Will Boeing's New F-15X Fighter Reduce F-35 Orders?

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

National Interest: Meet Boeing's New F-15X Fighter: Is This the F-35s Worst Nightmare?

F-15s are better-suited to performing long-endurance air defense patrols than the F-35 or F-16, and could free up the pricey F-22 and F-35s for critical frontline roles. Is this enough of a reason to buy the new F-15X?

The F-15X would entail building new F-15s with strengthened wings affording 20,000 hours for airframe life and more fuel-efficient engines, decreasing operating costs to $27,000 per flight hour. Avionic upgrades would include Legion infrared-sensor pods (potentially useful for hunting stealth aircraft), fully digitized displays and fly-by-wire controls, more flexible APG-82 radars, EPAWSS defensive jamming suite and compatibility with air-to-ground munitions.

On December 21, Bloomberg Government reported that the Pentagon was planning to set aside $1.2 billion in the 2020 defense budget to procure twelve new F-15X fighters, a heavily upgraded model of the twin-engine jet first introduced into U.S. service in 1976.

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WNU Editor: The long range capability and low cost maintenance costs for this fighter jet (plus the ability to carry a lot of missiles and bombs) makes this jet an attractive option to use when the F-35 and F-22 stealth capabilities are not required.