McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle

[Nostalgistic 312]

Hello! Today, I am introducing the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle, a strike fighter variant of F-15 Eagle derived from the air superiority fighter variant of F-15. This variant is covered in the 1985-2001 configuration based on the flight manual and data.

Overview

Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle

 

Role: 4th Gen / Jet Strike Fighter / Multirole

 

Snapshot:

Background

Spoiler

In March 1981, the US Air Force announced the Enhanced Tactical Fighter program with the primary goal of seeking and designing a replacement for the F-111 Aardvark. The program was later renamed the Dual-Role Fighter competition. The program emphasized that the replacement can launch deep strikes into enemy territory without relying on escorts or jammers. While also it is being capable of defending themselves. Upon the competition, General Dynamics presented its F-16XL while McDonnell Douglas presented its F-15E in the competition program. On 24 February 1984, the Air Force announced its selection of the F-15E for main reasons: cheap development costs and future growth potential. The first of three F-15Es was built in July 1985. One of the F-15Es made its first flight in 1986. The F-15Es are fitted with air-to-ground avionics via multiple screens with views of radar, electronic warfare, thermographic cameras, internal aircraft system, weapons status, and moving map. The F-15Es are easily distinguished from other F-5 Eagles by darker camouflage, conformal fuel tanks mounted along the engine intake ramps, and a two-seat cockpit. The Air Force placed an order for 392 of them, and the production of F-15Es began in 1988 through 2001. The F-15Es saw action in the first Gulf War, operations in the Balkans, and war in Afghanistan, almost exclusively used for close air support purposes. By 2001, the McDonnell Douglas produced and delivered 236 F-15s into the Air Force. It would eventually order more F-15Es, and the F-15Es have been receiving upgrades by Boeing through the contracts for US Air Force and international customers.

Specifications

General Characteristics

• Crew: 2 (Pilot and Weapon Systems Officer)
• Length: 63 feet and 9 inches (19.431 meters)
• Height: 18 feet and 8 inches from the top of the vertical tail (5.6896 meters)
• Span: 42 feet and 10 inches (13.0556 meters)
• Wing Area: 608 square feet (56.485 square meters)
• Powerplant: 2x Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 or Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229
• Operating Weight: 33,500 lb (15195.34 kilograms)
• Maximum Gross Weight: 81,000 lb (36740.98 kilograms)
• Fuel Capacity: 35,550 pounds with three external tanks plus conformal fuel tanks (16125.21 kilograms)

 

Performance

• Thrust: 25,000 - 29,000 lb each engine (11339 - 13154 kilogram each)
• Maximum speed: Mach 2.5+ (1,875 mph, 2,655 kph) at high altitude.
• Combat range: 2,400 miles (3,862 kilometers) with fuel tanks and three external fuel tanks
• Service Ceiling: 65,000 feet (19,812 meters)

Cockpit

Spoiler

Cockpit photo credited to Wikimedia Commons

Armament

Guns

 

• M61A1 20mm Cannon Gun System (512 rounds)

 

Air-to-Air Missiles

 

• AIM-7F Sparrow
• AIM-7M Sparrow

 

• AIM-9P Sidewinder
• AIM-9P-1 Sidewinder
• AIM-9P-2 Sidewinder
• AIM-9P-3 Sidewinder
• AIM-9L Sidewinder
• AIM-9M Sidewinder

 

• AIM-120A AMRAAM

 

Air-to-Ground Bombs & Rockets

 

• AGM-65A
• AGM-65B
• AGM-65D
• AGM-65G

 

• AGM-130A
• AGM-130B

 

• MK82 Low-drag General-Purpose or Air
• MK82 Snakeye

 

• MK84 Low-drag General-Purpose or Air

 

• GBU-10 Paveway II
• GBU-12 Paveway II
• GBU-24 Paveway III

 

• GBU-15
• GBU-28

 

Misc

• Raytheon AN/APG-70 or AN/APG-82 Radar Set
• Radar Warning Receiver Set
• Electronic Warfare Warning Set
• Flare and Chaff Countermeasures Set
• Radar Jammer
• LANTIRN system pod

Images

Spoiler

 

All of those F-15E Strike Eagle photos are credited by the media in the category of  F-15E Strike Eagle of commons.wikimedia.org.

Conclusion

Since Gaijin has announced fourth-generation fighter aircraft in development, there is no doubt that the fourth-generation aircraft content will be expanded in the imminent future. Hence, the F-15E Strike Eagle is worthy enough to make into the suggestions.

Sources

Secondary

• https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104499/f-15e-strike-eagle/
• https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/f15/
• https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-15-specs.htm
• https://man.fas.org/dod-101/sys/ac/f-15.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-15E_Strike_Eagle

 

 

Thank you for your time reading my suggestion!

Edited January 18, 2023 by Nostalgistic
Fixed sources list

[Milocat 4,857]

Before I get started, I would like to say that I am by NO means asking for this aircraft to be added immediately.  However, with rumors of 4th-generation aircraft coming to War Thunder this year, I would like to suggest it before any more time passes.  I also wanted to suggest the F-15E because I have a personal connection to it; my father is a former F-15E WSO.  With his birthday coming up soon it seems like the perfect time for me to make this post.

 

The McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle is a multirole variant of the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter aircraft.  While the F-15 was originally designed solely as a fighter aircraft (epitomized in the F-15C variant), McDonnell Douglas engineers recognized its potential as a strike aircraft and began designing a new variant with that role in mind with the hopes of replacing the F-111 and old F-4 variants in the strike role.  The first prototype of what would become the F-15E, a modified F-15A, first flew in 1980.  To improve the aircraft's strike capability, the F-15E had a laser designator targeting pod installed to allow for the deployment of laser-guided bombs, and a second crewmember added to operate the additional weapons systems.  This second crewmember, known as the Weapons Systems Officer or WSO, is responsible for operating air-to-ground avionics, assisting in the targeting of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons, and acting as a navigator for the aircraft.  Removing this workload from the pilot greatly improves the efficiency of strike missions.  The F-15E competed against the General Dynamics F-16XL and was ultimately selected as the superior design for the strike fighter role due to its lower cost of development and the additional safety margin provided by a two-engined design over the single-engined F-16XL.  The first production F-15E made its maiden flight in March 1987 and the type was issued to squadrons one year later.  A total of 237 F-15E Strike Eagles were produced from 1987 to 2001.

 

In combat, the F-15E is often tasked to perform deep strike missions far behind enemy lines where pilots may be unable to rely on additional fighter escort or support from friendly jamming aircraft.  In addition to carrying an impressive payload, the F-15E is a highly capable fighter, able to carry a variety of air-to-air missiles.  While the added weight of the second crew member and air-to-ground modifications reduce its agility compared to that of the pure fighter F-15C variant, it still possesses respectable maneuverability, especially for an aircraft of its bulk.  It is also capable of mounting jammer pods, allowing an F-15E wing to attack with the protection offered by jamming without having to rely on specialized jamming aircraft.  

 

The F-15E has an illustrious combat history, serving in the Gulf War, Desert Storm, airstrikes in the Balkan Conflict, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and airstrikes against the Islamic State into the present day.  Three F-15Es have been lost to ground fire but none have been lost to enemy aircraft.  F-15Es frequently attacked enemy missile launchers, airbases, and infrastructure even when facing heavy anti-aircraft defenses.  During the Gulf War, the type destroyed multiple Iraqi aircraft on the ground but only scored a single air-to-air kill in the form of an Iraqi Mi-24 helicopter struck by a laser-guided bomb while taking off.

 

In addition to serving with the USAF, F-15E Strike Eagles have been sold to several other nations under export designations, specifically Israel (F-15I), South Korea (F-15K), Saudi Arabia (F-15S and F-15SA), Qatar (F-15QA), and Singapore (F-15SG).  With these export variants included in the overall tally a total of 513 F-15E aircraft have been manufactured.

 

The F-15E would make for an excellent multirole aircraft to be added to the game with other 4th-generation aircraft, able to destroy both aircraft and ground targets with equal efficiency.

 

Specifications:

Engines:  Two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 afterburning turbofan engines, 64.9 KN (14,590 lbs) thrust each dry, 105.7 KN (23,770 lbs) thrust each with afterburner OR two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 afterburning turbofan engines, 79.2 KN (17,800 lbs) thrust each dry, 129.7 KN (29,160 lbs) thrust each with afterburner

Length:  19.45m

Wingspan:  13.05m

Height:  5.64m

Empty Weight:  14,379 kg (31,700 lb)

Maximum Takeoff Weight:  36,741 kg (81,000 lb)

Maximum Speed:  3,018 kmh (1,875 mph) (Mach 2.44)

Cruising Speed:  917 kmh (570 mph)

Crew:  2 (Pilot, Weapons Systems Officer)

Avionics (radar):  Raytheon AN/APG-70 or AN/APG-82 all-weather multimode radar, AN/ASQ-236 Radar Pod

Avionics (targeting):  LANTIRN or Lockheed Martin Sniper XR or LITENING targeting pod

Avionics (countermeasures):  Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems AN/ALQ-131 electronic countermeasures pod, Hazeltine AN/APX-76 or Raytheon AN/APX-119 Identify Friend/Foe (IFF) interrogator, Magnavox AN/ALQ-128 Electronic Warfare Warning Set (EWWS), Loral AN/ALR-56 Radar warning receivers (RWR), Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems ALQ-135 Internal Countermeasures System (ICS), Marconi AN/ALE-45 Chaff/Flares dispenser system

Armament:  One 20mm M61A1 Vulcan rotary cannon in the right wing root (500 rounds), up to 10,400 kg (23,000 lbs) of ordinance on four wing pylons and multiple fuselage pylons (see payload)

Payload (air-to-air):  AIM-7F or AIM-7M Sparrow radar-guided missiles, AIM-9L or AIM-9M Sidewinder heat-seeking missiles, AIM-120 AMRAAM active radar homing missiles

Payload (air-to-ground):  AGM-65 Maverick missiles, AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, AGM-84H or AGM-84K SLAM-ER cruise missiles, AGM-130 missiles, AGM-154 JSOW glide bombs, AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles, Mark 82 bombs, Mark 84 bombs, GBU-15 guided bombs, GBU-10 Paveway II laser-guided bombs, GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs, GBU-24 Paveway III laser-guided bombs, GBU-27 Paveway III laser-guided bombs, GBU-28 laser-guided bombs, GBU-31 or GBU-38 laser-guided bombs, GBU-54 Laser JDAM laser-guided bombs, GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb glide bombs, B61 or B83 nuclear bombs, CBU-87 or CBU-103 cluster bombs, CBU-89 or CBU-104 air-dropped mines, CBU-97 or CBU-105 cluster bombs, CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon kinetic guided bombs, BLU-107 Durandal runway penetration bombs

Number Built:  237 (domestic), 519 (including export versions)

 

Images:  

Spoiler

 

Sources:  

The Great Book of Modern Warplanes by Bill Sweetman, Michael J. Gething, Doug Richardson, Mike Spick, and Bill Gunston, 1987

https://www.military.com/equipment/f-15-eagle 

https://www.gd-ots.com/armaments/aircraft-guns-gun-systems/f-15e/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-15E_Strike_Eagle 

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104499/f-15e-strike-eagle/ 

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/10/how-an-f-15e-fighter-scored-its-only-air-to-air-kill-with-a-bomb/ 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Milocat

[leroyonly 4,311]

Open for discussion. 

 

Also merged the suggestions made by @Martin_Marauder and @Milocatas they are obviously for the same aircraft.

[Fireraid233 4,274]

+1

[__Stiben__ 100]

i want them all, we need a premium one. someone has to make the sacrifice and be the premium that gets farmed on the runway.

[warthogboy09 196]

Not trying to resurrect this thread but tucking this fact in here. F-15E's have been flying with the CFTs removed and belly launchers installed. This should definitely be an option when the Strike Eagle is added down the road. You lose the extra gas and TGP/GPS pods but become an absolute hot rod with those -229 engines, stronger airframe and more stab deflection. Similarly the late -C model should have the ability to equip CFTs, Sniper Pod, and TALON IRST.

[the_big_iron 137]

Here are some documentations of the F-15 include the E variant: https://www.usaf-sig.org/index.php/references/downloads/category/102-f-15-eagle-strike-eagle

[RanchSauce39 397]

shame if Gajin doesnt develop AIr to Surface Radar modes. Strike Eagle had quite an amazing radar with impressive SAR mapping resolutions for its time.

 

 

White Paper from 1997 discussing a further high resolution SAR mapping upgrades. IN the Gulf war Strike eagle could do 8.5 foot  resolution at 20 nautical miles, this was later improved to 4 foot at the same range.

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235082355_Automatic_Target_Cueing_and_Operator_Performance_with_Enhanced_APG-70_Synthetic_Aperture_Radar_Imagery

 

"The F-15E Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in High Resolution Map (HRM) mode has the capability to produce patch maps at eight different coverage sizes, ranging from 80 nautical miles (nmi) to 0.67 nmi. The 0.67 nmi map corresponds to an image resolution of 8.5 ft/pixel, which is currently the highest level attainable on the F-15E (Nonnuclear Weapon Delivery Manual). In order to provide the type of higher resolution imagery needed to support the application of ATC/ATR technologies, the Theater Missile Defense (TMD) office (ASC/FBXT) sponsored the development and testing of a new high resolution capability with a "smart" sensor management system for use with the APG-70 radar. The APG-70 was modified to include a New High Resolution Mode (NHRM ) with a patch size of 0.33 nmi, which corresponds to an image resolution of 4 ft x 6 ft (hereafter referred to simply as 4 ft). "

 

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by RanchSauce39

[RanchSauce39 397]

On 27/06/2022 at 19:32, warthogboy09 said:

Not trying to resurrect this thread but tucking this fact in here. F-15E's have been flying with the CFTs removed and belly launchers installed. This should definitely be an option when the Strike Eagle is added down the road. You lose the extra gas and TGP/GPS pods but become an absolute hot rod with those -229 engines, stronger airframe and more stab deflection. Similarly the late -C model should have the ability to equip CFTs, Sniper Pod, and TALON IRST.

 

 

This was  discussed to death on the eagle dynamics forums since one of the 3rd parties, Razbam is in the process of developing a strike eagle for that sim.  It was explained over and over  that the F15E strike eagle doesnt even fly without CFT's in airshow configuration. CFt's are basically installed on a permanent basis, and generally only take off for depot level maintenance purposes.

 

SO it would be improper to expect Gajin to go for a headache to find documentation or estimate for non CFT eagle flight performance when the performance charts that you can find are with CFT installed.

 

https://forum.dcs.world/topic/282511-option-to-remove-cfts/

 

 

[warthogboy09 196]

14 hours ago, RanchSauce39 said:

 

 

This was  discussed to death on the eagle dynamics forums since one of the 3rd parties, Razbam is in the process of developing a strike eagle for that sim.  It was explained over and over  that the F15E strike eagle doesnt even fly without CFT's in airshow configuration. CFt's are basically installed on a permanent basis, and generally only take off for depot level maintenance purposes.

 

SO it would be improper to expect Gajin to go for a headache to find documentation or estimate for non CFT eagle flight performance when the performance charts that you can find are with CFT installed.

 

https://forum.dcs.world/topic/282511-option-to-remove-cfts/

 

 

Except that the real world jets literally did it less than 6 months ago. CFTs down, LAU-106s up. You can see for yourself on any of the tailspotter Facebook pages. And for what it's worth CFTs are hardly installed on a "permanent" basis, let alone taken down just for Depot.

[RanchSauce39 397]

On 08/08/2022 at 14:56, warthogboy09 said:

Except that the real world jets literally did it less than 6 months ago. CFTs down, LAU-106s up. You can see for yourself on any of the tailspotter Facebook pages. And for what it's worth CFTs are hardly installed on a "permanent" basis, let alone taken down just for Depot.

 

please ask any Strike eagle pilot/wso or their maintenance crews how often they fly without CFT, and if they do for what purposes are they dismantled...

 

hint already ask and answered in the above response.

 

If you dont want CFT's fly the F15A/C air superiority eagle. IF you want CFT, fly the Strike eagle in the US tree, dont think you can just just ask for a none CFT removed eagle thinking it will be turned it a imitation F15C but with beefier engines (229's)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[warthogboy09 196]

22 hours ago, RanchSauce39 said:

 

please ask any Strike eagle pilot/wso or their maintenance crews how often they fly without CFT, and if they do for what purposes are they dismantled...

 

hint already ask and answered in the above response.

 

If you dont want CFT's fly the F15A/C air superiority eagle. IF you want CFT, fly the Strike eagle in the US tree, dont think you can just just ask for a none CFT removed eagle thinking it will be turned it a imitation F15C but with beefier engines (229's)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok all ask a maintenance crew. Done. Personal experience.  I know why, won't share it here, but it was for practical purposes and done for several months, though only had training flights in that time period, which is more than enough reason for it. And it does turn it into a hot rod, and the stabs deflect a bit farther, which has its own benefits.

 

Edit: also linking the DCS topic on it makes me laugh at the number of clearly misinformed people on that forum screaming that there have never ever ever been sorties of E models without CFTs for anything but Depot Ferries and 1 off airshows when multiple jets did it for months with people sitting at the end of the runway snapping pictures every time they would take off. Really shows a lack of research on the topic.

Edited August 10, 2022 by warthogboy09

[RanchSauce39 397]

 

On 10/08/2022 at 10:38, warthogboy09 said:

Ok all ask a maintenance crew. Done. Personal experience.  I know why, won't share it here, but it was for practical purposes and done for several months, though only had training flights in that time period, which is more than enough reason for it. And it does turn it into a hot rod, and the stabs deflect a bit farther, which has its own benefits.

 

Edit: also linking the DCS topic on it makes me laugh at the number of clearly misinformed people on that forum screaming that there have never ever ever been sorties of E models without CFTs for anything but Depot Ferries and 1 off airshows when multiple jets did it for months with people sitting at the end of the runway snapping pictures every time they would take off. Really shows a lack of research on the topic.

 

*shrug*

 

ah yes "misinformed" community........ yeah its only comming from the horses mouth ( former Strike eagle WSO, thats assisting Razbam dev team for input as SME, and doing tutorial videos) .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by RanchSauce39

[warthogboy09 196]

11 hours ago, RanchSauce39 said:

former

Believe what you want to believe. I know what I've done and what I've seen. Don't need someone else to tell me what it can/can't/did do.

[modern_primat 182]

the time has come

[Borotovas 4,500]

+1

[Orphican 82]

+1 Very Much Yes! 

[Seahawk_2015 56]

Why F-16 but no F-15. Weird Gaijin skipped the 15.

[Milocat 4,857]

6 hours ago, Seahawk_2015 said:

Why F-16 but no F-15. Weird Gaijin skipped the 15.

 

The capabilities of the F-15 are a step up from the F-16, adding them in this order is the most logical progression.  

[Orphican 82]

8 hours ago, Milocat said:

 

The capabilities of the F-15 are a step up from the F-16, adding them in this order is the most logical progression.  

 

Adding them in this order lets gaijin give the MiG-29 an easy way to dominate top tier until they feel it's time to add the F-15.

 

I think the F-15A with it's sparrows should have come first as a much better long range counter for the MiG's short range prowess. As it stands now the MiG-29 has free reign to doge a few AIM-54 and AIM-7 and start slitting throats under 6km. 

 

Either way the F-15E is still a ways off. 

[Kingtiez@live 606]

+1, cannot wait for the F-15

[hienapunk 1,065]

This will come eventually, but the f111 needs to come first.

[spacenavy90 1,402]

Can't wait for this plane! +1

[Suizu_Aika 59]

+1 I would like to see this in game

[oom1992 649]

My support this +1

I guess F-15E (1988) add under F-111F Aardvark