On Monday, March 17, 2025, the American company Boeing announced on social media that it had conducted the maiden flight of the ninth serial F-15EX Eagle II multirole aircraft (EX9), which is also the first unit from the second low-rate initial production (LRIP) batch.
Photo: Eric Shindelbower, Boeing
The aircraft will then be sent to the paint shop at Boeing’s facility in St. Louis, Missouri, where it completed its maiden flight, before being delivered to its operator—the United States Air Force (USAF). It is worth noting that the first two units from the initial production batch (EX-7 and EX-8) were delivered to the 142nd Wing of the Oregon Air National Guard at Portland Air Base, while the remaining aircraft are being used for trials and testing at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. In July of last year, the type was declared to have reached Initial Operational Capability (IOC).
So far, the U.S. Department of Defense has ordered 48 aircraft as part of four low-rate initial production (LRIP) batches and is negotiating the purchase of two more. The current plan calls for the acquisition of 98 aircraft, down from the originally intended 144. The end users will include three active-duty USAF squadrons (the first being the 123rd Fighter Squadron) and six Air National Guard squadrons, stationed in Florida and Oregon—specifically the 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field and the aforementioned 142nd Wing in Portland.
To date, the aircraft has also been ordered by Israel—25 units designated as the F-15IA Eagle (Israeli Advanced)—and Indonesia has plans to acquire 24 aircraft under the local designation F-15IDN. The jet is also being offered to Poland, where the estimated requirement is 32 units, and Saudi Arabia has expressed interest as well. The latter currently operates 232 F-15C/D and F-15S/SA aircraft.
Description
The F-15EX is equipped with AN/APG-82(V)1 radar systems, previously designated as AN/APG-63(V)4, similar to those used in the F-15E, where they replaced the AN/APG-70. These radars were developed for the USAF under the Radar Modernization Program (RMP) and have been in serial production since 2008 by Raytheon (part of the RTX corporation). They feature an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) antenna. The radar design incorporates components from the AN/APG-79 and AN/APG-63(V)3 systems, and includes a new cooling system as well as RFTF (Radio Frequency Tunable Filters).
The aircraft have also been fitted with the new digital electronic warfare system EPAWSS (Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System), which will also be integrated into the F-15E Strike Eagle. The EPAWSS suite enables the F-15EX to conduct both offensive and defensive electronic warfare operations, including jamming, targeting, infrared threat detection, and decoying. It provides a full range of threat warning capabilities, enhanced situational awareness, geolocation, and both active and passive countermeasures. According to the manufacturer, BAE Systems, EPAWSS is designed to offer capabilities comparable to those found in fifth-generation multirole fighters—such as the AN/ALR-94 system on the F-22A Raptor and the AN/ASQ-239 Barracuda on the F-35 Lightning II.
The pilots are positioned in ACES II ejection seats, supplied by Collins Aerospace (a part of RTX).
The F-15EX Eagle II has a payload capacity of 13,381 kg (up to 12 missiles of various classes; integration of systems such as the AGM-158C LRASM anti-ship missile is planned). It is powered by two General Electric F110-GE-129 turbofan engines—whereas previous U.S. F-15s have been powered by Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 engines. The cockpit features the Advanced Display Core Processor II (ADCPII) mission computer, which has been in testing since 2016. The computer is capable of performing 87 billion operations per second.
https://twitter.com/BoeingDefense/status/1901687621480218814