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Those sonic booms heard this morning over the Bay Area were not from the Blue Angels practicing their Fleet Week routine months early, but rather a tribute to those risking their lives during the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday morning shortly before 11 am, four California National Guard F-15C fighter jets flew over the San Francisco Bay Area as part of Operation America Strong. The purpose of the flyovers was to recognize frontline personnel dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes essential personnel, healthcare workers and first responders. "A lot of blood, sweat, and tears have gone into...

Last week, the aerospace-defense community was overwhelmingly intrigued by a report from Defenseone.com that said Boeing was pitching a new variant of its 45-year-old F-15 Eagle line of fighters to the United States Air Force. Still, next to nothing is known about this initiative, including where it came from and what it entails exactly. Although it has been framed as a Boeing solicitation to the USAF, the opposite is actually true—the USAF began the discussion over a year and a half ago. Since then, ongoing talks have been kept incredibly hush-hush, along with the details of the aircraft involved—until now....

It's no secret that Taiwan wants the F-35, and especially the F-35B with its ability to operate from dispersed locales that normal fixed-wing fighters cannot. During the Obama administration, even allowing Taiwan to purchase late-block F-16s was deemed unacceptable under a highly controversial policy. Instead the country had to upgrade its old F-16As to a similar configuration. Although the Trump administration is rewriting the book when it comes to Taiwan-U.S. relations, F-35s are still seemingly off the table, but leased second-hand F-15C Eagles may not be. It has been abundantly clear from early on that despite trying to woo the...

Boeing posted an image today of a Louisiana Air National Guard F-15C wearing a pair of conformal fuel tanks (CFTs). The tanks are part of a new initiative to give the F-15C fleet more gas and weapons carrying capability in order to execute what the Air National Guard calls future "persistent air dominance missions." The 159th Fighter Wing "Bayou Militia" is the first unit to receive the tanks for testing and evaluation. Boeing's Randy Jackson stated the following in an email to the The War Zone: "The first flight with the tanks was achieved in just 10 months after the...

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) Legion Pod® has been selected as the Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system for the U.S. Air Force's F-15C fleet. Lockheed Martin will produce more than 130 systems, which will be delivered for aircraft integration. Lockheed Martin’s Legion Pod® has been selected as the Infrared Search and Track system for the U.S. Air Force’s F-15C fleet. Equipped with the company's IRST21® infrared sensor and advanced data processing capabilities, Legion Pod provides long-range detection and tracking of airborne threats in radar-denied environments. The Boeing Company, serving as the U.S. Air...

This startling news came during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the current state of the U.S. Air Force. Chairman Joe Wilson asked right out of the gate about a previously unknown USAF plan to retire the F-15C/D Eagle fleet and replace them with F-16s. The subject of the question itself seemed to be big news to the committee with Congresswoman Vikki Hartzler later asking about what upgrades the F-15C/D was going to get so it could meet modern threats. Obviously the answer is not many if the Air Force is going to retire the jets in the relatively...

Advanced derivatives of the tri-service Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could replace the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor, Boeing F-15C Eagle and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, multiple sources told the National Interest. However, they added that the idea of replacing the high flying and fast Raptor with the slower and less agile F-35 was not well received by many within the Air Force. “No doubt that the F-35 will be doing air dominance missions in the future,” one industry official said. “Especially with more internal air-to-air, and maybe a new engine.”

One of the most important programs that the U.S. Air Force is undertaking is far from glamorous and comes with a funny name: Talon HATE. But this podded system will be vital for eliminating communications barriers between the F-22 and F-15C/D fleets, as well as other weapon systems. It’s showing for the first time on the belly of an Operational Test F-15C flying out of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. Here’s how it works. The F-15 is no stranger when it comes to evolving with the times, and Boeing is doing just that with this new communications and sensor...

Boeing has unveiled an up-gunned version of its supersonic F-15C air superiority jet designed to keep the aging fleet operationally relevant through 2040. Called 2040C, the upgrade package includes “quad pack” munitions racks designed to double the aircraft’s air-to-air missile payload to 16 and conformal fuel tanks for extended-range flights. For communications, Boeing is naturally offering “Talon HATE” – the air force’s programme of record for connecting the F-15 with Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor. In terms of survivability, Boeing’s package includes Raytheon’s APG-63(v)3 active synthetically scanned array (AESA) radar and a long-range infrared search and track (IRST) sensor for “first...

When the F-15 was created, it was created to be a pure air-to-air fighter, with the philosophy of “not a pound for air-to-ground” guiding designers. So how did Israel end up turning their F-15s into deadly long-range multi-role strike aircraft well before the F-15E Strike Eagle became a reality? Here’s how. In Need Of A Game Changing Fighter Israel’s love affair with the F-15 began out of the need to procure a fighter that could trump the increasingly complex fighters that surrounding Arab states were amassing from Russian and French sources. Both the F-14 Tomcat and the F-15 Eagle were...

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - Members of the Massachusetts Air National Guard left for the site of an F-15 crash late Wednesday, hours after witnesses reported seeing a parachute deploy in the air. The eyewitness accounts of a pilot ejection near Elliot Knob, Va. were first published in the Staunton News Leader, although helicopters have not found a parachute.

USAF F-15Cs train with Su-30MKMs for the first time While we often talk about the newest fifth-generation fighters in the US (and now others') inventory, it can't be forgotten that the vast majority of the operational fleet consists of so-called "legacy" fourth-generation machines. Though having sometimes served for decades, many of these fighters are still extremely capable. The Boeing F-15C Eagle is considered by many to be the finest air superiority machine ever built. Recently in April, the 18th Wing's 67th Fighter Squadron, which flies active electronically scanned array radar-equipped versions of the venerable Eagle, participated in a two-week exercise...

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has received a contract from Boeing for the production of advanced APG-63(V)3 Active Electronically Scanned Array radars. The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Air National Guard will receive radars from the contract and deliveries will begin in the second quarter of 2011. The radars are intended to enhance the performance of deployed F-15C aircraft and will replace the current mechanically scanned radar systems. With its superior targeting and tracking capabilities, the APG-63(V)3 will enable aircrews to detect and identify targets well beyond the range of the existing systems. "Our APG-63(V)3 AESA radars offer significant reliability...

Boeing and U.S. Air Force officials at Kadena Air Base celebrated the arrival of four F-15Cs upgraded with the APG-63(V)3 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on Oct. 21. The newly arrived F-15Cs will join the APG-63(V)1 and (V)2 aircraft already in the 44th and 67th Fighter Squadrons to provide unmatched combat power for the defense of Japan. The upgrades were installed and tested at Langley Air Force Base, Va. Boeing is under contract to fully upgrade 27 Air Force and 18 Air National Guard F-15C/D aircraft with the APG-63(V)3 AESA over the next 10 months. A total of 54...

An-F-15C fighter aircraft credited with two aerial victories over Iraq during Operation Desert Storm will be towed down GA Highway 247 to the Museum of Aviation on Friday, October 29 at approximately 9:00 a.m. The towing will affect 247 traffic for about an hour. On February 6, 1991, Captain Thomas Dietz shot down two Russian-built MiG 21s over Iraq using AIM-9 missiles. The aircraft was assigned to the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing, Bitburg AB, Germany at the time flying missions from a base in Saudi Arabia. F-15s are credited with downing 37 aircraft during aerial engagements over Iraq during the...

Photo 1: USAF F-22A Raptor stealth fighter jet peels away from the F-15C Eagle fighter to land at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, USA, 16 July 2010. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20050822.htm (medium, large, huge) Photo 2: F-22A Raptor and F-15C Eagle pull into a vertical climb over the Nevada Test and Training Range, 16 July 2010...see Photo 3. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20050822.htm (medium, large, huge) Photo 3: And they're still climbing high above the Nevada Test and Training Range, Nevada, 16 July 2010. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20051129.htm (medium, large, huge) Photo 4: USAF F-15C Eagle and USAF F-22A Raptor over the Grand Canyon in Arizona,...

For 34 years, Peninsula residents could look skyward and spot the familiar silhouette of the F-15C Eagle. Enemy pilots never found the sight as comforting. The fighter has compiled a combat record of 104 victories against zero losses. Now an era is coming to end — two eras, really. The 71st Fighter Squadron at Langley is being inactivated, a move that was announced in June 2009 as part of a service-wide restructuring. And because the 71st flies the F-15, those jets are being parceled out to other Air Force and Air National Guard units. The last F-15 will leave Hampton...

Did you ever think the day would come when an Eagle would not be the most familiar sight in the Langley sky? Sadly, in the months to come, the very sight of an Eagle soaring across the Langley sky will soon become an uncommon phenomenon. Moreover, after a 34-year proud heritage, it is time for "the changing the guard" at Langley Air Force Base. The mighty F-15 Eagle will step aside and allow the "new kid on the block," the F-22 Raptor, to don the crown and set in motion a storyline that will someday solidify its own place in...

The Last Gunslinger The F-15C is the only dedicated dogfighter left in the U.S. military fleet. Why isn't the Air Force replacing it? By Michael Behar Air & Space Magazine, July 01, 2010 While driving through downtown Mountain Home, Idaho, on a gray February morning, I notice something troubling: Mountain Home has no mountains. Later I learn why. In the 1880s, the town was relocated. Its original site was an Overton trail stagecoach stop called Rattlesnake Station. A post office, a farmhouse, and a few clapboard structures were nestled in the foothills of the Sawtooth Range, where snowy peaks soar...

Upgraded F-15Cs to protect F-22s Posted by David A. Fulghum at 4/14/2010 9:07 AM CDT F-22 stealth fighter production is capped, so USAF officials are upgrading their best F-15C with advanced, long-range radars to beef up the air dominance force. Because of the larger size of the F-15s radar and the aircraft’s greater flight endurance, they also will serve as “stand-in” electronic warfare jamming and attack aircraft as part of the Air Force’s composite air dominance force that also includes stealthy F-22s stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Va. Each fighter type will shoulder 50% of the air dominance mission...