DooKey
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2001
- Messages
- 13,552
The F-35 is the poster child for aircraft development gone wild and has rightfully been criticized for being late and costing too much. Knowing some of the limitations of the F-35 the Air Force has entered into talks with Boeing to potentially provide a replacement for the F-15C/D aircraft that is approaching EOL and will require millions of dollars to upgrade. The Air Force already has an enormous F-15 infrastructure in place and it makes sense to take advantage of it to save money. Imagine a new F-15X with a 22 air-to-air missile load and put that behind the stealth aircraft as a barrage platform and enemies won't know what hit them. To me it makes sense for the Air Force to pursue this aircraft as a compliment to our 5th generation fleet. The long article is definitely worth the read.
With the help of the company's new AMBER missile carrying racks, the F-15X will be able to carry a whopping 22 air-to-air missiles during a single sortie. Alternatively, it could fly with eight air-to-air missiles and 28 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs), or up to seven 2,000lb bombs and eight air-to-air missiles.
With the help of the company's new AMBER missile carrying racks, the F-15X will be able to carry a whopping 22 air-to-air missiles during a single sortie. Alternatively, it could fly with eight air-to-air missiles and 28 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs), or up to seven 2,000lb bombs and eight air-to-air missiles.