Last week, it was announced that aerospace giant Boeing would produce the future F-47 sixth-generation fighter for the United States Air Force, and it is officially ready to fly high. 

The advanced fighter will be the central system of systems of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which will eventually replace the aging Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

However, Boeing will continue producing its upgraded F-15EX Eagle II, the first Eagle II to hatch from Lot 2 production. It will be the third upgraded F-15EX scheduled for deployment to the 142nd Wing of the Oregon Air National Guard. The aircraft took its maiden flight earlier this month.

Eagle IIs Are Ready for Action

Eight Eagle IIs had been manufactured for the initial Lot 1A and 1B deliveries, which were completed last summer.

According to a report from international military analyst firm Janes earlier this month, the first six F-15EX aircraft had been sent for “developmental testing at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, while two were delivered to the type‘s first operational base in Portland, Oregon, for operation by the 142nd Wing of the Oregon Air National Guard (ANG).”

Is the F-15EX Ready for the Job?

Boeing has touted the F-15EX, an upgraded version of the venerable F-15 Eagle that entered service in the 1970s, as ideally suited for the twenty-first-century U.S. Air Force.

“The F-15EX bolsters development in cutting-edge new technologies while maintaining industry-leading range, payload, and speed. The EX-redesign is driven by the need to effectively operate in a complex, contested battlespace where threats are increasingly diverse and agile,” Boeing explained while highlighting that the aircraft could “provide a realistic growth path to sync with future collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs) to command and control the battlespace.”

Though lacking in stealth and other fifth-generation capabilities, the two-seat F-15EX does provide advanced capabilities unique to the U.S. Air Force. That includes new fly-by-wire flight controls, improved weapons stations, an enhanced electronic warfare suite, advanced radar and computer, conformal fuel tanks, and a strengthened airframe. 

The Eagle II also features a deep magazine that allows it to carry advanced weapons, with a 28 percent larger payload than the older F-15E.

Aircraft Will Be Ready After Some Minimal Training

At the same time, the Eagle II requires only minimal transitional training and little additional workforce from the older versions of the F-15. Moreover, the Eagle II could be employed to escort high-value assets and serve in an air superiority role to counter missile threats while still being able to conduct air-to-ground precision strikes.

“The F-15EX is operationally effective in all its air superiority roles, including defensive and offensive counter-air against surrogate fifth-generation adversary aircraft and basic air-to-ground capability against the tested threats. The F-15EX was able to detect and track all threats at advantageous ranges, use onboard and off-board systems to identify them, and deliver weapons while surviving,” the Directorate of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) wrote in its 2024 annual report.

The F-15EX has a significantly higher mission-capable rate than the F-35 or even the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. The Eagle II achieved an 83.13 percent mission-capable rate, compared with the Lightning II‘s MC rate of 67.15 percent for all variants.

The Eagle II will likely complement the fifth-gen F-35 and could still be flying and have a role to fill even as the sixth-gen F-47 enters service.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

Image: Shutterstock/ Sara Christine.

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