EAGLE OPERATORS
UNITED STATES
The US Air Force retains three active-
duty squadrons of F-15C/Ds, one at RAF
Lakenheath, UK, and two at Kadena,
Japan. The bulk of the Eagle community
resides with the Air National Guard, with
squadrons at Kingsley Field and Portland
in Oregon, New Orleans in Louisiana,
West eld-Barnes in Massachusetts,
Jacksonville in Florida and Fresno in
California. In 2017, the guard tabled a
motion to retire the Eagle in favor of
retaining and upgrading its F-16s.
Maj Gen Scott West, director of current
operations and deputy chief of sta for
operations, HQ USAF, told the Senate
House Armed Services Committee that
the ANG had tabled a ‘pre-decisional’
consideration of replacing the F-15C with
the F-16C in the homeland defense role.
‘The F-15C was our air superiority ghter;
now [the] F-22 has taken that role. We
have capacity in the F-16C community
to recapitalize with a new radar to serve
the same capacity the F-15C has done,’
West said.
Since then, with moves to increase
the USAF ghter squadron community,
talk of retiring the F-15C has subsided.
Instead, the USAF has delicately re-
focused its modernization e orts for
the Eagle.
Having been overlooked for signi cant
upgrades since the USAF pioneered the
pairing of the Joint Helmet-Mounted
Cueing System (JHMCS) with the
Raytheon AIM-9X on the F-15C, the type is
now receiving some of the kit it needs in
order to remain credible.
With around 179 F-15C/Ds on its books,
the USAF is retro tting the C-model eet
with the Raytheon AN/APG-63(V)3 active
electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
When combined with the AIM-120D
variant of the Advanced Medium-Range
Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) it means the
Eagle’s beyond visual range (BVR) prowess
is better than ever. Boeing has also begun
adding the new Advanced Display Core
Processor II (ADCP-II) mission computer to
both the F-15C and the F-15E, though the
BAE Systems Eagle Passive/Active Warning
Survivability System (EPAWSS) has now
been struck from the C-model. The service
originally planned for 413 upgrades,
covering both the F-15C and the F-15E,
but its removal from the F-15C planleaves the air superiority Eagle without a
meaningful electronic warfare capability.
Emphasis has instead switched to
structural integrity and enhancing the
ghter’s armament. Under the Persistent
Air Dominance Enabler initiative, the
Louisiana ANG has been testing conformal
fuel tanks (CFTs) from the Advanced
F-15 on two of its jets. This is aimed at
providing additional fuel, range and loiter
time for the homeland defense mission.
The CFTs will not give the F-15C additional
weapons stations, but they retain their
air-to-ground stores hardpoints. Steve
Parker said, ‘The testing was planned to be
wrapped up by the end of March. We’ve
had great feedback so far from our team
working with the guard.’
The so-called ‘2040C’ Eagle being touted
by Boeing includes a raft of improvements
including increased missile carriage for
up to 16 AMRAAMs, the new large-area
cockpit displays and other improvements.
However, it’s possible that most elements
of these ambitious plans will prove simply
too expensive for the USAF, which has
allocated $1 billion for F-15 modernization
in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget.
Boeing has selected the Lockheed
Martin Legion Pod for the F-15C, a new
passive infra-red search and track (IRST)
capability and upgrades to the longerons
in the forward fuselage. Parker says Boeing
expects that the USAF will look to procure
‘a small subset of wings for some aircraft’
to enable the ghter to remain in service
until the 2030s. Eagles were originally
‘lifed’ to 4,000 hours, but with many up
around 10,000 already the USAF is looking
to stretch the lives of these jets to 18,000
hours. New wings will be required to help
achieve this.
The Talon HATE project, designed to
enable fourth-to- fth generation data
sharing, has been completed. As well
as enhanced situational awareness, the
system is designed to enable F-15C pilots
to receive a battlespace ‘picture’ from the
F-22. The pod is then used to transmit
both long-range radar and IRST data to
the F-22, increasing the Raptor’s detection
capabilities and decreasing reliance on
its own sensors — thereby helping it to
remain undetected. While the program
has been completed on the F-15C, it is
not clear whether this will progress to an
operational capability.provision for other sensors,’ explains
Parker, noting that the F-15QA will be
equipped with the AN/APG-82 vice the
APG-63(V)3 in the new Saudi jets. ‘We are
also re-mastering the Qatari wing with
proprietary technology, which takes cost
out. That will also be available for the [US]
air force for the F-15C and E.’ The new
wing reportedly adds strength to the
internal structure without changing the
aerodynamics.
Parker says the F-15QA ‘comes o
the Saudi pedigree.’ The Qatari aircraft
will also be the rst with the 10 x 19in
large-area displays, plus a new low-
pro le head-up display (HUD). The LAD
is attracting a lot of interest from current
F-15 customers, according to Parker,
with four air forces already interested in
such a cockpit upgrade. ‘There’s amazing
processing power in the display itself,’ he
says, adding that it’s powered by the new
advanced display core processor (ADCP)
II, a common mission computer with
‘tremendous growth potential’.
The F-15QA order has extended the
life of the F-15 line at St Louis until 2022,
and Parker sees good potential for more
business. ‘I expect us to go to the full
order of 72 aircraft for Qatar. We are
starting to cut metal [on the rst batch]
and we are already talking about pricing
for additional aircraft.’ Parker says that he
sees a market for future sales, reporting
that Boeing has provided a classi ed
brie ng on the F-15 to the German
Luftwa e as it examines options to
replace its Tornado eet.http://www.combataircraft.net // May 2018 43
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