McDonnell-Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle

The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is regarded as one of the most capable twin-engined, air-superiority jet fighters in the world today. Ever since its maiden flight in July 1973, this record breaking Mach 2.5 fighter has been a yardstick for jet fighter design. During the early 1980's the United States Air Force indicated a requirement for a new, long-range aircraft to prevent hostile force from maintaining an attack by cutting their lines of supply to hinder their fighting ability. The Air Force requested McDonnell Douglas to modify their F-15 fighter into a dualrole aircraft to be known as the F-15E "Strike Eagle", for us as an air-to-air fighter, and for air-to-ground attack missions. It was designed to dominate the skies, penetrate deep into enemy territory unescorted, and strike military targets with pinpoint accuracy. Thirty percent of the F-15's airframe has been modified, enabling the fighter to take off with a maximum gross weight of 36,741kg and be able to maneuver at 9G's at combat gross weight. 16,000 hours of actual and simulated test flying have confirmed the F-15E's airframe durability, which is equivalent to almost 40 years of flying service. The reconfigured conformal fuel tanks increase the fighters range while reducing drag, plus they hold up to 12 air-to-ground weapons on integral pylons, rather than the conventional multiple ejection racks. The powerplants carried are two highly reliable Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 turbofan engines, that produces 20 percent more power than their previous F-100-PW-220 engines. This powerplant also features state-of-the-art digital control technology for better performance and reduced maintenance. The F-15E was designed specifically as a two-person crew of pilot and weapons systems officer. This allows the pilot to concentrate on flying and defending the aircraft against enemy airborne threats, while the weapons system officer commands the sophisticated air-to-ground sensing equipment. The integration of advanced avionics provide the F-15E with optimum capability. Superior navigation is achieved with the APG-70 synthetic aperture radar that displays a bird's eye image of ground targets of higher quality than previous radar systems. The LANTIRN (Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infra-Red for Night) system enables the F-15E to operate at night and in bad weather. The LANTIRN system uses two external pods. The navigation pod contains a FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) sensor that lets the crew maintain high cruising speeds at night and at low altitude, even in bad weather. The LANTIRN system uses two external pods. The navigation pod contains a FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) sensor that lets the crew maintain high cruising speeds at night and at low altitude, even in bad weather. The targeting pod contains a high-resolution tracking FLIR, a missile boresight correlator and a laser designator. Superior performance, proven cost effective design and outstanding capabilities make the F-15E a strong presence in today's United States air power.