The F-15EX Eagle II, the 4th+ Generation Fighter the USAF Needs

Story and photos by Mike Colaner

No other Raptor compares to the ultimate Apex Predator, the Eagle. The same holds for the F-15EX Eagle II.

Boeing has manufactured an aircraft that exposes the US Air Force’s need for a 4th+ Gen airframe at a time when a 6th Generation aircraft, known as The Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), is being designed.

While the F-15EX is less stealthy than a 5th-generation aircraft, it offers what the F-22 and F-35 can not regarding speed, payload, and mission capability.

While the F-15EX resemblance to the legacy F-15 is strong, nothing except the Eagle’s sleek lines remain the same.

Boeing Director Robert “Blend’r” Novotny, the Executive Director of F-15 Business Development within the Air Dominance Division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, stated, “We are proud of this team’s legacy of air dominance here in St Louis.”

The F-15 variants, which have been rolling off the McDonnell Douglas, later Boeing, production line for fifty-two years, have consistently dominated the air combat domain. They are credited with one hundred-four air-to-air kills without a single F-15 being lost to enemy aircraft.

Director Novotny said, “Boeing is currently completing Advanced Eagles for Qatar and should complete the production run by the end of the year. After that, we will transition to all baseline F-15EXs.”

Essentially, each foreign military customer will customize the aircraft to their specifications.

Director Novotny explained, “We plan to build ninety-eight for the USAF (FY 2025). However, we are constantly conversing with our Air Force partners to make more. Initially, they talked about two hundred, but that number has ebbed and flowed like almost all defense contracts. The Air Combat Command (ACC) documented requirement remains at one hundred forty-four aircraft.”

The development of the Advanced Eagle can be traced to the Royal Saudi Air Force’s F-15SA (Saudi Advanced), which first flew in 2013. The SA was the first variant with a digital flight control system, two additional wing pylons, and a revised wing structure for increased service life.

Boeing further refined the design with the F-15QA (Qatari Advanced) in 2016 by adding an Electronic Warfare (EW) system and an all-new glass cockpit.

The F-15EX’s all-new digital flight control system significantly improves on its predecessors’ hydro-mechanical controls. It has zero limitations: no angle of attack (AoA) limits and no speed or ‘G’ restrictions. If the situation arises, the pilot could take the F-15EX to 12 ‘G.’

The Advanced Eagle incorporates the most advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar (Raytheon’s AN/APG-82(V)1). The EW suite is best in class with a BAE Systems EPAWSS System (Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability Set). It also has Lockheed Martin’s AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) and the AN/AAQ-13 Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) system.

The new F-15 Advanced Eagles are already approved domestically for the United States (F-15EX) and for export to Indonesia (F-15IND), Israel (F-15IA), Singapore (F-15SG), and Qatar (F-15QA). This international usage underscores the aircraft’s global impact and appeal to a wide range of defense forces, making us all part of a significant global defense initiative.

Additionally, Boeing is discussing upgrading international F-15 fleets to the Advanced Eagle standard. Japan will upgrade its F-15J to the F-15JSI, Saudi Arabia’s F-15SA to the F-15EX, and the Republic of South Korea is incorporating the AN/APG82 radar, EPAWSS, and a glass cockpit into its F-15K. These ongoing discussions demonstrate the continued relevance and appeal of the F-15 Advanced Eagle in the global defense market.

Director Novotny and I discussed the differences between the F-15EX Eagle II and the other Advanced Eagles, such as the CFTs. He explained that the USAF did not initially buy the CFTs for lots one through four because they thought they could repurpose some of the CFTs they already had. From lot five onward, the CFT will be standard equipment for the F-15EX.

Is the USAF rethinking the Weapons System Officer (WSO) for the EX? “Everything we hear says the WSO will be in the airplane. The challenge is when the EX goes to the Air National Guard (ANG). They don’t have WSOs there because they are converting from F-15C units. I believe the Air Combat Command (ACC) plans to have WSOs in some, if not all, of their EXs. It is an Air Force discussion that they are currently working through.”

There is talk online about the EX being a bomb/missile truck. Is that a Boeing talking point? “Well, here is what we say about the EX: It has range, payload, and speed. Everybody in the United States Air Force says, I need rails, and I need to get to a place where I can survive.”

“The F-15EX has the best-in-class range; it beats everybody. When we attach the conformal fuel tanks, we can go for 3 1/2 hours without problem. That’s important in the Western Pacific when considering the distances between bases. It’s also vitally important in the Eastern European theater when I don’t want to be parked under a medium-range ballistic missile threat. So we can park further back in our NATO ally countries, where I can still hold targets at risk on the front lines.”

“The Advanced Eagle dirty demo shows a little bit of the payload. We can carry almost 30,000 pounds of ordinance. It carries twelve air-to-air missiles. Most fighters carry six, and some, like the early model F-15s, can carry eight. It also has a 20-millimeter cannon with five hundred rounds.”

“In the Western Pacific, the F-15EX’s pilot and WSO can sit back 1,000 miles, finding targets being produced to them either through penetrating sensor platforms overhead satellites or finding themself. This long-range capability allows the F-15EX to shoot targets a thousand miles away with hypersonic, counter-satellite, and long-range strike platforms.”

“When it comes to speed, the F-15EX has no equal. With the GE 129 engines, we can reach Mach 2.5. Suppose the F-15EX needs to reach the target and get out quickly. In that case, it can do so confidently, outperforming even the Raptor and leaving a lasting impression of its unmatched speed and agility.”

“The feedback we are receiving from the Air Force’s ongoing advanced testing and exercises with the F-15EX at Nellis Air Force Base is overwhelmingly positive, with reports indicating that the F-15EX is kicking ass.” These reports reassure us of the F-15EX’s exceptional performance and potential to meet the Air Force’s needs.

“We are excited and proud at Boeing that our customers are digging this, and they want more; they want them faster. We are working with them to do that right now. Boeing Advanced Eagles is why we have so much international interest from current users and, hopefully, new customers going forward.”

In 2020, the United States Air Force ordered eight Advanced Eagles, designated the F-15EX Eagle II. To expedite the delivery, they were taken from the Qatari production line. This off-the-shelf purchase eliminated the development costs that the foreign military export sales had already paid for.

The 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, took possession of the USAFs first F-15EX (20-001) designated EX1 in March 2021. EX2 (20-002) went to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron in April 2021.

Only two weeks after EX2 was delivered to Eglin Air Force Base, EX1 and EX2 took to the Alaskan skies for Exercise Northern Edge 21.

According to the USAF, “The purpose of the F-15EX’s participation in Northern Edge is to allow for immediate deep-end testing in a complex jamming environment to gather essential test data for what works and what needs improvement. This is critical to expose the F-15EX to this environment now to make changes early on and allow for an aggressive test and fielding timeline.”

EX3 (20-003), assigned to the 96th Test Wing, and EX4 (20-004) to the 53rd Wing, were delivered to Eglin AFB on December 20, 2023. These two Advanced Eagles feature a redesigned forward fuselage for the USAF and new capabilities to be tested that the original two jets (EX1 and EX2) didn’t have. EX3 and EX4 are equipped with cockpit pressure monitors and warning systems and an ultra-high-frequency antenna for satellite communications. EX5 (20-005) and EX6 (20-006) are to follow.

The 142nd Wing received its first two aircraft, EX7 (20-007) on June 5, 2024, and EX8 (20-008) on July 2, 2024. The 142nd will eventually receive a total of eighteen F-15EXs.
The 142nd Wing of the Oregon ANG is the first unit in the USAF to operate the F-15EX, marking the first time an Air National Guard unit received a brand new aircraft type before the active duty Air Force.

The current plan is for the USAF to establish three Air National Guard (ANG) Squadrons of eighteen F-15EXs. In addition to the 142nd WG in Portland, OR, Air National Guard units of the 144th FW California ANG Fresno, CA, and the 159th FW Louisiana ANG, NAS / JRB New Orleans, LA, would also receive the Eagle II.

The USAF would replace its two active-duty squadrons of F-15C/D fighters, the 18th Wings 44th FS and 67th FS, based at Kadena AFB in Okinawa, Japan.

While the NGAD seeks to implement a family of systems, the Air Force can reach this capability by adding more and maximizing the F-15Ex Eagle II capabilities.

My sincerest thanks to Sarah Reed, Senior Communications & Branding Specialist at the Boeing Company, and Robert “Blend’r” Novotny, the Executive Director of F-15 Business Development within the Air Dominance Division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, for their assistance in this article.