On August 22, Boeing signed a fighter contract with Indonesia to purchase 24 F15EX fighter jets, and Indonesia became the first overseas user of the F15EX. As a heavy air superiority fighter on a par with the Su-27, the F15 series has been around for nearly half a century, and it is already one of the most successful fighters in the world today.
However, in today's prevalence of fifth-generation aircraft, it still has no intention of retiring from active service, but is constantly improving, and F15EX is the latest improvement of this fighter, so what is the excellence of the F15 series that makes it an evergreen in the fighter industry? Why did Indonesia purchase 24 of the latest F15EX?
F15 was born in the seventies and eighties of the last century during the Cold War, at the beginning it was a single-seat air superiority fighter, and now the largest number of people in the world is not the original F15A/B, but F15E.
The F15E is a multi-role two-seat fighter, this fighter is also one of the main forces of the current US Air Force, thanks to its large size, it is usually able to carry more fuel and weapons than other multi-role fighters, and the additional large fuel tank allows it to have longer air supremacy and provide more emergency air support missions.
The F15E can carry almost all of the U.S. military's current air-to-ground munitions, including Sparrow air-to-surface missiles, air-launched Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and AIM120 series advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles.
When it comes to air-to-ground operations, the F15E can also carry a range of ground attack weapons, such as the AGM65 Maverick missile, the AGM158 joint air-to-ground defense missile, and can also be equipped with a variety of ground bombs, which can provide a wide range of options for mission adaptability, including laser-guided bombs, general-purpose bombs, GBU28 ground-penetrating bombs, GBU39 small-diameter bombs, GBU53B storm gliding bombs, in order to complement its complex weapon system, All F15Es are also armed with a 20mm General Electric M61A1 Vulcan Gatling cannon.
In the Balkan conflict of the nineties, the F15E was the only fighter capable of performing ground attack missions in all weather conditions. At that time, the F15E from the North Carolina Air Force Base in the United States destroyed several Iraqi Mi-24 gunships parked on the ground with laser-guided bombs during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
The F15E has also flown over enemy territory on several occasions and successfully destroyed Iraq's Scud missile launch points in the face of dense anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground, proving its excellent air-to-ground attack capabilities. In order to further improve the performance of the F15E, the U.S. military has approved the Boeing F15E Modernization Program, which will enhance its comprehensive capabilities, including the latest glass-based cockpit.
The old legacy APG70 mechanical scanning radar is being replaced by a new phased array radar system APG82V1, which is designed to retain the functionality of older conventional radar systems while providing expanded mission application capabilities. APG82V1 radar allows the F15EX to somewhat bridge the gap between it and fifth-generation fighters.
In addition, the F15EX is equipped with a night-time infrared target targeting pod, which significantly enhances its precision strike capabilities, providing infrared and laser positioning capabilities for both day and night operations, and can perform missions even in adverse weather conditions.
Another important targeting system is the sniper sighting pod, as well as the ability to detect and identify long-range targets with high-resolution images, as well as laser designation of homing projectiles, which are famous. In addition, the F15EX can also be equipped with the AAQ28 Lightning Aiming Pod, which is an integrated aiming pod attached to the fuselage.
One of the most important improvements to the F15EX is the adoption of the latest glass cockpit, which replaces the original two-level design with a large display, which has the flavor of a fifth-generation machine.
These screens can display information from radar, electronic warfare or infrared sensors, monitor the state of aircraft or weapons and possible threats, select targets, and navigate using electronic mobile maps.
Two manual controllers are used to choose to switch back and forth between the top of the screen to display different content and optimize positioning information. The desired content can be displayed anywhere on this huge screen, which can be selected from the display options menu.
In addition to the huge screen in the front seat, the pilot has a transparent brand new glass head-up display above eye level that displays key flight and tactical information.
Pilots do not need to look down at the cockpit, for example to check the status of weapons at night, and the on-screen display is even more important, as the video footage displayed is almost identical to the image generated by the forward-looking infrared sensor.
The F15EX will be equipped with the new Pratt & Whitney GE-F110-129 engine, which will be more cost-effective than the F100PW220 engine of the old model.
In addition, the F15EX will have a stronger body structure, with a life twice as long as the earlier F15 models, and will be brushed with new absorbing materials to give it a certain stealth ability, so it can be said that the F15EX will be the strongest Eagle series ever.
It is expected that the aircraft will remain in service beyond 2040. In 2021, Boeing announced that its F15EX would replace the existing F15C and some F15E, and would continue the design of the Strike Hawk with a two-seat configuration and further improve its ground attack capabilities, and the U.S. military is considering replacing the remaining F15E Strike Eagle with an F35 modification.
However, if the two-seater model is designed on the F35, it will be a very complex and expensive retrofit project, especially in order to maintain stealth characteristics, and it will also be difficult to provide greater range and payload. The F15EX can be said to be an ideal model to form a high-low match with the F35 at present, and may also be able to perform missions with future sixth-generation fighters.
At present, the U.S. Air Force has 218 F15E, the average age of the aircraft has been more than 30 years, the U.S. Air Force plans to gradually retire the F15E to 99 in the next few years, while purchasing more F35 and F15EX to make up for the lack of F15E retirement, the U.S. Air Force has planned to purchase another 24 F15EX in the military budget in 2024.
So why did the Indonesian Air Force purchase 24 F15EXs?
In fact, this is also the Indonesian Air Force urgently needs the needs of model upgrading, the current Indonesian Air Force is mainly equipped with three types of fighters, one is the F16AB imported in the eighties of the last century, and the other is the Su-27S and Su-30MK purchased from Russia at the beginning of the new millennium and in 2010.
The service life of these fighters is not short, especially the F16AB, which is close to retirement, and the only newer Su-30MK has been in service for nearly ten years, and the Indonesian Air Force has indeed reached the time when it needs to update the main equipment for its Air Force.
Second, the United States also urgently needs to return to the Asia-Pacific region, and Indonesia is undoubtedly one of the best places to stay. In fact, at the beginning, Indonesia was interested in Russia's Su-35S, but due to the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the United States' obstruction, this contract was shelved, and as compensation, the United States proposed to Indonesia that it could sell the F15EX to Indonesia.
For Indonesia, although the price of F15EX is indeed more expensive than that of the Su-35S, its comprehensive performance is also more advanced than the Su-35S, since the Su-35S is also a fighter, F15EX is also a fighter, and it doesn't hurt to buy what you can buy if you can't buy it for the time being.
At the same time, the United States sells F15EX to Indonesia in the hope of finding some work for Boeing's military department, after all, the US Air Force's multi-type main fighters are all from Lockheed Martin, and Boeing's military industry has not taken any work in the past ten years except for F15EX.
We will wait and see where Indonesia will deploy the F15EX after purchasing it, and what impact it will have on the current situation in the Asia-Pacific region, especially the situation of the United States clamping down on China.