Posted on 04/23/2019 12:26:14 PM PDT by Mariner
ST. LOUIS — Boeing is preparing to build F-15 fighter planes for the U.S. Air Force at its St. Louis County plant even though the military branch hasn’t bought the jet in over a decade.
The Chicago-based company began ramping up its F-15 production line near St. Louis after the Air Force submitted a nearly $8 billion budget request last month that included eight F-15s next year and 72 in the following four years. The request came as a surprise to many since the U.S. military has moved toward stealth fighters, such as Lockheed Martin's F-35, in recent years.
Prat Kumar, Boeing International’s vice president, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the company is investing before Congress approves the budget request so it can respond quickly should the Air Force seek rapid field deployment.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
They will keep the F-35 budget essentially the same, and are looking at ramping up F-15 production to 3 per month.
What's up?
The F-15c is STILL the second best air superiority fighter in the world. And has never been defeated. It's like 128-0.
One really can’t have too many F-15s.
Ping.
The F-15Cs that we have are wearing out.
Am I to assume from this that our boys will not be coming home from the ME or Korean peninsula any time soon?
And/or could we be preparing for skirmishes in and around Venezuela for an extended period of time?
I DO assume that BA has inside information on military affairs since Nikki Haley is now on the Board of Directors.
Gosh that’s great.
Kumar arrived in the US from India in 1991. Now he’s the F-15 Program Manager.
What a wonderful story to tell our kids. You can be a success in the US running front line military programs...as long as you’re from somewhere else.
Undoubtedly a Real American though. I’m sure I’ll get tons of lectures here about how he’s true blue, loyal through and through.
Yeessirree, I believe that.
Long as he’s gittin paid.
There are simple ways to defeat stealth.
“The F-15Cs that we have are wearing out.”
I think that is the right answer.
In order to preserve the Air Superiority mix of “high/low” with the F-22s, we need more “low” F-15s. The ones we have are worn out, and their avionics/weapons are aged as well.
Hopefully they will do a better job than several of their recent efforts.
“There are simple ways to defeat stealth.”
Yeah, visual targeting with guns.
Plus you can put an F-15 in the air without so much doubt that it won’t come home at the cost of a quarter billion.
Exactly. Stealth is somewhat overrated.
I totally agree with your assessment. Most encounters have been and will be with gen 4 or less airplanes from 3rd world countries.
The F-15 fares very well against these adversaries. They only fall short in a hypothetical battle with another country that has gen 5 assets.
Even then, I believe that tactics and experience can still make the F-15 shine if the leadership uses the right tactics and listens to the eagle drivers.
Trump said he wanted more F-15’s a few years ago.
“The F-15c is STILL the second best air superiority fighter in the world. And has never been defeated. It’s like 128-0. “
What’s the number one air superiority fighter?
These will be the latest teched-up F-15X, and they will actually be just as expensive as the F-35. The Air Force IG is investigating Acting SECDEF Shanahan, a former executive with Boeing, of exerting his influence to buy more expensive Boeing F-15X’s over the Lockheed F-35’s, as well as a bunch of other contracts that have gone Boeing’s way since he arrived at DOD.
According to some reports, the USAF wanted more F-35’s and work on a 6th generation fighter. I have no idea if those reports are true, and you would hope that Shanahan has no financial ties to his former employer. Either way, if the USAF is going to buy the F-15X, they really need to buy a long range missile to go with it. These planes will be around a long time, and will eventually face a 5th gen enemy. EU, Russia and China all have long range A2A weapons.
“Exactly. Stealth is somewhat overrated.”
Tell that to the five F-15 pilots who faced off against one F-22.
[One really can’t have too many F-15s.]
I agree. Used to land at Lambert (commercial passenger) all the time in the 1990’s.
Sure was nice seeing the parked F-15s out there.
Stealth has it’s uses, but there are a lot of other missions where it isn’t a primary concern. If recent conflicts are any indication, you need (well, it reduces mission risk and improves odds of success) stealth fighter/strike sorties to knock out opposition air force and air defense units. Once you have air superiority over the battlefield, there are a whole lot of flight hours that don’t necessarily need stealth. These missions could be accomplished by an aircraft if it were very capable, reliable, proven, and at least a little bit less expensive to operate.
The new F-15s will have new avionics and weaponsThe Next Generation F-15 Is Packed With Missiles
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