The F-15EX Eagle II has a mission-capable rate of 83%. The F-35 has a mission-capable rate of 51%. The F-22 Raptor has a mission-capable rate of 40%. The F-15EX Eagle II is not a stealth fighter. The F-15EX has a payload of 29,500 pounds and can carry 22 air-to-air missiles. The F-15EX has a top speed of Mach 2.5 — faster than the F-35 at Mach 1.6 and the F-22 at Mach 2.25. The F-15EX shares 70% commonality with the existing F-15 fleet. All of this means the F-15EX Eagle II is one of the best fighters on Earth.
The F-15EX Eagle Is One Amazing Fighter
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Turner, 40th Flight Test Squadron commander flies 40 FLTS Senior Enlisted Leader, MSgt Tristan McIntire during a test sortie in the F-15EX Eagle II over the Gulf of Mexico on Jun. 14, 2022. Assigned to the 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the F-15EX Eagle II is the Air Force’s newest 4th generation fighter being tested at the 40 FLTS. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. John McRell)
A U.S. Air Force F-15EX Eagle II fighter jet assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flies near Jacksonville, Florida, Nov. 2, 2024. Airmen from the 40th Flight Test Squadron and 96th Aircraft Maintenance Unit supported a flyover for the annual Florida-Georgia college football game. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Blake Wiles)
An F-15EX Eagle II, assigned to the 142nd Wing, taxis on the flightline before take-off during the official Unveiling Ceremony for the new fighter jet at the Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon on July 12, 2024. The 142nd Wing will be replacing the F-15 C/D model Eagles with the new F-15EX Eagle II models. (National Guard photo by John Hughel, Oregon Military Department Public Affairs)
The F-15EX Eagle II is not a stealth fighter, nor a revolutionary concept. Yet, the new F-15 is one of the most important new aircraft in the USAF, built to fill a gap in firepower and capacity, and to enable stealth fighters to do what they do best.
F-15EX Eagle II Question: Why Not a Clean-Sheet Design?
The question has been posed: why, in the age of stealth, update a Cold War-era non-stealth fighter rather than build a clean-sheet stealth fighter?
The F-15EX was derived from the traditional F-15 lineage after receiving $5 billion in research and development funding from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. At the time, the USAF’s F-15C fleet was aging dangerously, with an average age of 38 years.
Many of the F-15Cs had exceeded their 9,000 flight hour cap. Meanwhile, the F-22 Raptor production line had been closed sooner than originally expected. The F-15EX was conceived as a fast, low-risk replacement, rather than a clean-sheet fighter.
Why? Because a new fighter could have taken a decade or two to develop from scratch and would have cost tens of billions of dollars.
The F-15EX Eagle II was derived from an existing and proven airframe, without the need for massive R&D investments.
The logistics were simpler, too, sharing 70 percent commonality with existing F-15s and drawing from an existing infrastructure of bases and tooling.
The pilot transition from the legacy F-15 to the F-15EX took weeks rather than the months or years it would have taken to learn a new, clean-sheet fighter. In short, the F-15EX provided the USAF with a fast, affordable fix.
Technical Overview of the F-15EX Eagle II
The F-15EX has a massive payload of 29,500 pounds and can carry 22 air-to-air missiles. In effect, the EX can serve as a missile truck, with the flexibility to carry hypersonic missiles and oversized munitions.
The EX is also quite fast, with a top speed of Mach 2.5, exceeding that of the F-35 (Mach 1.6) and the F-22 (Mach 2.25). One of the biggest upgrades to the EX is the addition of the EPAWSS system, which detects threats, jams radar, and adapts in real time.
So, despite not being a stealth platform, the F-15EX is built for survivability—albeit in more permissive environments —thanks to its payload, speed, and processing power.
Tactics and Strategy
While stealth fighters are used to detect targets, the F-15EX, serving as a missile truck, launches weapons.
The separation of roles—with stealth fighters sensing and the EX offering volume fire—allows each system to play to its strengths.
The F-15EX specifically operates outside of dense air defenses, firing long-range missiles from stand-off range.
The massive missile load has the capacity to overwhelm enemies with volume, while the two-seat configuration allows for command and control, i.e., managing drones and coordinating formations. In effect, the F-15EX amplifies networked warfare.
With the USAF short on fighters, the EX fills an immediate gap while being cheaper to operate than stealth platforms.
The presence of the EX allows the USAF to preserve F-35 and F-22 flight hours (which cost more) for moments when those platforms are truly needed.
And because stealth fighters must carry their weapons internally to maintain stealth performance, they cannot carry large next-gen weapons, such as hypersonics. The EX, however, can offer more firepower.
The EX is also particularly relevant for homeland defense and interception missions that do not require stealth. So, the EX solves multiple problems simultaneously.
Real-World Performance
The F-15EX Eagle II entered service in 2024 with the Oregon ANG. If you’ve ever been to Portland International Airport, you’ve likely seen EXs lined along the southern edge of the runway.
The ANG was an appropriate entry point for the platform, which will often be called upon to serve in a homeland defense role. With a mission-capable rate of 83 percent (higher than the F-35’s 51 percent and the F-22’s 40 percent), the EX has proven a reliable platform.
This high reliability is a major advantage.
In the future, expect the EX to serve in a “high-low” mix with stealth platforms, pairing with the F-35 and NGAD for drone control and hypersonic delivery, as warfare continues to trend toward networked, distributed air combat.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a writer and attorney focused on national security, technology, and political culture. His work has appeared in City Journal, The Hill, Quillette, The Spectator, and The Cipher Brief. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global & Joint Program Studies from NYU. More at harrisonkass.com.
