McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15 Eagle/Strike Eagle/Silent Eagle - discussione ufficiale

[TT-1 Pinto]

A proposito del nuovo casco di cui avevo fatto cenno nell'Ottobre scorso ....

 

Silent Eagle Gets Next-Generation Helmet-Mounted Cueing System ....

 

Boeing announced that it recently validated the integration of a new version of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, JHMCS II/h, on its F-15 Silent Eagle demonstrator aircraft.

 

http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2366

 

The company said this work continues "the on-schedule development" of the Silent Eagle, the newest F-15 iteration that Boeing is offering South Korea in that nations' F-X fighter competition.

 

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/June%202012/June%2027%202012/SilentEagleBayBreezesthroughTests.aspx

 

"Integrating this enhanced system onto the Silent Eagle took less than three months between 'go-ahead' and first flight," said Greg Hardy, Boeing's JHMCS program manager, in the company's July 30 release.

 

Vision Systems International produces the JHMCS II/h, which allows a pilot to aim sensors and weapons where he is looking via new head-tracking technology and a display projected onto the helmet's visor.

 

The new configuration "provides significantly improved ergonomics and reliability, at lower cost," states the release.

 

 

Fonte ..... Daily Report - Monday August 06, 2012 - -

[Andrea75]

Air Force seeks afterlife for F-15s

 

The U.S. Air Force is pushing to more than double the life of its stalwart F-15 Eagles with a series of upgrades.

“About two and a half years ago, the U.S. Air Force wanted fatigue tests on C models,” says Brad Jones, F-15 mission systems director for Boeing, which makes the aircraft.

As the F-15 fleet aircraft approached their life expectancies for total flight hours, the Air Force wanted see how far the service could delay fleet retirements, Jones said during a recent briefing with reporters.

The design service life for the aircraft is 8,000 flight hours and the lead-the-fleet aircraft have flown more than 10,000 actual flight hours and counting, Boeing says.

Boeing is now working on full-scale fatigue test certifications to push F-15C/D models to 18,000 equivalent flight hours (EFHs) and F-15E models to 32,000 EHFs. “Structural fatigue improvements in current-production F-15s provide longer life and reduced maintenance requirements,” Boeing says.

“We do not have an end date for the F-15,” Jones says. Indeed, he says, there are several programs to make U.S. and international models better with age.

The F-15 radar modernization program proposes to retrofit all F-15Es by 2021 with APG-82(V)1 suites with APG-79 processors, which will offer a fivefold improvement over the APG-63(V)3 equipment in reliability and effectiveness. The initial operational capability for the radar work is early 2014.

The Advanced Display/Core Processor II (ADCP II) program will replace all the computers in U.S. F-15Es and serve as the baseline computer for all future aircraft sales. The new computers increase computing power, adding additional gigabit Ethernet and fiber channel connections, with a Milestone B decision scheduled in November. “The U.S. Air Force has a display upgrade working team up now,” Jones says.

Boeing also is offering an advanced cockpit system that includes a large-area display, low-profile head-up display, reference standby display and low-profile engine fuel hydraulics display, all of which replace 23 existing displays, instruments and indicators.

“It’s more for situational awareness,” Jones says, adding the improvements significantly lower the cost of the aircraft, for both purchase price and life cycle costs.

The proposed new Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) replaces several legacy systems, such as the radar warning receiver, jammer internal countermeasures set, countermeasures dispenser and interface blanker.

With DEWS, there is no need for a waveguide or nitrogen pressurization, Boeing says, and the digital system provides more than 200% throughput and memory growth reserve as well as better operation with wideband agile radars and other RF systems.

 

Air Force seeks afterlife for F-15s

 

The U.S. Air Force is pushing to more than double the life of its stalwart F-15 Eagles with a series of upgrades.

“About two and a half years ago, the U.S. Air Force wanted fatigue tests on C models,” says Brad Jones, F-15 mission systems director for Boeing, which makes the aircraft.

As the F-15 fleet aircraft approached their life expectancies for total flight hours, the Air Force wanted see how far the service could delay fleet retirements, Jones said during a recent briefing with reporters.

The design service life for the aircraft is 8,000 flight hours and the lead-the-fleet aircraft have flown more than 10,000 actual flight hours and counting, Boeing says.

Boeing is now working on full-scale fatigue test certifications to push F-15C/D models to 18,000 equivalent flight hours (EFHs) and F-15E models to 32,000 EHFs. “Structural fatigue improvements in current-production F-15s provide longer life and reduced maintenance requirements,” Boeing says.

“We do not have an end date for the F-15,” Jones says. Indeed, he says, there are several programs to make U.S. and international models better with age.

The F-15 radar modernization program proposes to retrofit all F-15Es by 2021 with APG-82(V)1 suites with APG-79 processors, which will offer a fivefold improvement over the APG-63(V)3 equipment in reliability and effectiveness. The initial operational capability for the radar work is early 2014.

The Advanced Display/Core Processor II (ADCP II) program will replace all the computers in U.S. F-15Es and serve as the baseline computer for all future aircraft sales. The new computers increase computing power, adding additional gigabit Ethernet and fiber channel connections, with a Milestone B decision scheduled in November. “The U.S. Air Force has a display upgrade working team up now,” Jones says.

Boeing also is offering an advanced cockpit system that includes a large-area display, low-profile head-up display, reference standby display and low-profile engine fuel hydraulics display, all of which replace 23 existing displays, instruments and indicators.

“It’s more for situational awareness,” Jones says, adding the improvements significantly lower the cost of the aircraft, for both purchase price and life cycle costs.

The proposed new Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) replaces several legacy systems, such as the radar warning receiver, jammer internal countermeasures set, countermeasures dispenser and interface blanker.

With DEWS, there is no need for a waveguide or nitrogen pressurization, Boeing says, and the digital system provides more than 200% throughput and memory growth reserve as well as better operation with wideband agile radars and other RF systems.

[Andrea75]

Live from Inside an F-15

 

Chances are that most people reading this have never flown an F-15. Thanks to a couple of creative pilots, however, you can get a sense of what it’s like to be in one of the jets while “raging like demons from hell in the skies over the Pacific Ocean.”

Below is video shot almost exclusively from inside the cockpit of an F-15. It’s an amazing piece of work, supposedly stitched together over the course of a year with a small video camera wielded by the pilots. You’ll get to see what takeoff looks like, how the jets get fueled, and what a dogfight really looks like (with the bonus of not being shot at.)

 

video dalla cabina http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VSCdvj4tAFg

[Andrea75]

Boeing has won a $4 billion contract to upgrade 68 Saudi F-15s to F-15SA standard

 

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., (FA8505-12-C-0001, P00002) is being awarded a $3,999,660,000 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost reimbursable no fee contract modification for:

 

-- Country Standard Time Compliance Techical Order (CSTCTO) development,

-- CSTCTO integration and testing,

-- fabrication of trial kits to support validation and verification activities,

-- procurement of 68 F-15s to SA conversion kits and

-- the procurement and installation of four base stand-up kits.

 

Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2019. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WWKA, Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

 

This is a Foreign Military Sales requirement for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

[Andrea75]

Korea’s F-X Multi-Role Fighter Buys: Phases 2 & 3

 

Nov 5/12: South Korea’s Yonhap News Service reports that a design inconsistency involving the F-15K Slam Eagle will make it impossible to load 2 JASSM medium-range stealthy cruise missiles on the aircraft, without modifying either the pylons or the plane’s upper wing:

 

”...JASSM) with a 370-kilometer range has been considered a favorite, as the U.S. firm offered a cheaper price than its German competitor Taurus…. recent test showed, however, that Lockheed’s JASSM doesn’t fit the F-15K, as its upper wing folds only to the left side. The Defense Acquisition and Procurement Administration (DAPA) has asked Boeing, the F-15K maker, and Lockheed Martin about ways to install the missile on the F-15K, but both have not responded…. “To install the JASSMs in both wings of the F-15K, either F-15K’s pylon or the JASSM’s upper wing should be modified, but it would cost a lot,” the official said.”

 

That’s odd, because the AGM-158 JASSM lists as already integrated on US F-15E Strike Eagles. If Yonhap is correct, Taurus has a price problem, and JASSM an integration problem. By extension, MBDA’s high end Storm Shadow would also create price issues for South Korea. Time will tell. Meanwhile, the F-15Ks remain capable of firing Boeing’s AGM-84K SLAM-ER cruise missiles.

 

 

S. Korea's standoff missile purchase project faces hurdles

[-{-Legolas-}-]

Io comprerei il Taurus. Un'azienda che non sa rispondere al cliente, che uno dei suoi missili non entra nel suo aereo prima di ricevere l'ordine, non fa bella figura.

[TT-1 Pinto]

Avrà un successore ? ....

 

What will replace the USAF’s F-15E Strike Eagle? ....

 

"There are no plans to replace the F-15E for the foreseeable future," the USAF says. "It is true that the F-15E, like all of our legacy aircraft, are accumulating more flight time than used to be typical, but given current fiscal realities, the AF [air force] fleet will continue to age well past the point at which they would have been replaced in pre-DESERT STORM days."

Fonte .... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/what-will-replace-the-usafs-f-15e-strike-eagle-380233/

[TT-1 Pinto]

Volano alto .... le spese destinate all'efficienza degli F-15 ....

 

U.S. Air Force F-15 Funding Flying High ....

 

The U.S. Air Force will have spent about $5.8 billion on F-15 programs between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2017, with F-15E Strike Eagles accounting for about $3.2 billion of that total ....

 

Fonte .... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_01_09_2013_p03-01-534636.xml

 

[TT-1 Pinto]

Stracarico di armi ....

 

 

 

Boeing's upgraded F-15E Strike Eagle model at AFA ....

Boeing had a very small presence at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando.

But the company did bring this model of an upgraded F-15E Strike Eagle to the show.

 

Fonte .... http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2013/02/boeings-upgraded-f-15e-strike.html

[fabio-22raptor]

Ammazza che carico ... beh l' F-15E è ancora una macchina performante e valevole, nonostante gli annetti sul groppone li abbia tutti ... ma io lo amo .. e l'amore si sà, è irrazionale e i serbatoi ausiliari??

Modificato 25 Febbraio 2013 da fabio-22raptor

[Flaggy]

Beh, simili configurazioni di armamento sono puramente dimostrative e come tali abbastanza insensate, sia come combinazioni di carico che come numero di armi.
Un velivolo conciato in quel modo sembra che debba scatenare da solo la terza guerra mondiale...
Simili configurazioni servono più che altro a dirci quali armi potrebbero essere trasportate e su quali piloni possono essere agganciate, poi la realtà è fatta di molti meno ordigni sia per numero che per tipologia.
L’unico aspetto interessante è la riattivazione dei piloni alari esterni (sempre stati presenti e praticamente mai usati).

Quanto a numero di punti d’attacco già disponibili questi plioni non è che si presentino come particolarmente indispensabili (se n’è fatto a meno per quarant’anni...), ma consentono l’utilizzo di 2 stazioni supplementari per armi voluminose e relativamente leggere come gli HARM antiradar, che altrimenti si potrebbero applicare solo ai 2 piloni subalari interni rinunciando però alla possibilità di applicarvi per l'appunto dei serbatoi ausiliari.
Già meno indispensabili sarebbero per i missili aria-aria, visto che in configurazione aria-suolo i 4 missili ai piloni interni sono più che sufficienti per autodifesa, mentre in configurazione aria-aria 8 non sono certo pochi e 10-12 forse sporcano l’aerodinamica più di quanto ne valga la pena.

Comunque sia quei piloni non guastano e l’aggiunta va comunque vista in un’ottica di maggiore flessibilità e polivalenza del mezzo...Poi nelle broscure fanno la loro por*a figura, e anche questo ci sta...

[fabio-22raptor]

Grazie per la tua analisi Flaggy intanto posto questo articolo dove si parla della richiesta urgente di nuovi schermi LCD touch screen per l'F-15.

 

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2013/02/VarTech-F15-test.html

Modificato 11 Marzo 2013 da fabio-22raptor

[TT-1 Pinto]

Ci sono inoltre altre migliorie in vista ....

 

The service is already adding the new Raytheon APG-63 (V) 3 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar onto the Eagle fleet.

But the jet will also receive the advanced display core processor II (ADCP II), Eagle passive/active warning and survivability system (EPAWSS), Mode 5 identification friend or foe (IFF), a new flight data recorder, a satellite communications (SATCOM) radio, and a new digital video recorder, according to the F-15 System Program Office.

The F-15 will also receive a series of software block updates.

 

Fonte .... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-investigating-new-displays-for-f-15c-eagle-383308/

[Flaggy]

Mi sembra che l'aspetto degno di nota sia questo.

 

Now, the USAF is investigating the addition of two new modern liquid crystal displays to replace the F-15C antiquated radar and defense electronic warfare systems displays, says Col Robert Novotny, commander of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group at Nellis AFB, Nevada, which evaluates new technology and tactics for the service.

 

Neither of the older displays, which have been on the Eagle since its introduction into service, allows pilots to take full advantage of the jet's new sensors.

 

Direi quindi che le perplessità espresse dai piloti siano arrivate in alto...Non si può pensare di riempire l'aereo di nuova elettronica (in particolare un radar così avanzato) lasciando invariato il cruscotto e la sua ormai decisamente inadeguata presentazione delle informazioni.

[fabio-22raptor]

Gioco spesso a Lock On FC2.. e uso solo l'F-15 .. lo ammetto: quel cockpit è un gran casotto!!

[TT-1 Pinto]

Vola il primo F-15SA destinato all'Arabia Saudita ....

 

Dal "Daily Report" dell'AFA ....

 

 

 

New Saudi F-15 Variant Makes Maiden Flight ....

 

The Air Force and Boeing recently conducted the maiden test flight of the new F-15SA configuration that the company is building for the Saudi Arabian air force, announced service officials.

The flight, which took place on Feb. 20 at Boeing's facility in St. Louis, met the test objectives, according to the Air Force's March 15 release.

"The successful first flight of the F-15SA is a tremendous milestone for the program," said Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center commander at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

Boeing is supplying 84 new-build F-15SAs to the Royal Saudi Air Force and upgrading some 70 existing F-15s in the air arm's fleet to the "SA" standard under a multi-billion-dollar foreign military sale.

F-15SA deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2015 and conclude by 2019, states the release.

The F-15SA configuration includes features like a fly-by-wire flight control system, active electronically scanned array radar, and two additional weapon stations.

In related news, the Air Force on March 14 awarded Boeing a $3.5 billion contract for work on the Saudi jets, according to the Pentagon's list of major contracts on that day.

 

 

The Air Force and Boeing on Feb. 20, 2013, conducted the maiden flight of the new F-15SA configuration that the company is building for the Saudi Arabian air force, announced Air Force officials on March 15, 2013.

The flight took place at Boeing's facility in St. Louis.

The F-15SA variant includes features like a fly-by-wire flight control system, active electronically scanned array radar, and two additional weapon stations.

Here, the F-15SA during the flight.

Boeing photo by Kevin Flynn

 

[fabio-22raptor]

"The F-15SA variant includes features like a fly-by-wire flight control system, active electronically scanned array radar, and two additional weapon stations."

 

Si riferisce per caso ai piloni esterni riattivati di cui si parlava qualche post fa?

[Flaggy]

Penso proprio di si, sono i due piloni subalari esterni.

[TT-1 Pinto]

Il nuovo sistema fly-by-wire installato sugli F-15SA dell'Arabia Saudita richiede che l'aereo venga ri-certificato ....

 

Boeing and USAF will have to recertificate entire F-15SA flight envelope ....

 

Boeing and the US Air Force will have to recertificate the new F-15SA's performance over the Eagle's entire flight envelope due to its new fly-by-wire flight control systems.

"The entire F-15 flight envelope requires clearance for the F-15SA fly-by-wire system," the USAF says. "The flight test to certify airworthiness will take approximately a year and a half to accomplish."

 

Fonte .... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-and-usaf-will-have-to-recertificate-entire-f-15sa-flight-envelope-384156/

[TT-1 Pinto]

Dal "Daily Report" dell'AFA del 2 Aprile 2013 ....

 

Barnes Gets its First AESA-equipped F-15

The Massachusetts Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes ANG Base accepted its first F-15 equipped with an active electronically scanned array radar.

Wing spokesman Maj. Matthew Mutti confirmed to the Daily Report on Monday that the upgraded F-15 arrived at Barnes on March 21.

"This is our first of six AESA-equipped aircraft that we will leverage to better protect the Northeast airspace," said Col. James Keefe, 104th FW commander, in a base release.

"This is the right aircraft for the alert mission, and we are very excited about the opportunity to utilize this new enhanced capability," added Keefe.

The wing is expected to have all six of its AESA-equipped F-15s in place sometime next year, according to the release.

The Air Force is replacing the APG-63(V)0 mechanically scanned radar on most of its F-15C/D aircraft with Raytheon's APG-63(V)3 AESA system.

The Florida Air Guard's 125th FW in Jacksonville was the first F-15 unit to receive the upgrade, which offers significant performance improvements and reliability enhancements.

The Air Force's F-15Es are also getting AESAs under a separate modernization initiative.

4/2/2013

[fabio-22raptor]

http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/topnews/2013/05/28/Usa-Jet-15-usa-cade-acque-Okinawa_8777588.html

 

Caduto un F-15 USA rischierato a Kadena... illeso il pilota...

Modificato 28 Maggio 2013 da fabio-22raptor

[fabio-22raptor]

Tirerà avanti " a morire" ?

 

 

The US Air Force is upgrading its fleet of Boeing F-15E Strike Eagles with the intention of keeping the venerable dual-role strike fighter in service beyond 2035. The service, however, has no idea what might replace those aircraft when the inevitable day comes when the 219 jets currently in the inventory wear out.

"There are no plans to replace the F-15E for the foreseeable future," the USAF said late last year.

Rebecca Grant, a noted airpower analyst and president of IRIS Independent Research in Washington DC, says that a replacement interdictor aircraft has been an unaddressed problem for a long time.

"The F-15E replacement has been a gap in air force strategic planning for a decade," Grant says. "Two decades really."

The problem has always been kicked down the road because compared to other USAF fighter platforms, the F-15E is relatively new, she says. The USAF's Strike Eagles were delivered between 1988 and 2004, Flightglobal's MiliCAS database shows.

 

 

Articolo + foto sexy hot dell' F-15E

[fabio-22raptor]

Andiamo signori, si torna a volare:

 

 

SEYMOUR JOHNSON AFB — A squadron of F-15 Strike Eagles at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base that was grounded in April because of federal budget cuts resumed operations on Wednesday, officials said.

The 336th Fighter Squadron of the 4th Fighter Wing was ordered to stand down as part of an effort to fly 45,000 fewer training hours through the end of September.

The squadron, known as the World Famous Rocketeers, is one of two operational F-15E units based at Seymour Johnson, near Goldsboro.

“The Rocketeers are excited to be back up and running,” Lt. Col. Jim Howard, 336th Fighter Squadron commander, said in a statement. “We have a significant hill to climb to get the squadron back to our previous readiness level, but the Rocketeers are anxious to get back to doing what we do best – preparing and employing world famous Strike Eagle Airmen and aircraft to execute the missions our country demands."

With no allocated flying hours, the air crews have performed ground training, worked on flight simulators and studied in recent months to maintain basic skills and knowledge of their aircraft.

“Since April we’ve been in a precipitous decline with regard to combat readiness,” said Gen. Mike Hostage, commander of Air Combat Command. “Returning to flying is an important first step, but what we have ahead of us is a measured climb to recovery.”

Congress authorized Air Combat Command to reallocate $1.8 billion to restore flying hours, including $208 million for the Seymour Johnson squadron.

[-{-Legolas-}-]

Si ho notato anche io che sono tornati i fondi, un po qua un po la. Anche i Thunderbirds tornano a volare.

[TT-1 Pinto]

Si ho notato anche io che sono tornati i fondi, un po qua un po la. Anche i Thunderbirds tornano a volare.

 

Vero .... però le esibizioni vere e proprie riprenderanno (forse) l'anno prossimo ....

 

Temporary funding for flying hours has been restored, allowing the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron to resume training flights again through the end of fiscal year 2013.

The team will not resume aerial demonstrations previously scheduled for the 2013 calendar year.

 

.....................................

 

The restoration of flying hours only addresses the next two and half months of flying up until Oct. 1.

Lt.Col. Greg Moseley, commander and leader of the Thunderbirds, clarifies that the return to flying does not mean the team has been cleared to resume performing demonstrations.

The team will resume training flights with the anticipation that it may be able to resume a limited number of aerial demonstrations next calendar year.

 

Fonte .... http://www.acc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123355931