Boeing F-15X Eagle

The History of the Boeing F-15X Eagle

The Boeing F-15X is a proposed variant to extend the life of the United States Air Force (USAF) F-15 Eagle basic air superiority fighter family (detailed elsewhere on this page). As a direct offshoot of the F-15E in production form, Boeing uses the Model X as a "bridge" between the USAF's aging fleet of F-15C and F-15D models and the incoming/growing inventory of Lockheed F's provided Design-35 "Lightning II" fighter fleet.

Changes to the aircraft focus on enhanced capabilities, improved performance and improved survivability compared to existing C and D models, with an estimated 20,000 additional flight hours for the family's useful life.

Sources say the F-15X will be officially announced by the US Department of Defense (US DoD) in the Fiscal Year 2020 defense budget.

The 4th generation F-15 Eagle remains the backbone of U.S. air superiority capabilities, with 432 C/E and 26 F-15D variants currently in the Air Forces 2019 inventory. The purchase of an advanced F-15 was seen as insurance against the difficult development of the F-35, which has since exposed additional flaws in several areas (namely durability, general reliability, and weapon accuracy).

Both the service and the U.S. legislature can choose to secure a fleet of fighter jets with aging designs that are more than 40 years old, or push the troubled F-35 toward completion.

The nose of the F-15X will feature an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, updated cockpit avionics, modernized interiors, improved electronic warfare (EW) suite, active infrared (IR) search and tracking weapons/radar capabilities and the ability to carry no less than 22 x Air-to-Air Missiles (AAM). The overall form and function of the aircraft has been largely preserved.

The US Air Force's first request is for eight F-15X fighter jets to begin operations to obtain a full fleet of 80 X variants by 2025.

The specifications on this page are based on production F-15E Eagle fighter jets until final data is made public.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes