F-15 Global Strike Eagle
Posted on January 20, 2023 by alert5
Imagine seeing an F-15E Strike Eagle with no souls onboard take off with a large missile mounted on top of the fueslage, it’s a pretty cool sight to behold. In 2006, Boeing proposed an unmanned variant of the F-15E Strike Eagle, called the F-15 Global Strike Eagle (GSE), for air-launching missiles with the launch vehicle mounted dorsally.
One of the munitions being proposed was the Common Aero Vehicle (CAV), a maneuverable, hypersonic reentry vehicle that can release different types of payloads while inside the atmosphere.
The proposed CAV was made up of off-the-shelf components such as the SR-19 rocket, a Minutemen II second stage used as the first stage of the launch vehicle. The second stage of the launch vehicle would have used the Orion 50XL, while the third stage used the Orion 38, both from the Pegasus XL launch system. The large size of the launch vehicle would have impaired pilot ejection capability and thus, it required an unmanned mission. Aerodynamic control surfaces were added to enhance boost phase control, while an aft cone fairing was added to decrease drag during the F-15 boost phase, which was jettisoned shortly after launch vehicle separation.
https://alert5.com/2023/01/20/f-15-global-strike-eagle/
