F-15E-50-MC Serial No: 90-0245 and F-15E-44-MC Serial No: 87-0202 The F-15E Strike Eagle is an extremely effective dual-role fighter designed to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. An array of avionics and electronics systems gives the F-15E the capability to operate at low or medium altitude, at day or night, and in all weather. Modified versions of the Strike Eagle have been exported to several countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Korea, and Singapore. The F-15E will probably remain in USAF service through 2030, as there is no replacement currently being contemplated.
In the late 1970s, McDonnell Douglas and Hughes Aircraft collaborated in a privately-funded study of the feasibility of adapting the basic F-15 Eagle to the air-to-ground role. The F-15 had originally been conceived as a multi-role aircraft, but the fighter role had become paramount during its development, so in 1975 the air-to-ground role was set aside. In the meantime, the USAF had begun studying possible concepts for an Enhanced Tactical Fighter (ETF) that would replace the General Dynamics F-111. The USAF wanted an aircraft which could conduct the strike mission alone, without any need for fighter escort, electronic jamming aircraft, or AWACS support. In the interest of cost containment, the Air Force decided to explore the possibility of converting existing aircraft such as the F-15 or F-16 to meet the ETF requirement rather than to try and develop an entirely new aircraft. The ETF studies led to a fly-off competition between the F-15 and the cranked arrow-wing F-16XL (sometimes known as the F-16E), with the F-15 being named the winner of the Dual-Role Fighter competition on 24 February, 1984. Full scale development of the F-15E began in 1984, with the first production F-15E (86-0183) flying on 11 December, 1986.
The F-15E is externally and dimensionally similar to the two-seat F-15D; however, the F-15E is internally redesigned, so that it can safely operate at takeoff weights as great as 81,000 pounds. The airframe is also cleared for 16,000 hours of flight, which is double the lifetime of earlier F-15s. Space for the additional avionics carried is provided at the expense of a slight decrease in internal fuel and ammunition capacity. The heart of the F-15E's electronics suite is the AN/APG-70 radar, which can provide a “god’s eye view” of ground targets that are of a higher resolution at a longer range than the images produced by previous radars. Roads, bridges, and airfields can be identified as far as one hundred miles away, and as the F-15E nears the target image resolution becomes progressively sharper and smaller targets such as trucks, aircraft, and tanks can be distinguished. Another key element of the F-15E's weapons delivery system is the Martin Marietta LANTIRN (an acronym standing for Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting, Infra-Red for Night) system, which is tied to the AN/APG-70 radar. The LANTIRN system originally consisted of two pods, one carried underneath each air intake. The starboard pod is known as the AN/AAQ-13 and is used for navigation. It contains a FLIR (Forward Looking InfraRed) which can be used to display a high-quality video image of the oncoming terrain on the pilot's heads-up display, enabling high-speed low-level flights to be made at night under clear weather conditions. The navigation pod also carries a terrain-following radar, and with this the pilot can manually respond to cues from the system or can couple the system to the flight controls for "hands-off" automatic terrain-following flight at altitudes as low as two hundred feet above the ground at night or in bad weather. The port pod is known as the AN/AAQ-14 and is targeting pod which contains a high-resolution tracking FLIR, a missile boresight correlator, and a laser designator. Starting in 2005 the F-15E fleet began carrying the AN/AAQ-33 Sniper XR Targeting Pod which provides increased capabilities compared to the AN/AAQ-14; although either can still be seen. Typically the Sniper pod is carried overseas in combat zones, whilst the older pod is used on training sorties at the home base. The F-15E also carries an updated ALQ-135 electronic warfare system which featured a new broadband jammer. The F-15E retains the Conformal Fuel Tanks (CFTs) of the F-15D, but adds weapon stations to them allowing up to six weapons to be carried on each CFT. The F-15E retains the 20-mm M61A1 cannon of the F-15D, albeit with a reduced ammunition capacity, and has the full air-to-air capability of the F-15C/D version, with the carriage of AIM-120B/C radar guided and AIM-9M infrared missiles. The F-15E was originally powered by the F-15C/D's pair of 24,000 lb thrust afterburning Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 turbofans; however, the engine bays were adapted so that these engines could eventually be replaced by more powerful turbofans. The first 134 F-15Es were fitted with the -220 turbofans, but were replaced by -229 turbofans starting with serial number 90-0233, which meant adding auxiliary air cooling intakes to the sides of the CFTs.
Following completion of operational test and evaluation at Edwards AFB and Seek Eagle weapons carriage and separation tests carried out at Eglin AFB, F-15Es were first delivered to the 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (TFTS) at Luke AFB for crew training. The first operational F-15E squadron was the 336th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina, which received its first planes in early 1989. Although the F-15E was still not fully combat-ready, forty eight F-15Es deployed and flew in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The full LANTIRN system was not available until near the end of the Gulf War, and even then the targeting pod still experienced problems and was not employed in combat to its full capability. Following Desert Storm, F-15Es flew into combat on numerous occasions in Operations Northern Watch and Southern Watch in Iraq, Deny Flight and Allied Force over Kosovo, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq, and Operation Odyssey Dawn over Libya, where an F-15E was lost on a combat mission to mechanical troubles. Additionally, they have taken part in air patrols over the U.S. as part of Operation Noble Eagle. As of this writing, the F-15E is being upgraded with the Raytheon APG-82(V)1 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, which combines the processor of the APG-79 used on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet with the antenna of the APG-63(V)3 AESA being fitted on the F-15C. Additionally, software improvements will introduce the AIM-9X and AIM-120D integration, together with the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), initially in the front seat only, to the F-15E. As part of this, in the summer of 2010 units at Seymour-Johnson AFB began to incorporate the JHMCS allowing rapid cueing of both air to air and air to ground weapons, dramatically increasing the Strike Eagle’s effectiveness. Carriage of the more advanced air to air missiles will follow as funding and weapons inventories allow.
Our primary subject is depicted in its July 2007 markings as the 12th AF flagship, whilst assigned to the 391st FS “Bold Tigers” at Mountain Home AFB. The Twelfth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC) headquartered at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. It is responsible for the combat readiness of ten active-duty wings and three direct reporting units in the western United States. These subordinate commands operate more than five hundred and twenty combat aircraft with more than forty two thousand uniformed and civilian Airmen. It takes part in a multitude of operations in the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of focus alongside partner nations in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, ensuring a safe, secure and stable region. Established on 20 August 1942 at Bolling Field, District of Columbia, 12th AF deployed to the European Theater of World War II, where it engaged in operations in North Africa, the Mediterranean, France and Germany. During the Cold War, 12th AF was one of the Numbered Air Forces of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) and later Tactical Air Command (TAC). Its units have flown combat sorties during the Vietnam War, as well as Operation Desert Storm, and as a result of the Global War On Terror (GWOT) most 12th AF units have operated in the United States Central Command AOR and deployed to Southwest Asia.
Our alternate aircraft is shown in the 2010 markings of the 389th FS, also at Mountain Home AFB, where it is tasked with performing Close Air Support (CAS), interdiction, strategic attack, Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD), and Offensive and Defensive Counter Air (OCA and DCA) missions. The “Thunderbolts” were constituted as the 389th Fighter Squadron (Single-Engine) on 24 May 1943 at Richmond AAB in Virginia flying the P-47. During WW II they were moved to several different bases in England, France, Belgium, and Germany flying their P-47s in the fighter-bomber role. They were inactivated following the war on 20 Aug 1946. The squadron was reformed as the 389th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 1 Jan 1953 at Alexandria (later, England) AFB, LA in the F-51, before they quickly transitioned to the F-86, then the F-84, the F-100, and back to the F-84 whilst deploying multiple times to European air bases. Their title was changed to the 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 1 Jul 1958, before they were inactivated on 1 Apr 1959. They were again reactivated in April of 1962 flying the F-100 at Chaumont-Semoutiers AB in France then moving to Holloman AFB in 1963. In 1965 they transitioned to the F-4 and deployed in 1966 to Phan Rang AB, then Da Nang AB in South Vietnam, followed by Phu Cat AB before finally returning to Mountain Home AFB in 1971. From 1971 till 1991 they flew the F-111 and were redesignated as the 389th TFTS on 30 Sep 1979. In 1992 they were redesignated 389th Fighter Squadron and transitioned to the F-16, which they flew till 2007, when they transitioned to the F-15E.
Notes for modelers: Our primary subject (12th AF jet) uses the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229, so it has the small auxiliary CFT intakes, whilst our alternate subject (389th jet) uses the older engines, so it does not have the aux intakes. Available 1/72 kits of the F-15E are not accurate, being based on the Strike Eagle demonstrator, which was an F-15B with early CFT's, so they lack many of the modifications which are part of producing an accurate F-15E. At least two aftermarket companies have been promising resin conversion sets for some time, but these have not yet been issued. Alterations to the available kits involve the addition of LAU-128 under wing missile rails and their ADU-552/A adapters, which have completely replaced the older LAU-114’s. In addition, the correct CFT pylons will need to be added; the front tangential pylons on the CFT sides (LCT-6 and RCT-6) of these jets are the older, more swept type. Strike Eagles carry a pair of antennas mounted on the tail booms; the usual arrangement is a chisel shaped one on the right tail boom and a rounded, dome shaped one on the left. As a result of the electronics for these tail antennas, the two rear formation strip lights have been modified and broken into segments. A small, domed GPS antenna will also need to be added along the starboard wing root. Turning to the landing gear, a shimmy damper should be added to the front of the nose landing gear strut, and the main landing gear doors should be bulged; the Strike Eagle also uses thicker main wheels; although these are not that noticeable in this scale. The molded seam line (for the rubber boot) at the tip of the nose radome should be filled in, the ammo clip on the fuselage belly should be added, the JFS (Jet Fuel Starter) exhaust on the bottom of the jet should be an open hole, not a grated one as molded on available kits, and the twin “sabre” drains on the NMF, aft section should be removed. The tail hook fairing should also be removed, the resulting hole blanked over, and the exposed end of the tail hook added. In common with other versions of the Eagle, the F-15E has been fitted with stiffening plates on the vertical tails to reinforce the EWWS antenna and ballast weight atop the vertical stabs. The F-15E fleet has been fitted with a later speed brake, which has a small depression on its trailing edge that serves as a hand hold. Available kits lack the twin hand controllers in the aft cockpit, and have an incorrect instrument coaming in the front cockpit; they also lack the chaff/flare dispensers in front of the main gear wheel wells. The blade antennas on the F-15 have been changing from a square shape to a more swept, “shark fin” type as they are replaced; on our primary subject (12th AF CC) all three antennas have been replaced with the newer, swept type, whilst our alternate subject (87-0202) has the two lower fuselage antennas of the newer type, but the one on the upper fuselage is the older, square type. When shutdown, the F-15 intake ramps are locked in the up position, and the speed brake is retracted, since both require hydraulic pressure to operate. The ailerons will typically droop as hydraulic pressure bleeds off, and the horizontal stabs will usually droop aft edges down after a prolonged period; otherwise, they are usually seen with the leading edges slightly down in the TAKEOFF TRIM position. The flaps are left up, except for alert aircraft, and do not droop. The modeler will find the website www.f-15e.info invaluable. There are also extensive walkarounds at www.aircraftresourcecenter.com and www.primeportal.net.
Typical weapons loads: The external tanks could be the normal ones carried by the F-15 with the pointed aft ends, or the WRM tanks with blunt aft ends; the WRM tanks are only used when deployed overseas though. External tanks are rarely, if ever, carried on the centerline pylon now due to stability issues. Only chaff is carried in the dispensers mounted on the same side as the targeting pod. For those looking to duplicate option 2 below, our sister company, Spectre Resins, offers resin versions of the B83 weapon. F-15E CFT pylon weapon stations are identified as the following: