Første F-15EX levert til US ANG - AW&ST

 

Boeing Delivers First Operational F-15EX

Brian Everstine June 06, 2024

 

An F-15EX lands at Portland International Airport, Oregon, on June 5.

Credit: 142nd Wing via X

Boeing on June 6 delivered the first operational F-15EX Eagle II to the U.S. Air National Guard—the seventh of the type to be handed over to the U.S. Air Force.

The Eagle, painted with the 142nd Wing’s Eagle tail flash, arrived at Portland International Airport in Oregon. The same day, Boeing showed the eighth F-15EX preparing to fly to Portland. The previous six F-15EXs have been delivered to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for operational and developmental test.

The F-15EX will replace the wing’s aging F-15C/D fleet for homeland defense. The delivery came about eight months later than expected, due to problems with Boeing in-sourcing forward fuselage production. The F-15QA, on which the EX is based, had its forward fuselage produced by Korea Aerospace Industries. For the Eagle II, Boeing is using its full-size determinant assembly (FSDA) process to build the forward fuselage in St. Louis.

“The process change resulted in quality deficiencies, including improperly installed tubing and wires that required time-consuming rework,” the Air Force said in explaining the delay last month. “Lessons learned and corrective actions are being applied on the production line so that they will not be an issue moving forward on future F-15EX deliveries.”

Boeing, in a follow-up statement, said its FSDA and the structural element of redesign and assembly have gone well and F-15EX production is proceeding at rate.

“But the complexity of the systems work relative to what we’ve done in the past was a challenge,” says Mark Sears, vice president of Boeing Fighters. “Together—the influx of new work and the systems installation challenges—created a learning curve for the team building the new forward fuselage.

“Over the last three and a half years, we’ve changed our workflow and created space for forward fuselage production, so as we move toward a rate of two a month in 2025, we’ve got the line fully streamlined,” he adds.

The Air Force now plans to field a fleet of 98 F-15EXs, down from the original expectation of 144 and last year’s lowered expectation of 104. The request supports requirements for a sixth operational location.