Next up F-14 Super Tomcat... _______ Here's What We Know About the F-15X Super Eagle A new report reveals details on the F-15X, Boeing’s latest version of the world famous F-15 Eagle fighter jet. The F-15X will be packed with weaponry, more than any dedicated stealth fighter. The new jet will also have an astoundingly long lifespan, and be considerably cheaper to fly during than other fighters. The War Zone has details on the F-15X, whose existence was revealed a week ago. For one thing, the F-15X does not carry more than two dozen air-to-air missiles as originally reported. It carries “just” 22 missiles thanks to Boeing’s new AMBER missile racks. Still, this level of armament would enable the F-15 to act as a missile carrier for stealth fighters such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, carrying many more missiles than either newer jet could. In a mixed air-to-air and air-to-ground role, the War Zone says, the F-15, “could fly with eight air-to-air missiles and 28 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs), or up to seven 2,000-lb. bombs and eight air-to-air missiles.” That’s a weapon load far greater that what earlier F-15s and existing stealth jets can carry, since they must fit their meager payloads inside internal weapons bays. Full Article: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a22563768/super-eagle-f-15x/
Is this also a flying turd? As someone who hasn't kept track, we've declared stealth tech for 2 decades now. Are other countries attempting the same tech? There was some buzz about passive radar a few years ago but a recent search says it's still fuzzy. https://www.defencetalk.com/military/forums/t/royal-new-zealand-air-force.6601/page-344#post-334624 https://www.defencetalk.com/military/forums/t/a-brief-history-of-lo.10856/ Stealth was the coolest thing that came out of the 1st Iraq War. Simpler times...
I think we should seriously consider it. The F-15, after the world's best air superiority fighter, the F-22, is the best air superiority fighter we possess. The current F-15's are approaching the end of their reasonable life span. This new version would be a very good "missile truck" that, while not stealthy, would be an excellent partner for the F-35 and the F-22, in my opinion. This creature would be an incredible pain in the butt for any foe, in tandem with the 2 stealth aircraft. The F-35 was intended to go to war with the F-22. Well, thanks to President Obama and his Secretary of Defense, who he shouldn't have listened to, F-22 production was stopped far short of the number that were expected to be built for the Air Force. The Cold War was over! Well, the world feels more than a little "chilly" now. Supposedly, it was too expensive (which I strongly disagree with). If they had built a few hundred more, they would have been significantly less expensive to build, and our military would feel far better about our ability to defeat "near peer" adversaries. We have about 140 F-22's ready to fight. They are being overworked today, which isn't going to help prolong their lifespan. It is the only fighter in the world with "supercruise," which is the ability to fly at supersonic speeds without the fuel sucking afterburners. Guess what? The engines enabling that are no longer being built. The F-35 can't do it. Nothing else can. The Chinese, who have been robbing us blind of our military secrets, probably have the blueprints. They don't have the technology to build them (building high performance jet engines is a weakness they have), which is why they are buying Russian aircraft, and reverse engineering what they can.
