F-15EX and Its Electronic Warfare Suite Both Face Supply Chain Issues: Watchdog

[Timber Rattler]

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/f-15ex-electronic-warfare-suite-supply-chain-issues/

Supply chain issues are causing headaches for the Air Force’s new F-15EX fighter and its accompanying electronic warfare suite, the Government Accountability Office said in a recent report—even as Congress plans to pump an extra $3 billion into the program.

In its annual review of major weapons programs released June 11, the GAO acknowledged that the F-15EX—an advanced version of the F-15E fighter—has achieved full-rate production and initial operational capability. But the watchdog noted that risks remain, including parts shortages and previous quality deficiencies, as well as questions about whether the fighter will have the necessary cyber resiliency.

Separately, the GAO looked at the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System, the electronic warfare suite that will equip all F-15EXs and retained F-15Es, and concluded that it is suffering from vanishing vendor syndrome supply issues and difficulty installing the system on legacy aircraft.   

The Air Force originally planned to buy 144 F-15EXs but has reduced that figure—first to 104 in the fiscal 2023 budget request, then to 98 in the 2025 budget request. In the reconciliation bill now pending in Congress, lawmakers have proposed adding $3.1 billion for F-15EX procurement, without specifying a number of units. That amount would buy around 25 aircraft—likely a full squadron—based on previous lot prices.

F-15EX costs have come down; the GAO noted that the overall program has declined eight percent, from $13.3 billion to $12.3 billion, and unit costs have declined two percent, from $128.1 to $125.4 million. Those numbers are based on the 98-aircraft plan.

For the F-15EX aircraft itself, the GAO outlined three risks:

• Boeing will have to double its production rate “from one to two aircraft per month by April 2026 to meet its future delivery requirements.”
• “Parts shortages—including display screens, a gun system, ejection seat propellant devices, and titanium components—remain a production risk,” the report states.
  
• The F-15EX “may not meet” Air Force cybersecurity requirements because the aircraft was originally designed for Qatar, which did not have such a requirement, and was adapted to USAF use.

EXCERPT

THE referenced GAO report:  https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-107569.pdf