The USAF test pilots showed the full potential of the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II fourth-generation fighter by successfully launching three Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles from one aircraft. The major achievement underlined the F-15EX’s capability to be a formidable platform for ground attacks.
Maj. Calvin Conner, the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron F-15 Test Pilot, drove home just how important this was: “The firepower a four-ship of F-15EXs brings to a Combatant Commander is tremendous.” The test, conducted successfully in August, validated the integration of the JASSM with the F-15EX and demonstrated increased ground attack capability for the aircraft.
Air Combat Command of the USAF confirmed on 30 August that the F-15EX was cleared to carry a maximum of 12 air-to-air missiles after last January’s successful tests of the last two underwing weapon stations. The inclusion of three JASSMs into each F-15EX gives a big thrust to the USAF firepower since the JASSM constitutes the longest-range air-to-ground conventional munition in the US arsenal, with a stated range of more than 500 nautical miles (926 km).
To date, Lockheed Martin has produced 3,500 JASSMs and opened a new factory in 2022 to increase production rates. The recent weapons tests are part of the USAF’s efforts to certify the F-15EX platform and move towards initial fielding. Budgetary disagreements and industrial challenges slowing production notwithstanding, the USAF accepted delivery of its first Eagle II in 2021 and currently has two examples of the type.
Though the F-15EX is not a fifth-generation stealth fighter like the F-35 and F-22, Boeing claims that the latest F-15 is bringing critical firepower to the fleet. Augmented over the years with the newest sensors and avionics, the F-15EX has very large payload potential and therefore is seen as a supplement to the stealthy fifth-generation fighters and not as an alternative to them.
At least, the USAF appears to be buying into that thesis with its two F-15EX test assets having “integrated with fifth-generation aircraft” in the recent weapons tests. The most recent USAF budget documents show that it wants to buy 110 examples of the F-15EX, at an estimated cost per jet of over $78 million, more than the costs per individual F-35A, which are priced at $78 million.
Not everyone, however, is convinced of the value of the F-15EX. Critics point out that the F-15EX will be little more than an upgraded version of roughly a forty-five-year-old airframe and won’t have the stealth attributes required for today’s and tomorrow’s air combat. Of course, the proliferation of advanced anti-air systems, such as Russia’s S-400 and the impending introduction of the S-500, seriously calls the survivability of the F-15EX into question over contested airspace.
Skeptics question it has an imposing armament package; it can carry 22 air-to-air missiles when using the patented Advanced Missile and Bomb Ejection Rack (AMBER) system but may not be practical. Their assertions claim the F-35 could be more flexible with its configurations alternating between a Stealth and an outside configuration hence allowing it more room to work with.
As great powers continue to invest resources in next-generation anti-air capabilities, opinions on the F-15EX’s relevance in a modern context remain divided. While its proponents praise the fighter’s firepower and complementarity with stealth fighters, the opposition warns against wasting taxpayer money on a platform rooted in an entirely different era.