Posts Tagged ‘boeing’
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
Is there a delay of F-15s for Saudi?
There are rumblings that the Boeing F-15 deal with Saudi Arabia is delayed. There are also speculation the Saudis are upset with President Obama’s support of Arab Spring demonstrations or his opposition to Palestine becoming a state through U.N. approval.
“We hear the same rumblings, but to narrow it down or be able to pinpoint it, we’re up in the air about that right now. We don’t know,” said Aerospace Machinists president Gordon King.
“They are keeping it pretty close chested of what the reasons might be”
King feels the Saudis are still interested with the F-15s, but admits there has been a hold-up in the transfer of money.
Source: stlouis.cbslocal.com, foxnews.com
Upgraded F-15Cs to Japan from USAF
Boeing and U.S. Air Force officials at Kadena Air Base celebrated the arrival of four F-15Cs upgraded with the APG-63(V)3 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. The newly arrived F-15Cs will join the APG-63(V)1 and (V)2 aircraft already in the 44th and 67th Fighter Squadrons to provide unmatched combat power for the defense of Japan. The upgrades were installed and tested at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
F15C
Boeing is under contract to fully upgrade 27 Air Force and 18 Air National Guard F-15C/D aircraft with the APG-63(V)3 AESA over the next 10 months. A total of 54 AESA-equipped F-15C/Ds are scheduled to be on station at Kadena by September 2013.
“The fielded APG-63(V)3 air-to-air capabilities put the F-15C/D in a class by itself and ensure that the Air Force and Air National Guard F-15C/D fleets remain capable, maintainable and affordable,” said Todd Burns, F-15C AESA program manager for Boeing. “Delivery of these four aircraft on schedule demonstrates Boeing’s commitment to ensuring the F-15 remains a world-class multirole fighter.”
Boeing’s Global Services & Support division provides U.S. Air Force F-15 sustainment services including ground support equipment, spares and retrofit programs, contractor field teams and a full range of training systems and services.
The Raytheon APG-63(V)3 is a highly reliable and affordable high-performance AESA for the F-15 air-to-air variant. The AESA radar antenna is 50 times more reliable than the mechanically scanned antenna it replaces.
“This system improves our capabilities and lethality as a combat air force. We will fly our missions equipped with the world’s most powerful air- to-air radar,” said Brig. Gen. Ken Wilsbach, commander of the 18th Wing at Kadena. “This capability strengthens our ability to carry out our mission to provide unmatched combat power, provide a forward power projection platform, and provide for the common defense of Japan.”
- DEFENCE TALK
U.S. approves export license for Silent Eagle to South Korea
F-15 Silent Eagle
Boeing is looking to compete for a major fighter acquisition project in South Korea after receiving Pentagon approval to export the stealth version of its F-15 aircraft, the Silent Eagle, according to Boeing and South Korean procurement officials.
The F-15SE export approval for South Korea is the first of its kind, as Boeing is offering the aircraft to other current users such as Israel, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
“Boeing submitted requests for licenses to brief South Korea about the F-15SE’s capability,” a Boeing official told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity. “The DSP-5 unclassified license for the export of unclassified items was approved in July, and the DSP-85 classified license for sensitive equipment was subsequently approved in August.”
The classified items include the F-15SE’s radar cross-section treatments and electronic warfare suite, said the official.
In a related move, a group of U.S. Air Force officers in charge of the stealth aircraft’s foreign military sales (FMS) program will visit South Korea this week to brief the South Korean Air Force and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) about the aircraft’s capabilities, according to Boeing and DAPA officials. Officials from the Joint U.S. Military Affairs Group-Korea (JUSMAG-K) will also attend the briefings. The
“The team will specify the degree of frontal aspect radar cross-section signature for the Silent Eagle in a closed-door briefing to the ROKAF Thursday at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters,” a DAPA official said, adding his agency will receive the same briefing on Friday.
“It’s certain that how much Boeing can reduce the fighter’s radar cross-section is a key consideration for South Korea’s potential selection of the Silent Eagle in the competition,” the official said. “We’re very interested in how much it can do and to what level the U.S. will allow the application of its latest stealth technologies to the Silent Eagle.”
Upgrades available for the F-15SE include active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, radar absorbent coatings, large digital cockpit displays, fly-by-wire software, canted tails and bolt-on internal weapons bays.
The Silent Eagle, however, is expected to be fighting an uphill battle against the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightening II and the Eurofighter Typhoon for the F-X III contract.
- The Korea Times -
Silently but deadly: The F-15 Silent Eagle
The F-15 SE demonstrator
On March 17, 2009, Boeing introduced a demonstration version of the F-15E’s upgraded version which has fifth generation fighter features. It was named as such for its ability to penetrate protected airspace undetected. This stealth will be optimized for air to air missions and much less effective against ground based radars.
The $100 million F-15 Silent Eagle (SE) still in development and the company has been seeking other companies to be risk sharing partners in order to reduce its development costs.
It has a length of 63.8ft, height of 18.5ft, wingspan of 42.8ft, wing area of 608 ft², and maximum speed of more than 1,650mph. It can fly up to 60,000ft and can weigh up to 81,000lbs. It has a seating capacity of 2 crew members. It is equipped with a 20mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun with 510 rounds of ammunition, various bombs, missiles, and external tanks.
It is also equipped with APG-82 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, DEWS Electronic warfare system, Digital “Fly-by-Wire” Flight Control System (DFCS), Lockheed Martin Sniper advanced electro-optical targeting system and Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system, and Link-16 fighter data link.
Boeing also eliminated the distinctive canted tails from the early prototype and production configuration of the proposed stealthy F-15 SE. According to Boeing F-15 project Vice President Mark Bass, the canted tail design, highlighted during Boeing’s F-15SE unveiling in St Louis, Missouri has been abandoned until later stages of the project.
In the meantime, the project is planning to start weapons firing tests late this year. Bass also mentioned that a Raytheon AIM-9 or AIM-120 missile will be launched in July or August by an F-15 with the modified internal weapons bay.
The Silent Eagle was made for current F-15 users such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and South Korea. But Boeing said that the F-15SE will be first formally offered to South Korea, which is expected to launch a competition for a fighter contract in early 2011. South Korea is also considering the Lockheed Martin F-35.
Saudi Arabia was reported in September 2009, to be considering the purchase of up to 72 F-15s. Although the exact variant is unspecified, they are reported to be interested in the Silent Eagle.
-wikipedia.org
- flightglobal.com (http://bit.ly/d0JoiM)
-worldwidewarpigs.blogspot.com
