Combat aircraft

Combat

Aircraft^

reviews the

status of the

F-15 Eagle and

its operators.

REPORT^

Jamie Hunter

A

$6.2BILLION ORDER

FROM the government

of Qatar for 36 F-15QA

(Qatari Advanced)  ghters

is the latest in a long line of

successes for the Eagle. In

fact, the Boeing heavyweight is

enjoying something of a renaissance,

having scratched around for new

business a decade ago. Today, money

from Qatar and Saudi Arabia has

injected new life into the St Louis-based

program that is now marketed as the

Advanced F-15, and which has set a new

benchmark for the  ghter that  rst  ew

46 years ago.

Steve Parker, Boeing’s vice-president of

F-15 programs says the Eagle is going to

be around for a long time. ‘We’re happy

with where it is now. The beast is still

unbelievable and it’s only getting better.’

The F-15QA will be the most capable

variant to date, building on the already

impressive F-15SA for Saudi Arabia by

adding new 10 x 19in large-area displays

(LADs) in both cockpits and adding

the new AN/APG-82(V)1 advanced

electronically scanned array (AESA) radar

that is also being retro tted to US Air

Force F-15Es. Parker told Combat Aircraft,

‘The old days of the F-15 trying to hang in

there are gone. We are foot-to-the- oor

and seeing a lot of interest.’

Strong foundation

The story of the F-15 is long and well

told. It dates back to a USAF requirement

drawn up in 1965 o the back of combat

experience in Vietnam. The F-15 was

ordered straight o the McDonnell

Douglas drawing board with little

real competition, although the USAF

The F-15SA is the

fi rst of the fl y-by-

wire Eagles, with

84 new aircraft

being built for the

Royal Saudi Air

Force. Saudi MoD/

Jamie Hunter

40 May 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

40-51 Eagles of the world C.indd 40 21/03/2018 10:44