The New Version Of The F-15 Now Has Twice As Many Missiles

A conceptual rendering from Boeing of the F-15 C2040. Boeing

Popular Mechanics: Boeing Unveils a Version of the F-15 With Twice as Many Missiles

Double the trouble.

The F-15 Eagle is America's most storied jet fighter. It has an unbeaten record in the air—104 kills and zero losses—unmatched by any other combat aircraft.

It's also getting long in the tooth—the average age of the 254F-15s serving in the U.S. Air Force service is now 28 years old. That puts it a generation behind the latest planes, from the American F-22 Raptor to the Chinese J-20. The Air Force had planned to replace the F-15 with the F-22 altogether, but stopped production of the F-22 Raptor at just 195 aircraft, as the multi-purpose F-35 Joint Strike Fighter became more politically popular.

Now the plan is for the Raptor and the Eagle to work together in the skies, teaming up to take down enemy fighters. And to make the Eagle more lethal for its share of the task aviation giant Boeing is has introduced an
upgrade: the F-15 Eagle C2040.

WNU Editor: I guess this is Boeing's way of getting ready for the possibility that the F-35 is not going to the job as advertised.