The F-15EX
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F-15EX Breaks The Right Records At The Right Time
fter two years of testing the U.S. Air Force has found that it’s new F-15EX fighter exceeds expectations in terms of number and tonnage of weapons carried. The F-15EX has been tested carrying and launching up to 12 air-to-air missiles. Previously the most missiles carried suspended from the wings was eight and six was more common. The F-15EX can carry up to 13.6 tons of weapons, more than any other F-15 model. After a year of flight testing the first deliveries were made to fighter squadrons. Up to 140 F-15EX aircraft are to be delivered in the next few years. Initially squadrons that perform air defense missions in the United States will receive these aircraft. The F-15EX is cheaper to buy and operate than the F-35 and, for missions that do not depend a lot on stealth, the F-15EX is cheaper and more capable. New versions of the F-35 close that gap but for now the F-15EX is here and the new F-35A Block 4 models have been delayed because of problems with the new software. That has halted efforts to reduce the F-15EX orders from 140 to 80. The F-15EX has met or exceeded all its capabilities.
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https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/overloaded-how-many-weapons-can-f-15ex-fighter-carry-182663
There is still a mission for what is essentially a fighter designed and built in the pre-stealth era. The Air Force envisions the F-15EX as a sort of weapon truck, able to carry large munitions that the F-35 cannot. The F-35 can carry less than 6,000 pounds of munitions internally, whereas the F-15EX can carry almost 30,000 pounds of munitions on its external pylons. On battlefields with modern air defenses, the F-35 could stealthily collect targeting data and relay it to an F-15EX, which could then utilize advanced low-observable or hypersonic munitions to eliminate enemy targets.
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