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1 [1] (September 2, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdbqh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: , . ' iE SE .r , i , Air Force F-15EX Fighter Program In FY2020, the Trump Administration proposed to buy eight F-15EX aircraft for $1.1 billion, the first installment toward a planned initial buy of 144 planes. Subsequently, Congress authorized $985.5 million and appropriated $1.05 billion for the program. The Administration's FY2021 budget requests $1.27 billion for 12 more F-15EXs; the plan set forth in FY2020 had called for 18 in FY2021. This acquisition represents a change from previous Air Force plans to procure only stealthy fifth-generation fighter aircraft. What is an F-15EX, and why might the Air Force have changed plans? The Air Force received its first F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter in 1974. Subsequently, the F-15 evolved to encompass more roles, most notably with the deployment of the F-15E Strike Eagle in 1989. The F-15E added substantial air-to-ground capability, including a second cockpit for a weapons systems operator. The Air Force has 453 F-15s of all variants, the last of which was ordered in 2001. Since then, F-15s have been continuously produced for a variety of international customers, including (among others) Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. Figure I. F-I SEX ConceDt Source: Boeing. Current F-15s have stronger airframes and more advanced sensors, processors, and flight control systems than those in the U.S. fleet. Many also include conformal fuel tanks to extend range and increase payload. The proposed F-15EX would be based on the most advanced Eagles, currently entering production for Qatar, which first flew on April 14, 2020. F-15EXs would add radar and other subsystems unique to the United States. Boeing says that the F-15EX would have 70% parts commonality with existing U.S. F-15s. - mmm, go mppm qq\ , q I as 11LIANJILiN, Updated September 2, 2020 Why, kskdte Air Force requesth Air Force officials have offered numerous justifications for the F-15EX: * The Air Force is engaged in upgrades to its existing F-15 fleet. While costing more per aircraft than modernizing legacy F-15s, a new F-15EX would yield more future life. Replacing the older, 1980s-era F-l5Cs with F-15EX could also enable the Air Force to avoid the cost of some or all of those upgrades. The Air Force has tried to retire its 250 aging F-15Cs and two- seat F-15Ds over the years due to structural issues with the aircraft, including most recently in 2017. Now, instead of paying to upgrade the older aircraft in the fleet, the Air Force hopes to use that money to buy Boeing's F-15EX. * Buying F-15s, according to the Air Force, is an economical way of reaching the service's goals for fighter fleet size and average age. Gen. James 'Mike' Holmes, head of Air Combat Command, told reporters in February that purchasing the F-15EX could be the ,affordable answer' to meeting the Air Force's goal of acquiring 72 new fighter jets each year. * F-15s could also cost less to operate over time than fifth-generation fighters like the F-35. (The per-hour cost of F-15s is fairly well established, while there is less real-world experience with the F-35 fleet; a direct comparison is difficult.) * Because the Air Force already operates F-15s, transition to the F-1 5EX could be comparatively easy. We made the determination to buy F-15EXs so that we could keep our readiness at a higher level and meet the capacity need that we had for those fourth generation platforms. That is important from a readiness perspective because the time to transition from an F-15C to an F-15EX we estimate at 3 to 6 months, while the time to transition from an F-15C to an F-35 could be anywhere from 18 to 36 months and would require MILCON and other attributes that are not in our budget. * F-15EX procurement helps maintain a competitive fighter aircraft industrial base. Currently, Boeing and Lockheed Martin are the prime contractors supplying fighter jets to the Department of Defense. A National Defense magazine report stated After the decision was made to continue with a mix of fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft, the conversation then turned to how are we K~:>