Blog 24: 03/13/2023: Historical Aviation - F-15 Eagle
F-15E Strike Eagle of the 391st Fighter Squadron, flying in the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility Jan. 27, 2021
Source: (US Air Force https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2002572646/ By: Staff Sgt. Sean Carnes, USAF)
Hi! Welcome back to another episode of Brooke In The Air, today as promised, in historical aviation, we are looking at the McDonnell-Douglas (now, Boeing) F-15 Eagle, and it’s many variants, such as the F-15J and its spinoff/successor, the F-15E Strike Eagle, plus its planned direct successor for the late 21st century, the F-15EX Eagle II!
Without further ado, let’s dive in!
McDonnell-Douglas (Boeing) F-15C Eagle, easily identified from its successor by the single-seat cockpit and slightly smaller airframe from the F-15E
Flying over Florida, this F-15C is of the 125th Fighter Wing of the Florida Air National Guard (ANG), was taken in 2015.
Source: (By Rob Schleiffert from Holland - F-15C Florida, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43526569)
First flying in 1972, the Eagle officially entered active service in 1976 and to this date is among if not the most successful combat aircraft of the modern era, with over 100 kills to zero losses, an amazing combat kill ratio for any military aircraft either retired or, like the F-15, still in service. The majority of the combat victories for the F-15 come from the rather elite Israeli Air Force, McDonnell Douglas’s primary export customer.
Like many aircraft of the time, experimental and otherwise, the F-15 found its origins in the lessons of the Vietnam War. Defense Secretary during the 1960s (1961-1968 initially during John F. Kennedy’s and then kept on during Lyndon B. Johnson’s administrations), Robert McNamara, forced the US Navy and Air Force who were feuding at the time, to use as many common aircraft as possible to cut down on costs. This was, of course, next to impossible a the services had different requirements though it did succeed in some regards such as with the F-4 Phantom II.
The services continued to try as illustrated with the TF-X program, which produced the F-111 Aardvark; the Air Force went on to use the F-111A as a light fighter-bomber for decades and later, as an electronic warfare aircraft as the EF-111A Raven during Desert Storm before it was retired. The Navy, however, despised the F-111 for various reasons.
As a result, the Navy would go on to develop - with Grumman Aircraft Corporation - the F-14A Tomcat which was loosely based on the F-111A. The Air Force, however, saw an urgency for their own dedicated fighter, especially after two Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs were lost to technologically inferior MiG-17s at the skirmish over Thanh Hoa Bridge in Vietnam in 1965. This event saw a report written soon thereafter that emphasized the need for the US Air Force to acquire a fast, light, dedicated air superiority fighter to attain and maintain their own air supremacy, which, in turn negated Secretary McNamara’s directives. The idea for the F-15 was officially born.
Later in 1965, the US Air Force embarked on the F-X program, support for which was strengthened when General Gabriel P. Disoway took command of Tactical Air Command (TAC, or USAF TAC). Disoway retired in 1968, three short years after pressing for funding and support for the F-X program.
General Gabriel P. Disoway, commander of Tactical Air Command, awardee of the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit - 3 times, Air Medal, Distinguished Service Medal
Source: (U.S. Air Force - http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/107240/general-gabriel-p-disosway.aspx, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3891411)
The Department of Defense Research and Engineering (now known as and superseded by DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), in 1965, took the F-5 and used it as a base template to work from as the F-X program template.
Northrup F-5E Tiger II
The aircraft that was used as the initial baseline concept for the later F-15 Eagle; this modernized F-5 is shown in the colors of the Swiss Air Force (SAF).
Source: (By Peng Chen - Flickr: Enter! CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22174424)
MiG-23 Flogger, sister aircraft to the MiG-25
Exact date unknown, note the variable sweep-wings.
Source: (DoD photo - http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/; VIRIN: DN-ST-89-08431, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5113744)
MiG-25PU Foxbat-A, whose capture inspired the capabilities of the F-15 Eagle. The MiG-25 was developed into the MiG-31 which is still in service with the Russian Federation.
The PU-variant pictured here is the trainer version.
Source: (By Leonid Faerberg (transport-photo.com) - http://www.airliners.net/photo/Russia---Air/Mikoyan-Gurevich-MiG-25.../0412379/L/, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5493431)
Lt. Viktor Ivanovich Belenko
Official military identification card for Viktor Belenko, Soviet defector, prior to his investigation and interrogation ordered by CIA Director George H.W. Bush
Source: (CIA Official Authorization photo. https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/experience-the-collection/images/artifacts/450x360/Belenko-ID.jpg)
Eight defense companies produced proposals to the Air Force’s request per the F-X project as studies of combat over Vietnam continued to produce rather worrying results, but the proposals were all essentially slightly different equivalents of the VFX (F-111) program, which was not what the Air Force desired, and they classified this initial round of prosals as a failure for the F-X project. The canonical example of the time was the McDonnell (now Boeing) F-4 Phantom-II, the only tri-service (US Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps) to go had-to-head with Soviet fighters over Vietnam. By this time in 1966, the Navy had already decided against F-111 program, and moved on with the program with Grumman that would net them their Fleet Defense Interceptor, the F-14A Tomcat. Of more concern was the Soviet Union’s debut of the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau’s MiG-25 and MiG-23, both of which were considered to be superior fighters especially to the vaunted McDonnell F-4 Phantom II, the fighter of choice over Vietnam; made of stainless steel instead of aluminum, adding increased weight but their powerful engines offset the weight entirely, enabling both fighters to reach supersonic speeds in excess of Mach 2.5-2.8. The United States and its allies were officially outclassed. However, with the defection of a MiG-25 Foxbat pilot and aviation engineer, Lieutenant Viktor Belenko who defected to the US via Hakodate, Japan in 1976, the US and its NATO allies gained a far better understanding of the MiG-25 and Soviet technology which was applied to the F-X program, giving it new life. Belenko later became a US citizen and a US aerospace engineer after President Jimmy Carter signed Private Law 96-62 into law, making Belenko an official US citizen with Congressional approval.
The F-15A prototype on its first flight
Presented by McDonnell-Douglas, on landing approach.
Source: (National Museum of the US Air Force)
originally uploaded 14 October 2006
The new F-15 focused almost entirely on air superiority, using the knowledge McDonnell had gleaned from the MiG-25’s dissected carcass. In the end, for the final edition of the F-X program, four dense contractor companies submitted proposals; General Dynamics, Fairchild Republic, North American Rockwell and McDonnell-Douglas.
The Air Force eliminated General Dynamics almost immediately on the first day of presentations, yet awarding competition contracts to Fairchild Republic, McDonnell-Douglas, and North American Rockwell. McDonnell-Douglas was ultimately awarded the ultimate contract to develop the fighter that would be the F-15A.
Unlike the earlier F-4 phantom, or the Navy’s counterpart in the F-14, the new Eagle had a single cockpit canopy, enabling simplicity and clear forward vision for the pilot and later, the navigator/radar intercept officer on the F-15D.
Naysayers~
Criticism that the fighter, once in production, was too large to be an effective dogfighter, and too heavy and expensive to produce in large numbers led to the Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program which began the development of the F-16 Fighting Falcon (otherwise known as the Viper), and middle-weight fighter program which led to the development of the F/A-18 Hornet. These criticisms did not deter the Eagle from becoming one of the best 4th-4.5 generation fighters in the world, far surpassing its contemporaries and being especially favored by the Israeli Air Force and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force as well as, ironically enough, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.
F-15C Eagle performing a maximum performance takeoff (MPT)
Source: (By USAF - Air Force Link - Fact Sheet: F-15 Eagle. This image was downloaded from: http://www.jcmd.jte.osd.mil/systems.htm archive version, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59690)
F-15C Eagle cockpit, early version/early development.
(Note the analogue flight controls as opposed to modern glass cockpits.)
Source: (By HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE - DoD DF-ST-82-05603 National Archive#NN33300514 2005-06-30, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1379160)
Specifications~ per USAF Fact Sheet
(F-15C - Standard)- Improved single-seat all-weather air-superiority fighter version, 483 built in 1979–1985, mass-produced version of the accepted F-15B Eagle.
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 63 ft 9 in (19.43 m)
Wingspan: 42 ft 10 in (13.06 m)
Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Wing area: 608 sq ft (56.5 m2)
Empty weight: 28,000 lb (12,701 kg)
Gross weight: 44,500 lb (20,185 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 68,000 lb (30,844 kg)
Fuel capacity: 13,455 lb (6,103 kg) internal
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 afterburning turbofans, 14,590 lbf (64.9 kN) thrust each dry, 23,770 lbf (105.7 kN) with afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 2.54 (1,650 mph, 2,655 km/h) at high altitude
Mach 1.2, 800 kn (921 mph; 1,482 km/h) at sea level
Combat range: 1,061 nmi (1,221 mi, 1,965 km) for interdiction mission
Ferry range: 3,000 nmi (3,500 mi, 5,600 km) with conformal fuel tanks and three external fuel tanks
Service ceiling: 65,000 ft (20,000 m)
g limits: +9
Rate of climb: 67,050[148] ft/min (340.6 m/s) (with 3 pylons)[149]
Wing loading: 73.1 lb/sq ft (357 kg/m2)
Armament:
A variety of air-to-air weaponry can be carried by the F-15. An automated weapon system enables the pilot to release weapons effectively and safely, by using the head-up display (HUD) as well as the avionics and weapons controls located on the engine throttles or control stick. When the pilot changes from one weapon system to another, visual guidance for the selected weapon automatically appears on the head-up display. This is true for all variants of the F-15.
For standard weaponry, all variants carry an internally-mounted 1x M61A1 Vulcan rotary 20-mm-6 barrel cannon, with 940 rounds
Hardpoints: Total 9: two under-wing (each with additional two missile launch rails), four under-fuselage (for semi-recessed carriage of AIM-7 Sparrows) and a single centerline pylon station, optional fuselage pylons (which may include conformal external fuel tanks) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,300 kg), with provisions to carry combinations of: (missiles) 4x AIM-7 Sparrow Air-to-Air missiles. 4x AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-Air missiles. Or 8x AIM-120 AMRAAM (advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles).
For avionics, the F-15 enables a helmet-mounted cueing system through the Heads-Up Display.
Underside of an F-15C, showcasing AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles (wings) and AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, inboard of the aircraft, next to the centerline external fuel tank)
Source: (US Air Force - http://www.deagel.com/library2/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3753902)
With the new technological specifications and Soviet secrets from the MiG-25 unlocked, the F-X program slowly took form as the F-15. See the cockpit view to the right for a good example of the Advanced Analogue Command Configuration.
Users include Israel, South Korea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Japan, Qatar, Singapore, though the largest user by far is its original launch customer, the United States Air Force (USAF) at 168 F-15C variants plus 18 D-variants for a total of 186 F-15 Eagles. This is not counting the F-15E Strike Eagles, which are considered a separate aircraft, of which the USAF is still the largest operator at 219 aircraft.
Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 pulling up to a KC-135 for refueling
Taken during Operation Desert Shield, from a KC-135 Stratotanker of the United States Air Force.
Source: (By TECH. SGT. H. H. DEFFNER - DoD USAF DF-ST-92-07383 Defense Visual Information Center. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2547043)
F-15K landing at Nellis AFB, Nevada for the NATO Red Flag exercise (Republic of Korea Air Force)
Note the trailing wingtips, and enlarged fuselage of the K (Korean) variant.
Source: (U.S. Air Force photo by Chief Master Sgt. Gary Emery - http://www.nellis.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/080805-F-8732E-002.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6408944)
UPGRADES/VARIANTS:
Upgrades are to be performed be BAE Systems, i.e. British Aerospace instead of an American company; variants were proposed such as the Silent Eagle upgrade, a plan to upgrade the F-15 to a true 5th generation fighter which sadly was sidelined in favor of the Lockheed F-35 Lightning II AKA Joint-Strike Fighter. BAE is still in charge of all major upgrades of the F-15 including the current NATO-accepted upgrade, the F-15E Strike Eagle. Other successful variants include the F-15I Ra’am (“Thunder” in Hebrew), a variant exclusive to the Israeli Air Force. There are a number of variants either proposed or in-use by the F-15’s operators around the world today, such as the aforementioned F-15I Ra’am for the4 Israeli Air Force and F-15J, for the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, and F-15E Strike Eagle, and the still-under-development F-15EX Eagle II, designed to replace the F-15C Eagle and the F-15E Strike Eagle in the mid and latter 21st century, or the hilariously short-lived and canceled F-15N “Sea Eagle” for the Navy as a proposed alternative to the heavier F-14 Tomcat. The Strike Eagle is a two-seat all-weather multirole strike version developed into other operator-specific variants as needed. The F-15 ACTIVE is a joint NASA-USAF technology testbed with thrust-vectoring technology and is not combat capable or untended for such. The F-35 and even the F-22A Raptor would not exist if not for the tests conducted by the F-15 ACTIVE.
F-15EX Eagle II undergoing performance evaluations as part of the 40th Flight Test Squadron over Northern California, Edwards Air Force Base
Source: (By Ethan Wagner - https://www.edwards.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2002660458/https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6650896/370th-flight-test-squadron-conducts-air-refueling-operations-with-f-15ex-eagle-iis, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=105589575)
Th F-15, per its continued upgrades, looks to be fared on the battlefield for many decades to come.
