The US Air Force’s (USAF) Boeing F-15C and F-15E Strike Eagle fleets are likely to be modernised, in a bid to offer enhanced systems to the fighter jet pilots.
A senior air force official at Robins Air Force Base F-15 system program office (SPO) told Flightglobal that upgrades planned for the two-seat multirole F-15E Strike Eagle include the new Raytheon APG-82(V)1 active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar and a new advanced display core processor II (ADCP II) mission computer.
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In addition to a series of software block updates, additional upgrades will include a new electronic warfare system known as the Eagle passive/active warning and survivability system (EPAWSS), a digital video recorder, mode 5 identification friend or foe (IFF), and a joint helmet mounted cueing system (JHMCS) for the front seat.
Meanwhile, the single-seat F-15C fighter fleet, which is already undergoing modernisation, will receive the ADCP II, EPAWSS, Mode 5 IFF, a new flight data recorder, a satellite communications (SATCOM) radio, and a new digital video recorder including Raytheon APG-63(V) 3 AESA.
The USAF pilots, however, insist that the likely upgrades should also include enhanced displays without which the benefits provided by the new updates cannot be utilised effectively and efficiently.
A former F-15 pilot said: "Those look like great upgrades. The part I see that is lacking is in the displays."
"You have these phenomenal subsystems, but if you can’t provide [sensor data] in a meaningful way to the operator, it doesn’t matter."
Image: Two F-15 fighter jets during their flight. Photo: courtesy of Boeing.
