Boeing F-15SE (Silent Eagle)

The History of the Boeing F-15SE (Silent Eagle)

The Boeing F-15SE "Silent Eagle" is a "stealth" version of the successful two-seat F-15E "Strike Eagle" that debuted in 1988. The Strike Eagle is a purpose-built, all-weather, multi-role ground attack platform based on the original F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter, but retaining original air-to-air capabilities and performance. Since its introduction in 1976, the original F-15 Eagle has been the preeminent air superiority fighter in the world. When used in actual combat, the aircraft did not fail to achieve one of the best kill rates in modern times.

The Silent Eagle program, which began in March 2009, is designed to meet market demand for a relatively low-cost fighter platform that can compete with the expensive Gen 5 products that are coming online. As a result, many target customers have now become existing F-15 Eagle operators, including Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The F-15SE first flew on July 8, 2010, using a modified F-15E airframe with a Conformal Weapon Bay (CWB) compartment installed for flight testing.

The AIM-120 AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missile was tested in the internal weapons bay on July 20, 2010.

A few key features will make the F-15SE model stand out from its predecessor. Radar absorbing materials are planned for critical surfaces of the airframe to delay or suppress incoming radar signals. Of course, these stealth features will fall within US military technology export restrictions, but are believed to offer a similar level of protection as the 5th-gen mount. However, basic protection focuses only on generating lower frontal signatures and is limited to air-to-air deployment bands.

Therefore, "all-around" and air-to-ground proliferation protection will remain the traditional type, requiring the use of electronic countermeasures support to counter threats. The aforementioned conformal weapons bay will now replace the conformal fuel tank (CFT) in the fuselage.

This would allow the F-15SE to internalize some of its munitions to reduce the airframe's radar cross-section. Four internal weapon bays will be used for the final production model, while retaining the Strike Eagle's original external weapon pylons and hardpoints, as well as the internal 20mm M61 Vulcan Gatling cannon. The centerline and two underwing hardpoints remain vertical for external fuel tanks.

Structurally, the F-15SE will ditch the vertical tail in favor of one with an outwardly angled tail (pointing 15 degrees away from the centerline) to further reduce the fuselage cross-section. Avionics include APG-82 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system, Digital Flight Control System (DFCS), Link-16 Combat Data Link, BAe Systems Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) and Electro-Optical Targeting Lockheed Martin's Sniper Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system.

IMHO, the F-15 Eagle is still an extremely viable and capable combat platform against all modern types that fit the same general classification, but it remains to be seen how this platform - especially the F-15SE - will compare to the latest 5th generation systems like the Lockheed F-35 Lightning II can be tangled. The F-15SE could very well be the curtain on this beautiful line of aircraft - one of the most successful fighter jet designs of all time.

As of this writing, Boeing is currently awaiting the status of the U.S. government's application for an export license in order to begin building and delivering F-15SE prototypes to interested foreign parties. Israel has shown particular interest in the new development, and South Korea is considering its options before committing to upgrading its frontier stability.

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