U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant John McRell.
On 11MAR2021, Boeing delivered the first production F-15EX to Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, for testing and evaluation.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant John McRell.
The 96th Operations Group 40th Flight Test Squadron, and 53rd Wing 85th Test & Evaluation Squadron, will put the F-15EX (aka EX1) through the mill.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant John Raven.
Can you spot EX1?
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant John Raven, 11MAR2021.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant John Raven.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Joshua Hoskins.
The F-15EX is hard to distinguish from the F-15E Strike Eagle. A couple of ECM ‘ears’ protruding on the sides of the cockpit. The blade antennae are different. The pods on top of the tail fins are now symmetrical. Some ECM bumps protruding from the rear.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Joshua Hoskins.
F-15EX arrives, parks next to F-15E, video by Jennifer Vollmer:
Official USAF video report, reveals that while it is a two seater it actually needs only one crew to operate:
Official USAF music video:
EX2 is also expected to make an appearance over Eglin AFB, soon.
After decades of wasting taxpayer’s money on ‘advanced’ aircraft projects that went nowhere, U.S. Air Force officials have finally pulled the heads outta the….clouds and approved the purchase of a much more practical fighter aircraft, or have they?
Boeing photo.
In July 2020 (under the administration of President Donald Trump), the United States Air Force (USAF) shelled-out $1.2-billion for eight F-15EX, much cheaper than the development nightmare known as the F-35, of between $77-million to $110-million purchase price per F-35, and that does not include the billions of dollars spent on the decades of development! Add to that the per flight operating costs of the F-35, which currently are $3-thousand dollars more than the old F-15C Eagle. Total lifetime cost of one F-35 is expected to be more than $1-trillion! To top it off, insult-to-injury, the S/VTOL concept of the F-35 was directly influenced by the Soviet/Russian Yakovlev 141! Unfortunately the F-15EX will not take the place of the F-35, but act as a complementary aircraft to the F-35.
On 02FEB2021, the USAF completed its first flight of the F-15EX, over Saint Louis, Missouri. The aircraft was piloted by Matt Giese, Boeing’s chief test pilot for the EX.
Official Boeing first flight video:
In August 2020, it was announced that Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing (FW) and 142nd FW would be the lucky units to get the new EX-citement Eagle. The 173rd will act as the ‘formal training unit’ for F-15EX conversion. Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Rice says conversion shouldn’t take too long because “The F-15EX is almost 90% compatible with the F-15C Model.”
One of the advanced features of the EX Eagle is the 20-thousand hours life-span of the airframe: “….a long time, about double the service the life of an F-15C. Not only is the airframe designed to last for a long time, the F-15EX also has an ‘Open Mission System’ which allows the computer and avionics software to be more adaptable and more easily updated in the future. This adaptability is key, as we know that technology is continuing to accelerate.”-Colonel Jeff Edwards, 173rd FW commander
Two F-15EX fighters will be sent to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, by the end of the first quarter of 2021, for testing. The USAF plans to eventually buy at least 144 F-15EX Eagles.
Official Boeing video explaining advance technologies on the Advanced F-15 test-bed:
F-15EX-CITEMENT!
