The rumoured US Air Force (USAF) purchase of new Boeing F-15 Eagle fighters could instead be other fourth-generation aircraft, as long as the service is buying 72 fighters per year, according to USAF leadership.
USAF Chief of Staff General David Goldfein said that the service must grow its fighter capacity to be able to execute the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy with moderate risk. He said the USAF must also drive down its average fighter aircraft age to 15 years, which would help with sustainability management.
Boeing offered the USAF two different F-15 variants – a single seat CX model and a dual seat EX variant. (USAF)
Gen Goldfein said if it were up to him, he would buy more Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs), but he said that money was not available for this.
“In a perfect world where we would have the resources available to us, the 72 fighters a year would be F-35s because a F-15 or any variant would never be a F-35,” Gen Goldfein told reporters on 28 February at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium. “This is about capacity.”
Boeing did offer the USAF F-15s, but it offered two different models, a source familiar with the discussions told Jane’s on 1 March. These were a single-seat CX variant and a dual-seat EX model, and the only difference between the two variants was the number of seats.
Looking to read the full article?
Gain unlimited access to Janes news and more...
