Is The F-15EX On The Brink Of Being Canceled?
ByHarrison KassPublished15 hours ago
F-15 EX – Canceled? – The F-15 Eagle was designed in the 1970s, without “a pound for air-to-ground,” meaning the plane was built strictly for air superiority. Accordingly, the original F-15 was excellent at engaging other airborne targets, or dogfighting – the jet was perhaps the preeminent fourth-generation air-to-air fighter – but lacked systems or capabilities to engage on the ground targets. In the 1980s, the F-15E variant was built to provide the F-15 platform with an air-to-ground option. The F-15E retained the original Eagle’s air-to-air abilities, while adding an air-to-ground mode, hence broadening the spectrum of mission profiles that the jet could conduct.
F-15EX: A Program In Peril?
Now, a new variant, known as the F-15EX is ready for production, according to Boeing. But how many will the Air Force actually order and is the program in trouble?
The F-15EX first flew in February 2021. In March of the same year, Boeing delivered the first F-15EX to the US Air Force. The delivery was significant, marking the first USAF in nearly two decades. The F-15EX had been developed surreptitiously after the USAF made a very discreet inquiry to Boeing about creating an airframe meeting certain requirements. Namely, the USAF wanted a new jet that was cheap to operate, cheap to acquire, low-risk, and that would not disrupt the procurement of the F-35. Boeing’s solution: an update to the F-15 Eagle. The decision could be considered counterintuitive; the USAF had not accepted delivery of a fourth-generation fighter since 2001.
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/06/is-the-f-15ex-on-the-brink-of-being-canceled/
