about your F-22,

And speak of the F-35.

But the F-15 is coming back,

And that ain't no jive!

 

Noel

 

 

So we can take an old design, factory machinery and bits and pieces still in exitance, and  make new improved versions... but when it comes to the F22, the assets required to build new ones have been reallocated or left to rot.  😲😕

 

 

Edited November 26, 20205 yr by martin-w

On 11/25/2020 at 7:26 PM, Chock said:

so you can either have ten of them, or, you can develop something cheaper fairly quickly and you can have fifty of those.

...why is why the Royal Navy still went ahead with the first part of that statement and totally ignored the last part..