How The Two Aircraft Compare
Check out Air Force Magazine's comprehensive infographic to see how the F-35A and F-15EX compare in terms of production cost, performance, fuel capacity, service life, and more.
The F-35 Lightning has been the Air Force's only new combat program since 2009, when the F-22 Raptor program was prematurely discontinued, and the USAF's only new combat program until it comes online whose future capabilities have yet to be determined. Expected to remain a combat program.
Today, the F-35 faces new challenges from older jet designs. A variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle, an earlier era aircraft built for a different mission. For the inevitably limited dollars in the service's fighter portfolio.
The Air Force's fiscal 2020 budget request includes $1.1 billion to purchase the first eight of its planned 144 F-15EX aircraft.The new aircraft are currently being built for Qatar. The F-15EX is a two-seat fighter capable of flight. purpose.
Plans call for the Air Force to receive two F-15EX aircraft in 2022, six more in 2023, and a total of 80 aircraft over the next five years. also includes $949 million to upgrade the F-15.15 exists. .
Adding a new F-15 was not the Air Force's idea, but came out of the Pentagon's Office of Cost and Program Evaluation (CAPE), with the endorsement of former Secretary of Defense James Mattis. For fifth-generation fighter technology only, given the aging F-15C and the slow pace of F-35 procurement, the company maintains plans to buy new F-15s as a way to maintain combat capability. .
The Air Force claims the F-15EX purchase won't reduce its need to build 1,763 F-35s, but history and the Air Force's own budget requests suggest otherwise. We are behind last year's plan.
Advanced F-15 during system and flight control testing in Palmdale.
The opening of the F-15EX is attributed to the age and current state of the F-15C. Designed as an air superiority fighter and first deployed in the 1970s, the F-15C is currently being retired. -22 forced the Air Force to extend service after acquiring his 186 aircraft (less than half of planned production). Major structural components are now approaching the end of their engineering life. As such, many F-15Cs today must operate under significant speed and G-load limits.
The Air Force's claim to the F-15EX allows for sustained capability. reduce the number. He is less than seven companies out of 62 personnel who have said they must adhere to the national defense strategy.
According to the USAF, the F-15EX is essentially an in-production aircraft that shares more than 70% commonality with the F-15C and E already in service with the USAF, and has nearly all the same ground equipment, hangars, and more. , you can share the simulator. more. At roughly the same unit price as the F-35, F-15 squadrons can transition to his F-15EX in a matter of weeks. The F-35 will take months, the Air Force said.
However, the F-15EX is a fourth-generation aircraft and lacks the stealthiness and sensor fusion characteristics of the F-35 and F-22, making it less likely to withstand modern air defenses for much longer. I don't think so. 2028 could be the latest in which jets can operate near competing enemy airspace. I believe it can be done. It provides limited or non-existent and deadlock units.
Since 2001, the Air Force has insisted it needs to buy no "old is new" fighters and transition to a fifth-generation military as soon as possible, but supporters say it will buy the F-15 and F-15s. claim. 35 together will allow you to fill gaps in your combat fleet more quickly. Additionally, USAF leaders advocating for the purchase of new F-15s have proven that the F-35 is still viable at its advertised cost (comparable to the F-16, about $20,000 per hour). Said he didn't and service preferred to wait. Block 4 versions and later aircraft began rolling off assembly lines in the mid-2020s. The approach, they say, also avoids spending large sums of money to upgrade previous versions of the F-35 to a Block 4 configuration.
It's not the first time the Air Force has considered buying a new F-15, but the F-15EX isn't the same upgraded model that jet maker Boeing has previously offered. Modern offerings require extensive development work. In 2009, Boeing proposed the F-15 "Silent Eagle" to add stealth characteristics. The jet carries weapons inside the conformal station and features slanted vertical fins and surface treatments to reduce radar detection. Boeing proposed another concept last year, the F-15 "Advanced," or F-15 2040C. The jet features a significantly increased payload and advanced avionics.
In contrast, the F-15EX requires little new development, can be put through test programs very quickly, and requires minimal additional development.
Air Force officials said one of the F-15EX's potential missions would be to carry "very large" munitions such as hypersonic missiles, a weapon that could work in conjunction with the F-22. He said it would be used as a warehouse.
The F-35 and F-15EX were designed at different times for different missions.
The F-15C was designed for pre-stealth era air superiority. The F-35 acts as a battlefield "quarterback", gathering intelligence from behind enemy lines, executing surprise attacks and selecting enemy fighters.
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