The U.S. Air Force is buying new advanced F-15X jet fighters and upgraded avionics after all

Feb. 21, 2019
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force will go ahead and buy brand-new F-15 twin-engine jet fighters even as it purchases large numbers of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Popular Mechanics reports.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force will go ahead and buy brand-new F-15X twin-engine jet fighters even as it purchases large numbers of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Popular Mechanics reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

21 Feb. 2019 -- Updated with the latest avionics and technology, the F-15X can carry nearly two dozen air-to-air missiles and likely will work together with stealth jets to take on fleets of enemy fighters.

The F-15X jet fighters will come in two versions, a single-seat F-15CX and a twin-seat F-15EX. According to Aviation Week & Space Technology, other than crew size the two jets will be identical. Here's a Boeing promotional video for the F-15X, also known as Advanced Eagle.

F-15X is a thoroughly modern update of the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter first introduced in the 1970s. Most of the updates it has are already flying in F-15s produced for other countries, with research and development already paid for by nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. These include upgraded avionics, strengthened airframes for increased maneuverability and airframe life span, giving the advanced fighter an even greater dogfighting capability over the original F-15 and an airframe life span of 20,000 hours.

Related: Hybrid theory: Lockheed Martin and Boeing pitch upgraded F-22 and F-15 jet fighter

Related: Boeing to build 36 new F-15QA combat aircraft with digital fly by wire for Qatar in $6.2 billion deal

Related: Air Force begins testing of advanced F-15 jet fighter with fly-by-wire and digital EW systems

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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