STRIKE EAGLE

HISTORY

originally by Joe Baugher (updated and used without permission)

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. Back in the late 1960s, the F-15 had originally been conceived as a multi-role aircraft, but the fighter role had become paramount, and in 1975 the air-to-ground role had been set aside. 

As part of this study McDonnell Douglas converted the second F-15B (71-0291) under a project known as "Strike Eagle". The aircraft first flew on July 8, 1980. It was equipped with a modified APG-63 radar that was equipped to use synthetic aperture radar techniques to do high-resolution ground mapping. The back seat was configured for a Weapons System Officer (WSO) who would operate the weapons delivery systems. The aircraft was equipped with conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) that had been introduced on the F-15C/D. The aircraft was equipped with six stub pylons on the lower corners and on the bottoms of each of the CFTs for the carriage of bombs.

The Strike Eagle prototype was later equipped with a centerline gun pod and was provided with a "Pave Tack" laser designator pod (as carried by some F-4Es and F-111Fs) carried on the port side of the forward air intake. This made the aircraft capable of delivering "smart" laser-guided bombs without the assistance of a separate designator aircraft.

The Strike Eagle aircraft was displayed at the September 1980 Farnborough air show in the hope of attracting customers. 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 that conversions of existing aircraft such as the F-15 or F-16 could meet the ETF requirement rather than to try and develop an entirely new aircraft. One of the aircraft initially considered was the Panavia Tornado, but it was ruled out fairly early in the game because of its short range and its obvious political disadvantage of not being made in the USA.

The ETF studies led to a fly-off competition between the F-15 and the cranked arrow-wing F-16XL. McDonnell Douglas provided four Eagles for the flyoff, one of them being the Strike Eagle demonstrator. F-15D serial number 80-0055 flew weapons separation tests at Elgin AFB. The Strike Eagle demonstrator aircraft flew tests at Edwards AFB evaluating the efficiency of the Synthetic Aperture Radar. F-15C serial number 78-0468 flew sorties from Edwards AFB to study fully-instrumented performance and flying qualities. F-15D 81-0063 completed 36 operational evaluation flights from Edwards AFB. General Dynamics provided two F-16XLs for the competition.

The F-15 was named the winner of the Dual-Role Fighter competition on February 24, 1984, partly on the basis of cost estimates. The production version of the Strike Eagle was designated F-15E. Full scale development of the F-15E began in 1984, with the first production F-15E (86-0183) flying on December 11, 1986, with test pilot Gary Jennings at the controls.

The OT&E program for the production Strike Eagle revealed both improvements and drawbacks over the aircraft it was literally designed to replace.  The low-altitude ride in the F-15E was found to be quite a bit rougher than that in the F-111 because of the lower wing loading and the higher gust response. The F-15E was determined to perform better in diving attacks and low-level high-speed dash than it was in sustained low-level high speed flight. High-speed weapons separations trials performed at low level over the Nevada desert, where vicious thermals are common, provided some crew discomfort. However, the accuracy and precision of the delivery of weapons in all-weather conditions was found to be excellent.

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 TFTS, 405th TTW at Luke AFB for crew training.  The initial cadre of aircrew for the Strike Eagle were comprised of F-15C, F-4, and F-111 pilots and WSOs.

The first operational F-15E squadron was the 336th TFS "Rocketeers" of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB,North Carolina, which received its first aircraft in early 1989. Limited operational capability was obtained in October 1989, with full operational capability achieved in August 1990.

In June 1990, the F-15E experienced its first competition with other aircraft in the USAF's Long Rifle gunnery meet. It scored first and second in the contest.

Integration of the LANTIRN system with the APG-70 radar proved to be much more difficult than expected, and the F-15E was still not fully combat-ready by the time of Desert Shield/Desert Storm in early 1991. The F-15E had only just begun to operate with the LANTIRN navigation pod and did not yet have the system's targeting pod, so it was at least temporarily capable of delivering only General Purpose bombs via computed releases. Although the F-15E was still not fully combat-ready, 48 F-15Es flew in the Gulf War. F-15Es joined other Coalition aircraft in searching for and attacking Iraqi "Scud" missile launchers. These Scud hunt missions were largely unsuccessful, but the F-15Es attacked many other Iraqi targets of opportunity. Most of these sorties were flown at medium altitudes, and the F-15E did not get much of a chance to demonstrate its low-level capabilities. 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. Although only some of the F-15Es were equipped with their LANTIRN targeting pods by the end of the Gulf War, pilots claimed that 80 percent of the laser-guided bombs dropped by F-15Es hit their targets. 

Even after the Gulf War was over, work still had to be done to clear the F-15E for the full set of weapons it could carry, including the Mk 20 Rockeye and CBU-87 cluster bombs, Mk-82 and Mk-84 500-lb and 1000-lb bombs, AGM-65 Maverick missiles, and GBU-10 and GBU-15 laser-guided weapons.  Wartime experience with the F-15E was handed on to the F-15 Combined Test Force (CTF) at Edwards AFB, which continues to work on F-15E engine, software, radar, weapons, and LANTIRN developments.

The 200th and last original order F-15E was delivered to the USAF in June of 1994.

In 1998 the USAF ordered 17 new F-15Es to augment the fleet and replace holes left by crashes and damages during combat use over the last 10 years. This so-called "E-210" series of Strike Eagles brought the total number delivered to the US Air Force to 226. The E-210 Strike Eagle is an somewhat upgraded version of earlier production F-15Es. These 17 aircraft are equipped with new advanced data processors, a new digital mapping system, provisions for an upgraded Programmable Armament Control System (PACS), expanded smart weapons carriage capability, and an embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (EGI) for increased navigation and munitions delivery accuracy.  The first E-210 Strike Eagle (Serial Number 96-0200) made its maiden flight from the Boeing factory in St. Louis on 1 April 1999 and the last was delivered to active USAF service at RAF Lakenheath, UK, in fall 2000.

On 5 October 2000 Boeing began construction in St Louis of 10 more F-15Es for the US Air Force.  Deliveries of the 10 aircraft are scheduled for May 2002 through mid 2004. The aircraft will be the 227th-236th F-15Es delivered to the U.S. Air Force.

Future improvements planned for the entire F-15E fleet include a new software suite upgrade (OFP Suite IV), which will give them the capability to deliver advanced precision guided weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition. Other planned upgrades for the F-15E fleet will enable the aircraft to use a fighter data link to deliver time-critical information to other aircraft and aircrew members during flight.