The F-15C Eagle Keeps Getting Better With Age

[DemolitionMan]

Harold C. Hutchison

The F-15 Eagle has put up one of the best records of any air-superiority fighter – ever. It has scored over 100 air-to-air kills with no losses. Yet while the development of the Su-27/30/33/35 and J-11/15/16 families of the Flanker from Russia and China have closed the gap significantly, the Eagle remains very lethal – and keeps getting better.

Part of it is the inclusion of new sensor capabilities, like the Legion pod, that enable the F-15 to do thing the Su-27 can do. Another part has been upgrades to the existing systems, like the AN-APG-63 radar, which has been replaced by a new version with an active electronically-scanned antenna version known as the APG-63(V)3.

According to MilitaryFactory.com, the Air Force did give the entire F-15 fleet an upgrade known as the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System, or EPAWSS, which gave the F-15C/D an improved chaff and flare dispenser, a digital radar-warning receiver, and a towed decoy. This gives the F-15 a better chance against enemy surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles.

But the F-15 from the get-go had a lot of advantages. It could carry up to eight air-to-air missiles (today, the load is usually four AIM-120 AMRAAM and four AIM-9X Sidewinders), and it had a 20mm M61 Gatling gun with 940 rounds of ammo. It has a top speed of 1,875 miles per hour, and an unrefueled range of 2,402 miles. Boeing has been pitching an Eagle 2040C that would add even more missiles to the F-15’s already formidable armament.

https://scout.com/military/warrior/Article/The-F-15C-Eagle-Keeps-Getting-Better-With-Age-108117987

[DemolitionMan]

The F-15I even has an equal excellent record. A dual-role long range fighter for attack and interception. The plane - the best of its type in the Middle Eastern arena - entered service in January of 1998, and is the IAF's lead plane. The Ra'am is a special version of the F-15E Strike Eagle that was designed specifically for Israel by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing). Its tremendous payload capacity, combined with its advanced systems, enable it to carry out depth attacks with a large weapons load, at long ranges, at low altitude, in all hours of the day and night and in any weather conditions. The F-15I Raam (the Israeli Strike Eagle) is very similar to the F-15E on the surface, but quite different inside. Packed with cutting edge Israeli systems, the Raam features an avionics suite which is very potent and which is not too similar to the US version. Not much is known about the exact capabilities of these systems, however one can assume that they rival the original Strike Eagle in many respects.Paint Scheme: The most apparent difference between the I and E models is their paint scheme. The E model has a one tone gunship grey color, while the I model uses a three-tone brown-green-grey paint scheme consisting of colors with codes of FS 30219, FS 33531 and FS 36375.

CFT's: The CFT's are Israeli made too, they are built by IAI. The I model uses a cone-like heat exchanger intake on the aft section of the CFT's, similar to the one used on E models equipped with PW-229 engines. E models equipped with PW-220 engines use a smaller air intake.

Cockpit: There are a few modifications in the cockpit as well.

Raam aircrew use Elbit's helmet display system (called DASH), which projects critical flight and weapon usage information in front of the right eye of its wearer. This system is much like the conventional HUD (which is still kept in the Raam), but moved from a fixed position on the top of the dashboard to a position which moves together with the head of its wearer. The cockpit is equipped small sensors which detect head movements, thus the Raam always knows what her aircrew are looking at.
The conventional alpha-numeric UFC got replaced with a more modern  LCD display.
The I model's cockpit is painted black inside to reduce unnecessary light reflections when using night vision goggles.
Radar: Its radar, the APG-70I is based on the APG-70 radar of the Strike Eagle, but most probably with some features downgraded - however there is no direct proof of this, so one can speculate only. It is suspected that the HRM mode is degraded, plus EP, EA and special air-to-air modes like NCTR were deleted.