HEADLINES
NEW EAGLES AND AN EXPANDED ROLE FOR T-X
BOEING RECEIVED A major boost from the US Air Force in March as the service placed an initial order for new F-15EX Eagles and said it was looking at additional roles for the new T-X training aircraft.
The USAF has allocated $7.86 billion over the five-year future spending plan to acquire 80 F-15EXs, which will be used to replace the oldest F-15Cs. The first eight jets will cost $1.05 billion, which includes front-loaded production line set-up costs for the US variant. A further $1.65 billion is earmarked for an additional 18 Eagles in 2021, and the same number of aircraft through each year to 2024. The 2020 funding request includes training and set-up costs, but the aircraft unit cost is set at $80 million. Ultimately, the USAF could procure as many as 144 of the new Eagles.
It is expected that the F-15EX will be broadly based on the F-15QA, currently in development for the Qatar Emiri Air Force, but it will receive some US-specific systems such as the new Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS). Budget documents say the first two aircraft will come from the existing F-15 production line to enter a two-year flight-test program in 2022.
