ADVANCED EAGLES

摘要

Originally developed by McDonnell Douglas as an air superiority fighter, the F-15 Eagle (now a Boeing product) was later adapted as a strike aircraft. Since the first F-15A took to the air in 1972, 1,468 Eagles and Strike Eagles have been delivered to the USAF and five international customers. Intended to replace the USAF's fleet of General Dynamics F-111 strike aircraft, the F-15E was first flown in December 1986. Although the air force took delivery of the last of 236 Strike Eagles in 2004, development continued and several variants have been sold to friendly air arms, including the F-15S for Saudi Arabia and F-15I (Ra'am or Thunder) for Israel. Whereas the former was essentially a Strike Eagle with minor modifications, the latter was equipped with additional Israeli specified systems. Although Boeing is currently scheduled to hand over the last of 84 F-15SA models to Saudi Arabia in 2019, the contractor continues to develop new technologies for the aircraft.