Air Force Wants to Cut F-15E Fleet in Half to Focus on Modernizing, Brown Says

[rangerrebew]

Air Force Wants to Cut F-15E Fleet in Half to Focus on Modernizing, Brown Says
July 12, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The Air Force plans to cut its F-15E fleet to 99 aircraft in the coming years—cutting more than 100 Strike Eagles from the fleet. The move comes as the service seeks to modernize and bring on new platforms while still keeping enough fighters to be able to meet mission demands.

When asked about the move by Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) on July 11, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown said the determination was made to “balance capability and capacity.” Brown’s comments came during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which featured extensive questioning on Air Force weapons and aircraft program decisions.

In budget documents released by the Department of Defense on future force structure in May, the Air Force said it wants to keep 99 F-15Es and spend money to upgrade all those jets with the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS), an electronic warfare suite which has already been installed on some aircraft. The service currently has 218 F-15Es with an average age of more than 30 years.

F-15Es have one of two engines: the newer model fighters are equipped with Pratt & Whitney’s F100-PW-229, an upgraded version of the F100-PW-220 engines on older F-15E models. The Air Force has decided to keep the models with better engines and modernize them in other ways.

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-cut-f-15e-fleet-in-half/

[rangerrebew]

Air Force Wants to Cut F-15E Fleet in Half 

And, along with the Navy cutting two carriers and numerous support ships, should just about insure China will be given Taiwan.

[DefiantMassRINO]

I understand liberating budget funds from the tyranny of legacy systems maintenance, but could the F-15 E's be moved to the Air National Guard, the Air Force Reserve, NATO nations, or other friendly nations, like Australia, Philippines, Taiwan, or South Korea?

[PeteS in CA]

Retire them when the newer "platforms" come into service, not before.

As for carriers, the new Ford class carriers look to be coming into commission around the same time older Nimitz class carriers are retired. The Ford is replacing the recently retired Enterprise; the Kennedy will replace the Nimitz; CVN-80 Enterprise will replace the Eisenhower, etc. Needless to say the CBGs that had been with the retiring carriers will continue with the new carriers (and some will be replaced with new-build).