Key Points and Summary – The F-15EX Eagle II is a heavily upgraded version of the Cold War-era fighter, designed for a unique role in the future Air Force.
-Instead of dogfighting with stealth jets, it will serve two key missions: acting as a “bomb truck” with a massive 29,500-pound payload to launch standoff munitions, and serving as a “quarterback” for controlling loyal wingman drones.
-This strategy leverages the F-15EX’s two-seat cockpit and immense carrying capacity to fill a numerical and capability gap created when the F-22 Raptor production line was shut down prematurely.
The F-15EX Eagle II from Boeing: A Legend Gets Better
The newest variant of Boeing’s F-15 is the F-15EX, an extensively upgraded version of the jet fighter that first entered service in the 1970s. Updated avionics, as well as what Boeing calls the world’s most powerful fighter jet radar, and other upgrades give that Cold War-era platform new life.
Though the original F-15 jet is a Cold War-era design, the U.S. Air Force is doubling down on the platform, betting that in roles other than highly contested, front-line areas, the updated legacy jet can remain relevant and augment the capabilities of much more advanced fifth-generation aircraft. Part of the key to the F-15EX’s success could be Loyal Wingmen aircraft.
The future of aerial warfare will, at least in part, be unmanned. Directed by a human pilot acting as a kind of aerial quarterback, Loyal Wingmen drones will be affordable and expendable, able to fly into dangerous, contested environments without putting a pilot at risk. They’ll also be somewhat stealthy, a task made slightly easier by their smaller size, given the lack of a cockpit for a human pilot.
Jets like the F-15EX, the F-16, or other fourth-generation aircraft are unlikely to go toe-to-toe against more advanced fifth or sixth-generation aircraft. Modern air defenses, increasingly sophisticated and potentially lethal against even advanced stealth aircraft, pose a serious threat now and will continue to pose a danger to survivability in the future. But by leveraging the abilities of Loyal Wingmen drones, they stand a fighting chance.
“Facilitated by its advanced mission computing, platform architectures, communication networks and comprehensive sensor suite, the F-15EX provides a realistic growth path to the future of manned-unmanned teaming. These foundational components, enhanced by its two-seat configuration, advanced crew station and large area display, empower the F-15EX to manage increased workloads with heightened situational awareness and control,” Boeing explains.
“Facilitating airborne battle management and joint all domain command and control, the F-15EX is provisioned to redefine air dominance and provide a dynamic and flexible option for air superiority of the future.”
F-15EX Eagle: Different than F-22 and F-35
While the F-35, the F-22 Raptor, and presumably the upcoming sixth-generation F-47 are all single-seat aircraft, the F-15EX instead takes a different tact, with an extended, two-man cockpit that is typically held for a Weapon Systems Officer, responsible for much of the aircraft’s weaponry — and in the future, likely the operator of Loyal Wingmen aircraft. With the workload divided between the pilot and WSO, performance optimizations are possible that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.
But Weapon Systems Officer, Loyal Wingmen drones, and lack of stealth capabilities aside, the F-15EX possesses another capability that separates it from many other fighter jets: an immense payload capacity that can, in some configurations, turn the jet, in essence, into a medium bomber.
Boeing lists the F-15EX’s massive payload capacity at about 13,300 kilograms, or 29,500 pounds, or nearly three-quarters that of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber’s 40,000-pound payload.
Thanks to numerous pylons on the wing undersides, as well as other payload attachment points on the fuselage, the F-15EX can carry over a dozen weapons in many different configurations. Additionally, the F-15 platform can be equipped with a pair of oversized external fuel tanks, as seen in Israeli service, which greatly increases its range.
The successor to the F-15, the F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter, is significantly superior to the F-15, even in its most advanced EX form.
Not only does it possess significant stealth capabilities, but it is also more maneuverable, despite lacking the massive payload capacity of its predecessor. It is, however, lacking in a meaningful way: the remarkable jet is no longer in production.
As a result of the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and a dearth of peer or even near-peer adversaries, the F-22 Raptor line was shut down after less than 200 of the fifth-generation stealth fighters had been produced.
With very few use-case scenarios, the justification for the expensive fighter was limited. Instead of the anticipated 700 or so F-22s the U.S. Air Force initially sought to procure, they didn’t have a conceivable enemy to fight, limiting the Raptor production run.
F-15EX Eagle II: What Next?
Compared to today’s fifth-generation stealth aircraft, the F-15EX is significantly less sophisticated. But that perhaps does not matter — the F-15EX would not go up against those kinds of platforms even if it could.
Instead, by controlling more advanced, potentially stealthy Loyal Wingmen-type drones as well as an immense payload capacity, the F-15EX could instead launch long-range stand-off munitions against a variety of aerial and ground-based targets, in essence bringing a potentially great deal of mass to a fight against a more sophisticated rival while more advanced fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft contest airspace farther forward, augmented by Loyal Wingmen drones.
Another extremely beneficial factor the F-15EX has going for it is its production line: it is still active, unlike the F-22. Though the F-15EX lacks the technological sophistication of more advanced aircraft, it can be built quickly and relatively cheaply.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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