F-15 EX bør det produseres 144 av - The war Zone

 

A STRONG OFFENSE FOR THE WORLD OF DEFENSE

 

March 9, 2023   Nearly half a decade ago, The War Zone broke the story on what was then called the F-15X. The fact that the Air Force was willing to make an about-face on its 'all or nothing' 5th generation tactical fighter strategy and buy its first F-15 Eagles in two decades was stunning and, at least to many, remarkably logical. Fast forward to the present, and the Air Force now appears to be at a fork in the road. Ever since the service chose to slash procurement of what is now known as the F-15EX Eagle II from 144 airframes to just 80 in 2022, no clear answers on why the decision was taken have emerged. We argue that the Air Force should proceed with its original 144 F-15EX buy, or a well-justified number very near or greater than that amount, or scrap the program entirely. You can read The War Zone’s full justification for this conclusion here.   Elsewhere, the U.S. military is reportedly exploring the possibility of integrating AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs, onto at least some of the Soviet-designed MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets in Ukraine's inventory. While there are serious caveats to this proposition, it would, if feasible, give the Ukrainian Air Force a new beyond-visual-range air-to-air capability in the form of a highly-capable missile – posing a major threat to Russian airpower venturing within its range. Still, how this would actually be achieved, while capturing anywhere near the full capability of the missile, is unclear.    We are also continuing our rolling coverage of the conflict in Ukraine as it develops, which can be found at The War Zone. You can also check out highlights of all our coverage from the last week below.    -- Oliver Parken The War Zone