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A Saudi F-15SA on the flight line at Nellis during Red Flag 19-2. The aircraft have been flying in the U.S. since handover and will be delivered to the Kingdom after the exercise. (Photo: DVIDS) The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) deployed six of its new Boeing F-15SA Advanced Eagles to participate in the latest Red Flag exercise (Red Flag 19-2) at Nellis AFB, Nevada. This afforded the U.S. Air Force its first close-up view of the latest variant of the second-generation F-15 Advanced, since the decision to include the similar F-15EX in the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request....

It was a treble celebration in Riyadh at the King Faisal Air Academy (KFAA) as the college celebrated its 50th anniversary, marked the graduation of its 91st course of students, and welcomed the first of the Boeing F-15SA tactical fighters developed for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). King Salman attended the celebrations with his son, Defence Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Omar Al-Bashir, president of Sudan. The day’s ceremonial included a parade and a flypast, which featured one of the first four F-15SAs delivered, while two more aircraft were displayed on the ground. The king...

Boeing believes it has prospects and contracts for its F-15 Strike Eagle aircraft up until at least 2019 and likely beyond 2022. The company has deliveries ongoing for Saudi Arabia, which has ordered 84 aircraft, as well as an undisclosed customer and, according to a company official, is about to sign another contract with an unnamed operator, believed to be Qatar, for up to 72 aircraft. Over the last seven years the company has carried out major improvements to the original variant which has meant, according to officials, taking the life of the aircraft from 9,000 flight hours to 20,000...

“0 losses in 8 dogfights against F-15E Red Air” The U.S. Air Force F-35A fleet continues to work to declare the Lightning II IOC (initial operational capability) scheduled in the August – December timeframe. Among the activities carried out in the past weeks, a simulated deployment provided important feedbacks about the goal of demonstrating the F-35’s ability to “penetrate areas with developed air defenses, provide close air support to ground troops and be readily deployable to conflict theaters.” Seven F-35s deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, to carry out a series of operational tests...

Qatar asked for clearance from the U.S. Government to purchase 72 F-15E Strike Eagle derivatives, but the request has been slow-rolled. Now, almost two years later and after the Iran Nuclear Agreement has been implemented, there are high hopes the deal may finally be allowed to move forward. Considering that Qatar remains a close ally of the U.S. in the region, and their fighter business has traditionally gone to European manufacturers, penning a deal for dozens of F-15 Strike Eagles seems like a no-brainer. Yet, politically, this would seem not to be the case. Aside from Israel and Saudi Arabia,...

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Boeing's F-15E Strike Eagle. The company expects defense revenue from outside the U.S. to rise to much as 25 percent of all its defense business in five years on demand for fighter jets and helicopters.Boeing Co. expects defense revenue from outside the U.S. to rise to much as 25 percent of all its defense business in five years on demand for fighter jets and helicopters from Asia-Pacific countries. International revenue makes up about 16 percent of the defense division's total sales, Dennis Muilenburg, the head of the unit, said in Singapore today. Business from the Asia- Pacific, which accounts for...

Lockheed Martin has added all variants of the Boeing F-15 to an internal analysis of US Air Force platforms the company believes will be replaced by the F-35A Lightning II. Lockheed now predicts the F-35A will replace the F-15C/D air superiority fighter and the F-15E Strike Eagle. The USAF officially lists the F-35's conventional takeoff and landing variant as a ground-attack fighter complementing the air superiority mission, replacing only the Lockheed F-16 and the A-10. The speculative and unofficial addition of the F-15C/D and F-15E fleets allows Lockheed to claim the USAF's requirement to buy 1,763 F-35As over the next...

A U.S. F-15 fighter jet crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, the military said in a statement. The condition of the two crew was not known, the statement said, adding the crash was not due to hostile action.

Boeing Left as Sole Bidder for Fighter Contract U.S. aerospace company Boeing will likely be the sole bidder to participate in the second phase of Korea’s F-X fighter jet procurement project. Korea will purchase 20 F-15K fighter jets in the second phase of the defense project between 2010 and 2012. Originally three bidders were expected to compete to win the contract: U.S. defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin, European consortium Eurofighter International and Boeing. Lockheed Martin recently withdrew its bid and now Eurofighter has also decided not to participate. According to a military source, Eurofighter’s agent European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co....

'Not your father’s Oldsmobile’: F-15E+ Super Eagle unveiled By Guy Norris New-build aircraft would cover any significant service-entry delays for F-35 JSF Boeing has revealed details of the proposed F-15E+ “Super Eagle”, which is being offered as a “fourth-generation plus” fighter stopgap to the US Air Force in case of significant delays to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The new-build proposal, expected to be offered at a target price of $59 million (2006 US dollars) versus roughly $60 million-plus for the baseline F-35, would be available in 2012-13 assuming an authority to proceed decision in 2009. “That...

US will send F-15 jets to S. Korea SEOUL - A squadron of American F-15E fighters based in Alaska will fly to South Korea next month for temporary deployment aimed at enhancing United States firepower on the Korean peninsula. The US jets will be in South Korea for up to three months of training 'to get accustomed to geographical features of the peninsula', a US military spokesman said yesterday. 'The deployment is part of US military enhancement plans announced earlier,' the spokesman added. He was apparently referring to US promises to enhance air and sea capabilities to defend South Korea...

In celebration of the past, the Air Force chief of staff got an eyeful of the present and future of flight at the world's premier flight test facility. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper visited Edwards Air Force Base on Nov. 22 as part of a Centennial of Flight celebration. The event featured aerial demonstrations and static displays of many of the current and future aircraft in the Air Force arsenal, and hosted members of the Eagles, distinguished aviators who have advanced the world of aerospace. "What we have here is the trace of history, a bloodline of...

DJIBOUTI, Sep 30, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Several dozen American soldiers raise a big green tent and shuffle it across the sand, making room for yet more equipment at a new U.S. military base that is growing larger by the day in this small but strategically located country in the Horn of Africa. While their colleagues rearrange their living quarters, other soldiers in sunglasses and floppy hats keep watch at the entrance to Camp Le Monier from a machine gun-mounted Humvee. The five-month-old U.S. base in this former French colony just miles across the Red Sea from...

Sorry for asking, but I just read about the last American soldier they ID'd today. I don't recall ever hearing what became of the F-15 that was shot down over Baghdad a couple weeks ago ... does anyone know what became of the crew? ... I have not seen them as returning and just wanted to know ...

F-15 Fighter Lost Over Iraq, 2 Missing By HANS GREIMEL .c The Associated Press CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar (AP) - Coalition rescue teams were searching early Wednesday for two U.S. airmen from a F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet that went down over Iraq two days earlier. A U.S. military source said the plane went down near the city of Tikrit, the hometown of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The town is believed to be a stronghold of Iraqi resistance. It was unclear whether the plane was shot down, the U.S. Central Command said. The fighter vanished early Monday, but its loss...

WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- The strike on "senior Iraqi leaders" in the al-Mansour district of Baghdad that targeted Saddam Hussein and one or both of his sons was "extremely effective" but it could be days before the U.S. government knows whether he was killed or injured -- if it ever does. "It is possible that we may never be able to determine exactly who was present without some detailed forensic work, and that's just -- that's one of the circumstances we have to deal with as we go through this campaign," said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, Central Command spokesman,...