Is There A Market For A Stealth F-15?

National Interest: 'Stealth' F-15: Good Idea or Expensive Fantasy?

Key Point: That Silent Eagle would have to remain substantially lower than the much stealthier F-35A’s projected $85 million cost, or there would little point to procuring them.

A recent article concerning Boeing’s pitch to the U.S. Air Force of a cheap, modestly upgraded F-15X fighter elicited lamentations from some commenters that the Air Force was not enticed by a more ambitious proposal for the F-15SE Silent Eagle—an F-15 with a reduced radar cross section.

Reduced radar cross-sections (RCS) are a common feature in the cutting-edge o 4.5 generation fighters. Before reduced-RCS engineering was widely understood, manufacturers designed fighter like the F-15 or F-16 that had an RCS of around 3 to 5 m2 or greater.

By comparison, the U.S. military’s newest fourth-generation fighter, the the FA-18E/F Super Hornet, might as well be called the Silent Hornet with an RCS ranging between .1 and 1 m2. The French Rafale has a 1m2 RCS, and the Swedish Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon around half that at .5m2. Relatively small, RCS-optimized fighters also include the F-16C (1.2 m2) and Chinese J-10 (1.5 m2) Even Russia boasts that its longtime counterpart to the F-15, the Flanker, has been improved with an RCS between 1 to 3 m2 in the most advanced Su-35S model.

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WNU Editor: The Pentagon is focused on the F-35. I for one would be surprised if they (or anyone else) starts to buy an enhanced "stealth" F-15.

Is The Pentagon Making A Mistake Buying F-15 Fighters Instead Of More F-35s?

U.S. Air Force

Gen. John D.W. Corley (ret.), Business Insider/Defense News: The Pentagon is buying F-15 fighters instead of more F-35s and repeating past mistakes in the process


* The Pentagon recently announced plans to buy more F-15 fighter jets rather than F-35s.
* The decision to acquire more jets with older technology instead of the latest fifth-generation fighters is reminiscent of the decision to stop buying F-22s prematurely, writes retired Air Force Gen. John D.W. Corley.

On March 14, 2012, an American flag was flown aboard aircraft serial No. 10-4195 — the first flight of the last F-22 Raptor produced.

The fifth-generation fighter was of uncompromised design, born of capabilities to sustain the vision of the world's greatest air force and emphatically demonstrating that America would invest to protect its interests and counter global threats.

The flight attained an altitude of 44,000 feet, a speed of Mach 1.5, and a flight duration of 1 hour and 30 minutes, but the number that mattered for the F-22 program was 187.

Less than half the US Air Force and Air Combat Command's stated requirement would be built, dangerously shortchanging the capacity necessary to provide a potent, globally deployed, asymmetric deterrent against potential adversaries — shot down by senior Pentagon leaders as a "Cold War relic" and admonishing the Air Force as having "next-war"-itis.

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WNU Editor: The F-15 is not the F-35 .... it is a different fighter jet with different capabilities and I would say different missions. It is also a cheaper fighter jet to maintain and to operate. Not every conflict will require the F-35's abilities, nor afford the expense of using them.

Boeing to start Delivering F-15EX Fighters As Early As 2020

Image: Boeing.

Aviation Geek Club: Boeing to deliver first two F-15EX Fighters as soon as 2020

This is possible due to the fact the F-15EX has a lot of similarities with the F-15QA Advanced Eagle that is in production for Qatar.

Boeing says it can deliver the U.S. Air Force (USAF) at least two engineering, versions manufacturing and development (EMD) F-15EX fighters as early as 2020.

This is possible due to the fact the F-15EX has a lot of similarities with the F-15QA Advanced Eagle that is in production for Qatar. So there is a possibility that some aircraft destined for Qatar could be rerouted to the USAF. The EX can be seen as a modified version of the QA of which Qatar ordered 36 (with an option on another 36) in a USD 6,2 billion contract signed in 2017. According to Scramble Facebook News Magazine, Qatar expects six F-15QA’s will be delivered to its air force by March 2021. And these first deliveries follow the final deliveries of the last of 84 F-15SAs to Saudi Arabia by the end of 2019. It is also possible that Israel will buy additional Eagles, so the Eagle production line will be running for many years to come.

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WNU Editor: Cheaper to buy and operate than the F-35, I expect a lot of these planes will be sold in the coming years.

U.S. Air Force Gets Ready For The F-15X Super Eagle

The advanced F-15X. Boeing photo.

Bryan Preston, OJ Media: Keeping the Air Force Ready with the F-15X Super Eagle

At Pearl Harbor, Japanese attackers struck hard and fast to begin World War II. Their speed caught the Americans by surprise, and we lost many -- far too many -- men, ships and planes. Before we could win the war in the Pacific, we had to fight hard just to get back to where we had been before the attack.

But another tragedy came hours later, when another Japanese force targeted Clark Field in the Philippines. Despite the warning that the U.S. was under attack, planes were left in the open, ripe targets for attack. Again, they were destroyed on the ground without a fight.

The lessons: 1) Speed kills. 2) You must always be armed and ready to respond.

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WNU Editor: What I like about the F-15 are its operating costs (from Defense Systems Journal) ....

According to the latest available figures provided to DSJ today by the Air Combat Command, the “then year” FY 2017 dollars for costs per flight hour for USAF tactical aircraft* are as follows:

F-15C: $33,412/hour
F-15E: $25,141/hour
F-16: $20,423/hour
F-35: $50,246/hour

Update: F-15EX vs. F-35A (Air Force Magazine).

Air Force To Spend $7.86 Billion Over 5 Years To Buy 80 F-15Xs

The advanced F-15X. Boeing photo.

Air Force Magazine: USAF’s Five-Year Plan Includes $7.86 Billion for 80 F-15EXs

The Air Force plans to spend $7.86 billion over the next five years buying 80 F-15EXs, new Eagles to replace aging F-15Cs that service leaders said they did not initially want.

The service will spend $1.05 billion in 2020 to buy the first eight aircraft, and that buy will accelerate to 18 at a cost of $1.65 billion in 2021, with that rate holding steady until 2024, according to new budget documents released Monday afternoon.

The new aircraft will be based on the F-15QA, which Boeing built for the Qatar Emiri Air Force, though it will have USAF-specific capabilities, including the Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System and the Suite 9.1 Operational Flight Program software. The jet will have two seats to be flown by one or two aircrew, and will be multi-role capable, according to the justification document, or J-Book.

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More News On The F-15X

Boeing’s F-15X fighter jet gains at expense of Lockheed F-35 in Air Force’s 5-year plan -- Seattle Times
Boeing's F-15X Gets a Boost Over Lockheed's F-35 -- Bloomberg
Air Force Eyeing F-15X Over the F-35? -- OpsLens
F-35 and F-15X: The Air Force Combo That Might Be Unstoppable -- National Interest
F-15X: Why the Air Force Needs this Deadly Fighter Jet -- National Interest

More F-35s Or New, Old F-15s?

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

Breaking Defense: Mitchell Weighs In: More F-35s or New, Old F-15s?

Fifth gen or fourth gen? F-35A or F-15X. Stealth, sensors and fusion or lots of missiles? Lockheed or Boeing? See what the Mitchell Institute says.

The Air Force needs to buy more new fighter planes. The constricted size and increasing age of the Air Force’s fighter inventory is the product of long-standing deferred investment; the 2009 decision to prematurely curtail the F-22 buy at less than half its required inventory; failure to boost F-35 production to originally planned rates; and the fact that 234 of 1970’s era F-15Cs will be hitting the end of their service lives in the next decade. Maintaining the current fighter inventory size demands that the Air Force buy at least 72 fighters per year into the 2020s. Failure to meet this requirement is not an option given the burgeoning global threat environment. With the fiscal year 2020 defense budget set for release next month, Congress will prove critical in charting a prudent path forward.

On one side of the debate, the Air Force could boost the production rate of its newest fifth-generation F-35 fighter—an aircraft imbued with stealth and information gathering, processing, and sharing capabilities that allow it to effectively execute its missions in modern threat environments and return home safely.

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WNU Editor: F-35 supporters are not happy that Boeing's F-15X may purchased in significant numbers .... Buying new F-15X fighters for the US Air Force is unsolicited and unwise (Gen. John Michael Loh (ret.)).

The U.S. Air Force Is Buying Upgraded F-15s

Herald and News/Bloomberg: Air Force wants upgraded F-15 fighters along with F-35s

The U.S. Air Force’s next budget will request funds for eight new F-15 fighter-bombers from Boeing Co., beefing up its inventory with an upgraded version of a plane it last bought in 2001, even as it pursues the more advanced F-35 from rival Lockheed Martin Corp.

The F-15s will be proposed in the fiscal 2020 budget, expected around March 11, as the first of a potential 80-plane purchase over the next five years, said people familiar with the Air Force’s plan.

Even though the request has White House support, it’s likely to raise questions from skeptical lawmakers about why the Air Force, which has spent years saying it needs the “fifth-generation” F-35, now wants more F-15s as well.

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Update: The U.S. Air Force Is Buying New F-15s After All (Popular Mechanics)

WNU Editor: There is push-back against this purchase .... Senators are urging Trump to stick with F-35s as the US eyes buying new souped-up F-15 fighter jets (Business Insider).

More Details Emerge On The F-15X

Some information about the proposed F-15 Advanced. The F-15X will have near identical features but will be offered in single and two seat configurations. Boeing

Warzone/The Drive: F-15X Will Come In Two Variants, And No, It Won't Cost $100M Per Copy

We have new details about the F-15X and the USAF's motivation for making a dramatic institutional shift to procure the proven fighters.

Since breaking the F-15X story last July, pretty much everything our original exposé discussed has come true. After many discounted that original report, last December Bloomberg reported that the F-15X would indeed appear as a procurement program of record for the Pentagon's 2020 budget proposal, which is due to be released at any time. Comments by heads of the USAF and industry have since confirmed this eventuality. Still, that report was thin on details, leading to quite a bit of confusion about what would be included in the USAF's initial investment into the F-15X and what was exactly planned for the program overall. With that in mind, we have new details that answer some of these questions and paint a finer picture of what the F-15X will look like when it rolls off the production line, in one of two distinct forms, as well as what the new Eagle variant will mean for the United States Air Force.

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Update #1: The Air Force could buy improved F-15 fighters (Defense News)
Update #2: US Air Force Chief Confirms Interest in Improved F-15X (Sputnik)

WNU Editor: F-35 manufacturer Lockheed has responded to this interest in the F-15X program .... Lockheed CEO: Boeing’s F-15X won’t disrupt F-35 program (Defense News).

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.

Pentagon Wants To Buy The New F-15X Advanced Eagle Fighter Jet For The Air Force

Image: Flickr

The Drive/Warzone: USAF's Next Budget Request Will Include New F-15X Advanced Eagle Fighter Jets: Report

We revealed the existence of the F-15X concept last July and now it seems like it may become a line-item in the upcoming 2020 defense budget.

Last July, I broke a story about the existence of Boeing's F-15X Advanced Eagle concept, one that the plane-maker had been in discussions with the USAF about for many months. That aircraft would be procured to replace America's existing F-15C/D aircraft, the vast majority of which are operated by the Air National Guard. Since my expose, the USAF has officially remained somewhat flippant about the F-15X and its talks with Boeing, which isn't surprising, but according to a Bloomberg report, that is about to change dramatically very soon.

The F-15X airframe would be single seat, but it would incorporate decades of innovations that are being applied currently in the latest F-15 Strike Eagle derivatives being purchased by Saudi Arabia (F-15SA) and Qatar (F-15QA). With an airframe life of a whopping 20,000 hours, and the latest sensors, flight control systems, and avionics, the F-15X would serve for many decades at an operating cost that Boeing claims will trounce that of the existing F-15C/D fleet—the youngest of which is now 32 years old—basically paying for the airframes with savings within about a decade.

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WNU Editor: The Pentagon may want to buy these planes, but the Air Force does not want them .... The Pentagon Wants To Buy A Dozen F-15X Fighters The Air Force Doesn’t Even Want (Task & Purpose).