Archive for the ‘F15 News’ Category
Japan Scrambles F-15 Fighter Jets Against Chinese Military Planes
The Air Self-Defense Force scrambled F-15 fighter jets after a Chinese aircraft approached the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, the Defense Ministry reported.
However, the Y-12 propeller plane, operated by China’s State Oceanic Administration, did not intrude into Japanese airspace above Read the rest of this entry »
U.S. Air Force F-15 Funding Flying High
The U.S. Air Force will have spent about $5.8 billion on F-15 programs between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2017, with F-15E Strike Eagles accounting for about $3.2 billion of that total, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of data. Most of the work, about $3 billion, is for sustainment Read the rest of this entry »
F-15 Night Flying Operations in Southern Oregon
F-15s will be coming out at night over Klamath Falls. The 173rd Fighter Wing will conduct night flying operations from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. starting Monday. Night flying is one part of the course curriculum for F-15 student pilots at Kingsley Field. The operations will continue through Jan. 11.
“Night flying is a critical skill which our students need to learn to be effective war fighters,” said Col. Jeremy Baenen, 173rd Operations Group commander. “We understand the disruption to the community during night flying weeks, but we try our best to minimize the noise impact.”
Most of the training will occur in the military operating airspace to the east of Lakeview, where the pilots can fly without any lights. However the community will most likely hear the jets during takeoffs and approaches back into Kingsley Field. Takeoffs will occur after sundown and the jets will land approximately 90 minutes later.
“We train our students to fly with night vision goggles in a completely lights out environment,” said Baenen. “We teach them how to read instruments, employ weapons and refuel all while wearing NVGs. It’s because of this training that United States Air Force has the advantage over our enemies.”
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Source: http://www.kptv.com/story/20506909/f-15-night-flying-operations-beginning-in-southern-oregon
US signs $29 Billion Deal on F-15 Warplanes to Saudi Arabia
The United States signed a $29.4 billion deal to provide F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a move likely to be seen as part of efforts to counter Iran. The deal will supply 84 new Boeing F-15SA aircraft and modernize 70 existing planes and include munitions, spare parts, training and maintenance contracts, White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest said.
“This agreement reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and demonstrates the US commitment to a strong Saudi defence capability as a key component to regional security,” Earnest said. He quoted unidentified experts as saying that the deal would support more than 50,000 American jobs, at a time of high unemployment, and provide $3.5 billion in annual impact to the US economy.
The deal was announced formally as President Barack Obama vacationed in his native state of Hawaii, but had been first unveiled as far back as October 2010 as part of a $60 billion US arms sale to Saudi Arabia. The delivery of the package would unfold over 15 to 20 years and also includes Apache attack helicopters and Black Hawk choppers, defense officials said.
Thursday’s announcement came at a time when tensions between Iran and the United States and its Gulf allies are rising, partly due to Tehran’s nuclear drive. Iran has rejected a warning that the US military would not tolerate an attempt by Tehran to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz to tankers in a move that would threaten deep disruption to global oil supplies.
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Source: http://www.brecorder.com/business-a-economy/189/1266074/
USAF Seeks Afterlife for F-15s
The F-15 Eagles of the US Air Force will be pushed to more than double their life with a series of upgrades.
“About two and a half years ago, the U.S. Air Force wanted fatigue tests on C models,” says Brad Jones, F-15 mission systems director for Boeing, which makes the aircraft.
As the F-15 fleet aircraft approached their life expectancies for total flight hours, the Air Force wanted see how far the service could delay fleet retirements, Jones said during a recent briefing with reporters. The design service life for the aircraft is 8,000 flight hours and the lead-the-fleet aircraft have flown more than 10,000 actual flight hours and counting, Boeing says.
Boeing is now working on full-scale fatigue test certifications to push F-15C/D models to 18,000 equivalent flight hours (EFHs) and F-15E models to 32,000 EHFs. “Structural fatigue improvements in current-production F-15s provide longer life and reduced maintenance requirements,” Boeing says.
“We do not have an end date for the F-15,” Jones says. Indeed, he says, there are several programs to make U.S. and international models better with age.
The F-15 radar modernization program proposes to retrofit all F-15Es by 2021 with APG-82(V)1 suites with APG-79 processors, which will offer a fivefold improvement over the APG-63(V)3 equipment in reliability and effectiveness. The initial operational capability for the radar work is early 2014.
The Advanced Display/Core Processor II (ADCP II) program will replace all the computers in U.S. F-15Es and serve as the baseline computer for all future aircraft sales. The new computers increase computing power, adding additional gigabit Ethernet and fiber channel connections, with a Milestone B decision scheduled in November. “The U.S. Air Force has a display upgrade working team up now,” Jones says.
Boeing also is offering an advanced cockpit system that includes a large-area display, low-profile head-up display, reference standby display and low-profile engine fuel hydraulics display, all of which replace 23 existing displays, instruments and indicators.
“It’s more for situational awareness,” Jones says, adding the improvements significantly lower the cost of the aircraft, for both purchase price and life cycle costs.
The proposed new Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) replaces several legacy systems, such as the radar warning receiver, jammer internal countermeasures set, countermeasures dispenser and interface blanker.
With DEWS, there is no need for a waveguide or nitrogen pressurization, Boeing says, and the digital system provides more than 200% throughput and memory growth reserve as well as better operation with wideband agile radars and other RF systems.
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Source: http://www.military.com
Soccer star Wambach Flies in an F-15
U.S. women’s national soccer team’s star Abby Wambach who just recently won an Olympic gold medal, visited the Montana Air national Guard on September 11 and took the skies in an F-15.
Abby Wambach showing off her Gold Medal in soccer to an airman with the Montana Air National Guard prior to her ride in an F-15.
Maj. Cody Smith, a 120th public affairs officer, said Wambach was a great inspiration and spoke to the airmen about promoting diversity, encouragement, empowerment of women in the military and of women all over the world. “There was a distinct purpose, a multitude, for her visit, including promoting teamwork and fitness, which members of the military can understand,” he added.
“Couldn’t be more proud to take this flight on 9/11 anniversary. Hats off to those who lost their lives and those who serve now to protect ours,” Wambach tweeted, followed by more tweets with photos of her in the plane.
Wambach took her seat in a 50-minute sortie and watched as the pilot conducted training in basic fighter maneuvers, Smith said.
“She was in the back seat, flying with Lt. Col. Larry Gardner, and she got to see some of the physical demands it takes to be a fighter pilot,” Smith said. “This is just the responsibility factor, when it comes to being able to travel the country, and perform and compete for my country, I need to reach out and thank those who allow me to have that chance and freedom to do so,” Wambach said in an interview with TV station KRTV.
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Source: http://www.airforcetimes.com
Massachusetts Air National Guard F-15s Training Over the Adirondacks
Two Massachusett Air National Guard’s F-15 fighters from the 104th Fighter Wing will conduct a practice scramble and intercept exercise over northeastern New York on August 29.
The jets that are based at Barnes Air National Guard Base near Westfield will be flying over the Loon Lake area in the Adirondack Mountains between 10 AM to noon. Residents may hear the engine noise and notice the aircraft maneuvering.
The F-15s will be conducting training with a Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182 aircraft acting as the target.
This exercise, in partnership with the New York Air National Guard’s Eastern Air Defense Sector, is being conducted to facilitate training for alert pilots on intercept procedures, ensuring the Massachusetts Air National Guard is prepared to defend the Northeast airspace against any airborne threat.
These exercises are carefully planned, closely controlled and include exercising airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft.
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Source: http://www.dvidshub.net
F-15 Pilots Demand Retina Displays
U.S. Air Force F-15 pilots are angry about the decision to not include flat screen displays in the cockpit in the implementation of upgrades to the electronics of F-15s. At the same time, larger, and higher resolution displays are being installed in some F-15s for export customers.
The pilots point out that the upgraded radars and other sensors provide F-15 pilots with a lot more information, more data than the current 4×4 inch (10x10cm) displays can handle. Most pilots are also familiar with the Retina (2880×1800 pixels for cockpit use) display Apple introduced two years ago for its iPhone and other devices. The Retina display puts 50-100 percent more data out there than previous display types. The pilots know higher resolution is very useful. So the pilots are agitating now, while there’s still time to fix this oversight.
The military procurement bureaucracy, especially in peacetime, often creates problems like this. It’s a combination of office politics, cluelessness, and just plain ignorance that make it all happen or, rather, not happen. But in this case most of the users are university trained engineers and very much aware of any shortcomings in their current or upcoming gear. The pilots, as a group, are also quite articulate. They know how to let the media and politicians know about things that need to be fixed.
The pilots also know that their F-15s will be around for a while yet. The new F-35 is mainly to replace a lot of aging F-16s. The F-22 was meant to replace the F-15 but proved too expensive for that. So the current F-15s will serve for another 10-20 years, until the combat UAVs become common enough to serve as affordable replacements.
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Source: http://www.strategypage.com
Pratt and Whitney to Celebrate 40 Years of F100 Engines
On July 27, 1972, Pratt and Whitney will celebrate 40 years of F100 propulsion, marking the development and delivery of its first F100 engines.
Pratt & Whitney’s F100 engine is one of the most successful fighter engines in history. The combat-proven engine has more than 27 million engine flying hours of experience. Pratt & Whitney has built more than 7,200 F100 engines for 23 countries around the world.
F-100 engine powers the F-15, F-16 and X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS), with an expanding F100 family of variants. Twenty-four customers worldwide have selected the F100 to power their F-15 and F-16 fighter jets over the past 40 years.
“For 40 years, the F100 engine has provided air forces around the world with superior performance and modern propulsion capabilities,” said Bev Deachin, Vice President, Pratt & Whitney Military Programs & Customer Support. “We look forward to continuing to provide our customers with the world-class safety and reliability the industry has enjoyed from the F100.”
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.
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Museum of Aviation receives Boeing’s Donation of F-15E “Strike Eagle” Model
A large model of an F-15E “Strike Eagle Fighter now lies at the outdoor display near the Museum’s Eagle Building South entrance doorway of the Museum of Aviation, Warner Robins, Georgia. As manufactured and donated by the Boeing Company, the F-15E is the second large model aircraft they have donated to the Museum for its front entrance – last June 2011, they donated a C-17 model. Officials from the Boeing Company in St. Louis, Missouri, came to the Museum last April to help dedicate the model and make a separate cash donation worth $7,000 to the Museum.
During the ribbon cutting, the following Senior Boeing Company representatives were present during the event; from St. Louis were Ms. Julie Praiss, Vice President, Tactical Aircraft and Weapons Systems (Sustainment); Mr. Geoff Wilson, Director, F-15 Support Programs; Mr. Kevin Pennington, U.S. Air Force F-15 Support Program; Mr. Brian Schubert, F-15 Support Programs Business Development and Lori J. Moore, Communications, Global Services & Support. Representing Boeing Macon was John Howell.
RIBBON CUTTING: (L-R) Ken Emery, Colonel Gerald Swift, Colonel Evan Miller, Geoff Wilson, Colonel Mitch Butikofer, Julie Praiss, Carolyn Crayton, Tommy Stalnaker and Patrick M. Bartness.
Colonel Mitch Butikofer, Commander of the 78th Air Base Wing accepted the donation on behalf of the U.S. Air Force Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base. Kenneth Emery, Museum Director welcomed those at the ceremony which included Col. Evan Miller, Commander of the 402nd Maintenance Wing at Robins AFB; Col Gerald Swift, F-15 Division Chief; Larry O’Neal, Georgia State Representative; Patrick M. Bartness, President and Chief Operating Officer, Museum of Aviation Foundation; and Carolyn Crayton, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Museum of Aviation Foundation.
The F-15E “Strike Eagle” donated model has a six foot wing span that sits atop a high pole next to the South Entrance to the Eagle building. The “Eagle Division” of the Museum provides a worldwide support to all F-15 aircraft both for the U.S. Air Force fleet as well as for all foreign military sales users.
The F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter designed by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It is considered among the most successful modern fighters with over 100 aerial combat victories with no losses in aerial fights. Since the 1970s, the Eagle has also been exported to Israel, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Despite originally being envisioned as pure air superiority aircraft, its design proved flexible enough that an all-weather strike derivative.
The first F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jet flew in July 1972 and entered the service in 1976. The Eagle is expected to be in service with the U.S. Air Force past 2025. Purchase quality made F-15E model airplanes and see the biggest aviation collectibles only in Showcase Models.
Source: http://www.museumofaviation.org
