Key Points and Summary on F-15N – The U.S. Navy’s decision in the 1970s to choose the F-14 Tomcat over a proposed naval variant of the F-15 Eagle, the F-15N “Sea Eagle,” was a pivotal moment in naval aviation history.
-A primary reason for the decision was the F-15N’s incompatibility with the Navy’s prized AIM-54 Phoenix long-range missile, which was a key component of the F-14’s fleet defense mission.
-While the F-15 was faster and had its own strengths, the Navy prioritized the Tomcat-Phoenix combination.
-In retrospect, some argue that a modernized F-15N, benefiting from the same advanced computers and sensors as today’s F-15EX, would have been a powerful complement to the carrier air wing.
Meet the F-15N Sea Eagle Fighter
The successful upgrades to the US Air Force F-15 might lead many to retroactively wish the Navy stayed the course with its carrier-launched F-15N plan years ago, as it might still be in position to complement the F/A-18 and F-35C on a modern Carrier Air Wing.
However, reports documenting history explain that, although the F-15N showed promising capabilities, it proved incompatible with the Navy’s highly valued AIM-54 Phoenix, according to an interesting essay in The National Interest.
Therefore, the Navy prioritized the high-performing F-14 Tomcat, as it was able to be configured with the AIM-54.
There are many lingering questions which can be posed decades beyond key decisions and developments about the F-15N, as they are afforded the advantage of time and perspective. For example, the F-14 Tomcat was nearly as fast as the F-22, so some wonder if the two-man crew carrier-launched air fighter was retired far too soon.
Challenged Carrier Air Wing
Perhaps budget constraints at the time, and a need to streamline production capacity, required that the Navy continue with only one of the two carrier-launched aircraft options. Looking back decades, it may now appear that the Navy would have best been served by continuing both the F-15N and the Tomcat.
Why? Both aircraft introduce unique and arguably unprecedented advantages. While the F/A-18 has benefitted from years of upgrades and Service Life Extension Programs (SLEP), it would have been very nicely fortified by both a continued F-14 Tomcat and Navy F-15 variant.
The two aircraft and the F/A-18 would have complemented one another to complete an unrivaled integrated Carrier Air Wing capacity.
Each aircraft would have brought something the others did not.
High Speed F-14 & F-15
Both the F-14 Tomcat and F-15N would have brought massive combined speed, something which has shown to be of great advantage in air war. The F-14 could travel at Mach 2.25 and the F-15 is cited by some specs to be capable of an unmatched Mach 2.4, placing these two aircraft among the fastest fighter jets ever to exist.
The F-14 brought the advantage of a Naval aviator, trained airmen prepared to support the pilot with awareness, targeting and navigational detail. A second set of eyes brought additional human perspective to air combat in the realm of conducting air attacks and establishing air superiority.
The F-15N could have not only brought unprecedented speeds comparable to an F-14, yet in a single seat configuration, but also introduced paradigm-changing kinds of radar detection, weaponry and computing. One needs to merely look at the numerous upgrades woven into the 4th-gen “plus” F-15EX and its F-15E Strike Eagle counterpart to understand that critical upgrades could have similarly improved a Navy F-15N, should it have existed.
Computer 87 Billion Functions Per Second
In recent years, the F-15 has received F-35-like Active Electronically Scanned Array radar capable of tracking numerous targets at one time, new weapons applications and a paradigm-changing new generation of computing. In recent years, the US Air Force F-15E has received a computer called the Advanced Display Core Processor, or ADCPII, a system capable of performing as many as 87 billion instructions per second.
This kind of processing speed would seem to exponentially change targeting and attack speed in a manner that enables the fighter to operate inside of an enemy’s decision-cycle. The F-15 has also received a cutting edge targeting sensor called Infrared Search and Track (IRST), a technology which improves infrared, heat signature targeting and also positions the aircraft to operate successfully in an EW “jamming” type of environment.
For example, the F-15 Eagle’s Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) has for several years now been capable of conducting both active and passive EW in support of combat missions at unprecedented speeds.
While listed as only reaching speeds of roughly Mach 1.6, the F-35 has found unprecedented value in drone-like sensing, stand-off attacking and integrated computing. Clearly the F-15 configuration is not exactly stealthy, particularly when hardpoints or weapons pylons are considered, yet it is famous for having a perfect air-combat record of more than 100 kills with zero losses.
It seems likely that these F-15 upgrades could have equally been applied to an F-15N and fortified the Carrier Air Wing for decades.
Such a move could have proven very critical during those critical transition years when F-14 Tomcats had been retired, the Navy did not have enough F/A-18s and the F-35C had not yet arrived in sufficient numbers.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
More Military
Russia’s Su-57 Felon Stealth Fighter Is a Waste of Rubles
