Key Points and Summary – The legendary F-15 Eagle, a dominant air superiority fighter since the Cold War, has been reborn for modern warfare in its F-15EX variant.
-While it lacks the stealth of 5th-generation jets, the Eagle II has been reimagined as a “bomb truck” and a long-range “missile truck.”
-With a massive payload capacity and advanced avionics, its new mission is to fly behind stealthier aircraft like the F-35 and F-47, launching swarms of standoff munitions.
-This evolution, first pioneered in advanced export versions for allies like Saudi Arabia in the F-15SA fighter, keeps the 50-year-old airframe strategically vital.
How the F-15 Became the F-15SA and Then Became the F-15EX Eagle II
The F-15 Eagle came about as a result of intense Cold War rivalry. It was one of the stars of the teen-series jets, which saw wide service at that time and included the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-14 Tomcat.
The Eagle is a powerful, two-engine jet designed to combine high top speed, agility, and excellent maneuverability, as well as an advanced set of sensors, to dominate the aerial domain and win – even against very fast jets such as the Soviet MiG-25.
Since its introduction into service during the Cold War, the F-15 has been widely exported in increasingly sophisticated configurations to the United States’ partners and allies. The Eagles in U.S. service have evolved considerably since their early years during the Cold War; the more recent renditions are much more advanced than the first of their kind.
And while the United States recently announced the future entry into service of the F-47, jets such as the F-15, in its most upgraded and advanced variants, continue to serve with the U.S. Air Force, as well as with some Air National Guard units.
Thanks to the F-15’s high payload capacity and its considerable range – especially when loaded with the additional fuel afforded by drop tanks and conformal fuel tanks – the Eagle continues to excel as a strike aircraft, particularly in operations in which airspace is not contested.
One variant, the F-15E Strike Eagle, introduced multirole capabilities to the F-15 platform, enabling the use of precision munitions against ground targets while also ensuring the jet excelled as an air-to-air superiority platform.
This evolution has been crucial to the jet’s continued success in the years following the end of the Cold War – years during which defense budgets in the United States and elsewhere tended to shrink.
F-15SA Saudi Advanced Fighter
The jet has achieved considerable success, not only in the United States but also in the export market. One of the more advanced F-15 variants to see service abroad is the F-15SA (Saudi Advanced), a purpose-built Eagle produced for Saudi Arabia.
The F-15SA is essentially an F-15AD, or Advanced Eagle. An article announcing the sale of F-15s to Saudi Arabia explained that the new-build F-15s would come equipped with APG-63(v)3 Active Electronically Scanned Array radars, and that 70 other F-15s already in Saudi service would also be upgraded to the SA standard.
The Saudi jets are also equipped with an advanced ALQ-239 Digital Electronic Warfare System. F-15EXs, on the other hand, are equipped with the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System.
The 84 F-15SAs that Saudi Arabia ordered in 2011 were a significant step forward for the F-15 program. The SA-designated F-15s were the first of the “Advanced” F-15s, incorporating a new digital fly-by-wire system that allowed for significantly improved handling, while also introducing two additional weapon stations for the large jet, thereby expanding its payload potential.
The aircraft would become an important stepping stone toward the most advanced F-15 yet, the F-15EX Eagle II.
F-15EX Eagle II Fighter Is Born
An article from 2020 summed up the hope and hype surrounding the F-15EX prior to its entry into service.
“The F-15EX comes with nearly all the bells and whistles Eagle drivers have ever wished for: fly-by-wire flight controls, two new weapon stations, a new electronic warfare suite, advanced radar, a hyper-fast computer, conformal fuel tanks, and a strengthened structure,” Air Space Forces Magazine wrote, though with a significant caveat that still holds true today.
The F-15EX is “still a fourth-generation fighter, no stealthier than the F-15A that rolled out in 1974.”
The writer here acknowledged how much aerial warfare had changed since the Cold War. “Low observability is considered crucial for operating near modern adversary air defenses, so this new fighter will have to remain, for the most part, outside enemy airspace until those defenses can be beaten down.”
While the F-15EX pilot — or the pilot of any Eagle variant, for that matter—would probably not want to fly against a stealthy, fifth-generation platform such as the F-35 Lightning II or the F-22 Raptor, it does have a significantly greater payload capacity than those platforms.
It retains a respectable range that can be boosted by external fuel stores. Those qualities make the F-15 still relevant.
As a long-range strike and missile platform (some even call the fighter a bomb or missile truck), the F-15EX could still conduct combat missions in tandem with other, stealthier assets.
When equipped with long-range stand-off munitions, the F-15EX would, in theory, be able to bring a significant amount of mass to an aerial fight, complementing the newer, highly stealthy jets that have, by comparison, a relatively small payload capacity.
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.
The Best Tanks on Earth
AbramsX: The Tank the US Army Wants
Pingback: Is Boeing's New F-47 Fighter About to Be 'Delayed'? - National Security Journal