+Menrva 4,055 Posted July 4, 2021 Yeah, I already saw that video when it was posted, I follow that channel. It makes sense to have such a multirole platform, maximizing firepower while sacrificing stealth. As much as I love the F-22A Raptor, they never fully explored the potential of that aircraft, it's only capable of carrying small GPS-guided bombs, otherwise it's just a stealth air superiority aircraft with no HMD capability. It would be weird to see those F-15EX aircraft being manned by a single pilot, even though the airframe is dual-seat. Maybe they've played Ace Combat too much... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Coupi 4,292 Posted July 4, 2021 For the USAF, the F-15EX is a poor second-best because the F-22 production stopped 10 years ago and the F-35 is expensive to buy and maintain... its full Block 4 standard is a long way ! This is a stopgap waiting for the next generation... P. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+GKABS 8,406 Posted July 4, 2021 It's the lack of money to spend by the US air force, that what I think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+daddyairplanes 9,004 Posted July 4, 2021 i've said it in other places, F-15EX would be an excellent buy if they used it for its original role when proposed 5 or so years ago: replacement of the F-15Cs used in the air soveriegnty role by the Air National Guard. but the US military being what it is, we like to tack things and missions on. that said, it will still be a good investment in that - it will be a newer airframe accomplishing the same mission. less maintenence down time, meaning overall cheaper to operate - the USAF will finally move away from its F-15 platforms being solely air to air. the second seat is expected to be utilized for training and to have a WSO for air to ground. when pure air to air one seat is expected to be used - with the recent experiments in using F-15Es as literal bomb trucks (up rated loads just for carrying from one base to another), another CFT'd platform would help accomplish that mission set, further enabling the USAF's goal of being able to operate from small remote airbases in IndoPac the F-22 and F-35 are expensive, and while the USAF would have loved to replace entire fleets with them, the fact is they are going to be a combination of Day1 silver bullets and day... the rest... quarterbacks, using their greater situational awareness of the air space to direct the 4th gen platforms. Those 4th gen platforms are more likely to be there when needed if they are built in 2022-6 rather than 1982-6 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PFunk 198 Posted July 7, 2021 Even the Air Force admits that the F-15 airframe (in whatever configuration) will no longer be survivable in contested airspace within the next 5-7 years given the development of modern AD systems. As someone noted wisely before, this is a stopgap measure until something more capable can be made. The F-22, while impressive, was never really meant to be multirole. The F-35 was meant to be an airborne Swiss Army knife but, like most Swiss Army knives, fails to be really good at any of the things its equipped for and tends to break very easily. The F-35 was a great idea on paper (hey, let's make the next F-16) but feature creep really hurt the development of the plane. Hypervelocity weapons delivered by platforms like the B-21 Raider are going to be the game-changer in warfare. Even the most optimistically-written sales brochure for Russian air defense systems won't be able to keep up with an object traveling at five to six times the speed of sound. They had a hard enough time with the SR-71 Blackbird and that was with the SA-10 in the field. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
