Why the F-15EX Is Such a Badass Plane

Boeing’s vastly experienced F-15 chief pilot says he never went faster than Mach 2 while flying the F-22 Raptor in the Air Force. But when he took the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II on its maiden flight in 2021, he sure did. “It was a clean airplane right off the production line in green primer [paint],” Matthew “Phat” Giese tells Popular Mechanics. “I did a maximum-afterburner takeoff, pointing the jet straight up, and wound up at 40,000 feet going Mach 2.5 [1,650 miles per hour]. That’s a hell of a first flight.” Giese’s experience illustrates what any pilot who has flown Eagles from the 1970s up through today will tell you: no other Western fighter has the high-altitude smash of an F-15 Eagle. It’s a performance benchmark that the new twin-engine, two-place F-15EX enhances with thrust plus electrical and computing power to best its predecessor. “The things that the F-15 has always done well—go high, go fast, stay airborne for a really long time with a huge payload [30,000 pounds of ordnance], and see further than any other fighter—are there today in the EX,” Giese says. These attributes, including payload, are not hallmarks of America’s fifth-generation fighters. The F-35, for example, can only carry 5,700 pounds of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons at shorter range and slower speeds than the F-15EX. “Frankly, [F-15EX] can almost fill in where you might not have as many bombers as you’d like to have. … This thing can carry so much ordnance ... much like you would with a bomber. So that’s going to be quite effective,” Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, head of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said during the Air Force’s annual convention in fall 2023. The Air Force is beginning to recognize how valuable the Eagle II could be. However, it only currently plans to buy 104 F-15EXs in total, down from an originally planned minimum fleet size of at least 144. And yet, the state of global affairs today is arguably as grave as when the F-15 first flew in 1972. Then, as now, the U.S. needed Eagles. [View in Browser]( [Popular Mechanics]( [SHOP]( [EXCLUSIVE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [Why the F-15EX Is Such a Badass Plane]( [Why the F-15EX Is Such a Badass Plane]( [Why the F-15EX Is Such a Badass Plane]( Boeing’s vastly experienced F-15 chief pilot says he never went faster than Mach 2 while flying the F-22 Raptor in the Air Force. But when he took the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II on its maiden flight in 2021, he sure did. “It was a clean airplane right off the production line in green primer [paint],” Matthew “Phat” Giese tells Popular Mechanics. “I did a maximum-afterburner takeoff, pointing the jet straight up, and wound up at 40,000 feet going Mach 2.5 [1,650 miles per hour]. That’s a hell of a first flight.” Giese’s experience illustrates what any pilot who has flown Eagles from the 1970s up through today will tell you: no other Western fighter has the high-altitude smash of an F-15 Eagle. It’s a performance benchmark that the new twin-engine, two-place F-15EX enhances with thrust plus electrical and computing power to best its predecessor. “The things that the F-15 has always done well—go high, go fast, stay airborne for a really long time with a huge payload [30,000 pounds of ordnance], and see further than any other fighter—are there today in the EX,” Giese says. These attributes, including payload, are not hallmarks of America’s fifth-generation fighters. The F-35, for example, can only carry 5,700 pounds of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons at shorter range and slower speeds than the F-15EX. “Frankly, [F-15EX] can almost fill in where you might not have as many bombers as you’d like to have. … This thing can carry so much ordnance ... much like you would with a bomber. So that’s going to be quite effective,” Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, head of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said during the Air Force’s annual convention in fall 2023. The Air Force is beginning to recognize how valuable the Eagle II could be. However, it only currently plans to buy 104 F-15EXs in total, down from an originally planned minimum fleet size of at least 144. And yet, the state of global affairs today is arguably as grave as when the F-15 first flew in 1972. Then, as now, the U.S. needed Eagles. Boeing’s vastly experienced F-15 chief pilot says he never went faster than Mach 2 while flying the F-22 Raptor in the Air Force. But when he took the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II on its maiden flight in 2021, he sure did. “It was a clean airplane right off the production line in green primer [paint],” Matthew “Phat” Giese tells Popular Mechanics. “I did a maximum-afterburner takeoff, pointing the jet straight up, and wound up at 40,000 feet going Mach 2.5 [1,650 miles per hour]. That’s a hell of a first flight.” Giese’s experience illustrates what any pilot who has flown Eagles from the 1970s up through today will tell you: no other Western fighter has the high-altitude smash of an F-15 Eagle. It’s a performance benchmark that the new twin-engine, two-place F-15EX enhances with thrust plus electrical and computing power to best its predecessor. “The things that the F-15 has always done well—go high, go fast, stay airborne for a really long time with a huge payload [30,000 pounds of ordnance], and see further than any other fighter—are there today in the EX,” Giese says. These attributes, including payload, are not hallmarks of America’s fifth-generation fighters. The F-35, for example, can only carry 5,700 pounds of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons at shorter range and slower speeds than the F-15EX. “Frankly, [F-15EX] can almost fill in where you might not have as many bombers as you’d like to have. … This thing can carry so much ordnance ... much like you would with a bomber. So that’s going to be quite effective,” Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, head of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said during the Air Force’s annual convention in fall 2023. The Air Force is beginning to recognize how valuable the Eagle II could be. However, it only currently plans to buy 104 F-15EXs in total, down from an originally planned minimum fleet size of at least 144. And yet, the state of global affairs today is arguably as grave as when the F-15 first flew in 1972. Then, as now, the U.S. needed Eagles. [Read More]( [Read More]( [This Laser Lightning Rod Could Deflect Deadly Bolts With ‘No Limitation,’ Scientists Say]( [This Laser Lightning Rod Could Deflect Deadly Bolts With ‘No Limitation,’ Scientists Say]( After more than 250 years, Benjamin Franklin’s famous lightning rod could be dethroned with a laser beam that safely guides away bolts of lightning. [Read More]( [Alternate text] [Alternate text] [The Pentagon's Fancy New Tactical Nuke Is Now on the B-2 Stealth Bomber]( [The Pentagon's Fancy New Tactical Nuke Is Now on the B-2 Stealth Bomber]( Let's hope it's never put to a real-world test. 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