The F-15EX is an updated version of a United States Air Force (USAF) air superiority fighter that first flew in 1972. Its mission is to sweep the skies of enemy aircraft. It has succeeded in this mission and dominated the skies in air-to-air combat since its introduction. It has not suffered a single loss to another aircraft in combat. It is faster than the F-35. It can fly higher than the F-35. It can carry more air-to-air missiles than the F-35. And, it has a greater payload capacity than the F-35. Why not buy the F-15EX instead of the F-35?
The F-15EX has a fatal flaw. It is not stealthy and as such it is not survivable above the territory of an advanced enemy nation performing offensive air superiority missions during the first few days of a war. Radar systems and the air to air and surface to air missiles they guide are what make its mission impossible over an advanced adversaries’ territory during the early stages of conflict. Advanced air to air and surface to air missiles can hit targets their radars can detect and track hundreds of miles away. An advanced air to air missile fielded by Russia has been reported to have a range of about 200 miles while the current longest-range missile of the United States, the AIM-120D, has a reported range of less than 100 miles. This means a potential adversary’s fighter aircraft could shoot down non-stealthy aircraft like the F-15EX well before the non-stealth aircraft is in range to fire its own missiles. The USAF is currently developing a missile that could make this an even fight, but that still leaves ground-based radars and their surface to air missiles to deal with while near or above hostile air space. These ground-based systems can be hard to avoid or destroy for a non-stealth platform. This leaves non-stealthy aircraft looking on from friendly territory during the first few days of conflict while enemy aircraft and surface to air missile batteries are destroyed or otherwise neutralized by stealth platforms or long-range missiles. Unless air to air missiles with extremely long range are developed for the F-15EX, it will also be looking on from friendly territory unable to perform its primary air superiority mission over hostile territory.
Another mission the F-15 was designed to perform is defensive air superiority. In this role, the F-15EX can provide some value. As an interceptor and defender of allied nations and their military facilities during war, the F-15EX could provide an airborne last line of defense against incoming aircraft and missiles. It would still be at a disadvantage against aircraft that had longer range air to air missiles, but it would provide the high-powered airborne radar and large number of air-to-air missiles needed to defend against bombers carrying cruise missiles. If the bombers do manage to launch their cruise missiles, the F-15EX would have the capability of shooting them down.
This brings us to the role that the USAF has publicly identified as the F-15EXs primary mission. Except for a training unit, all the identified units scheduled to receive the new aircraft are tasked with defending the continental United States. These units are dedicated to intercepting, and if necessary, shooting down bombers and cruise missiles targeting the U.S. Equipped with a mix of new, long range, medium and short-range air to air missiles, these new F-15s would provide needed relief to the small number of F-22s and aging F-15C/Ds that currently fill these roles. This will allow the F-22s to focus more on training and expeditionary roles while permitting the F-35s that are being built to fill units that are dedicated to their original purpose which is to bomb targets on the first day of war and continuing until the end of the conflict.
Since the F-15EX is a derivative of the F-15E, it also has a very robust ground attack capability. These capabilities can be utilized in the first few days of conflict with an advanced adversary by employing long range weapons such as the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). This combination of aircraft and weapon could be expected to hit targets ~1,200 miles away from their base without refueling. Trading weapons for fuel could extend this range placing more targets in western Russia at risk from bases in England or Western Europe without crossing into hostile territory. Similarly, some targets in China could be put at risk by operating this aircraft-missile combination out of the Philippines or other friendly airfields in the region. Once the air to air and surface to air missile threats have been sufficiently degraded, tanker supported missions using the full range of weapons could be undertaken. With less advanced adversaries, the F-15EX could begin the fight with missions over hostile territory.
The F-35 can provide stealth air to air and air to ground capability on day one of a war. In the non-stealthy beast mode, it can carry almost as much air to air and air to ground ordinance as the F-15EX. It also has a similar range as the F-15EX. This means the F-35 could be used in a wider variety of missions than the F-15EX and it may even cost less. One thing to consider is that Lockheed can only make so many F-35s per year and it could be argued that the older F-15C/Ds need to be replaced sooner than F-35s could be built to replace them. However, there is one very important reason the F-15EX may be getting built. It can carry a very large, up to 7,500-pound, outsized weapon on its center weapons station that the F-35 cannot. The F-15EX can also fly 10,000 feet higher and it can fly faster than the F-35. This makes it an ideal platform to rapidly launch the new Air Force Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon (AGM-183A AARW). This weapon is an air launched hypersonic missile capable of speeds greater than Mach 5. This would allow it to hit a target 575 miles away in only a few minutes or hit a target ~1,200 miles away after a little more than an hour of flight. Launched from a higher altitude and at a greater speed, it will be able to hit targets farther away or faster than it would being launched from a slower lower flying aircraft. This would be of great advantage to hitting strategic, high priority targets in the first moments of hostility. ARRW by itself is reason enough to purchase the F-15EX. Limiting wear on the few F22s we have and filling the gaps left by older F-15s that need to be retired are bonuses.