Faster than expected or was bound by contract, aerospace company Boeing announced earlier this month it delivered the second F-15EX to the Eglin Air Force Base, where it will join the existing airplane for testing.
This second airplane is part of a small fleet of eight expected to be delivered to the U.S. Air Force (USAF) this year, and part of a large, 200-units strong Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract assigned to Boeing by the military branch in July last year.
The F-15EX represents a major evolution of one of America’s most famous and long-lived fighter jets. The version has been in the works for a while, and when it soared to the sky in the hands of the Eglin pilots, it became the first new F-15 variant to do that in 15 years.
Equipped with fly-by-wire flight controls, an all-new digital cockpit, modern AESA radar, and “the world's fastest mission computer” (the ADCP-II), the F-15EX also makes use of the BAE Systems-made Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) – an array of multispectral sensors capable of detecting incoming threats, giving the plane’s pilot radar warning, situational awareness, geolocation, and in case of need, self-protection tools.
According to Prat Kumar, Boeing vice president and F-15 program manager, the new fighter jet also comes with almost 3 miles of high-speed digital data bus. This feature should allow the aircraft an open architecture, which should translate into a machine that can be adapted to the needs of the future, thus staying in service longer.
Once testing of the incipient fleet of planes is completed, USAF plans to purchase more of the F-15EX as part of the National Defense Strategy. The branch aims to replace the aging F-15C, and the new variant will at first be deployed at bases in Florida and Oregon.
The F-15EX represents a major evolution of one of America’s most famous and long-lived fighter jets. The version has been in the works for a while, and when it soared to the sky in the hands of the Eglin pilots, it became the first new F-15 variant to do that in 15 years.
Equipped with fly-by-wire flight controls, an all-new digital cockpit, modern AESA radar, and “the world's fastest mission computer” (the ADCP-II), the F-15EX also makes use of the BAE Systems-made Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) – an array of multispectral sensors capable of detecting incoming threats, giving the plane’s pilot radar warning, situational awareness, geolocation, and in case of need, self-protection tools.
According to Prat Kumar, Boeing vice president and F-15 program manager, the new fighter jet also comes with almost 3 miles of high-speed digital data bus. This feature should allow the aircraft an open architecture, which should translate into a machine that can be adapted to the needs of the future, thus staying in service longer.
Once testing of the incipient fleet of planes is completed, USAF plans to purchase more of the F-15EX as part of the National Defense Strategy. The branch aims to replace the aging F-15C, and the new variant will at first be deployed at bases in Florida and Oregon.