The F-15E
"Strike Eagle"The F-15E
"Strike Eagle"
The F-15E is a Two-Seat, Two-Engined, Two-tailed multi-role
fighter powered by two Pratt &
Whitney F100PW-229 engines
developing over 29000 lbs of thrust each. Rather than cite maximum
capabilities that other aircraft often calculate under ideal conditions,
let's talk about real world capability. A typical
Air to Ground strike load is 6-12 Mk-82 500 pounders or 4-7 Mk-84
2000 pounders, smart or dumb, about 22,000 lbs of JP-8
gas, two AIM-9M heaters and two (SL)AMRAAMs. She can penetrate
with 7 Mk-84's over 250 nm at 540 knots, deliver the load and fly
all the way home... all the time in the weeds, and unrefueled.
In a medium altitude scenario it can travel over 800 nm with the
same load. Add some pre-strike and post strike refueling and you
can imagine what kind of extreme force it can project. And she
can do it at night
too
(symbolized by the two background colors in the F-15E patch
above). With the LANTIRN system and Targeting Pod, her crew can
fly her at night and in the dirt, locate a pin point target, drop
the iron on it, and kill it, the first time. With its
missiles and radar, she can fight her way in and fight her way
out. A four or eight ship of F-15Es is a formidable air to air as
well as air to ground threat (that's up to 112,000 lbs of HE on a
target). The smartest thing about her is the crew of two. With
good crew coordination, the improved situational awarenss in the
heat of battle, and ability to divide the tremendous night time
precision attack workload is a supreme asset unmatched by any
single seat fighter. When tactical commanders want to hit
something, and hit it hard, it's the F-15E that they ask for.
Other "fighters" are definitely light weight and
disposable. The only comparable aircraft with that kind of range
and payload capabilities was the F-111F but she couldn't
turn and she couldn't clear the skies
in front of her, not to mention being a
maintenance nightmare!
My hat's off to my brethren still flying the "mud-hen". With apologies to former Vark drivers, F-15E drivers now are the ones who penetrate deeper, stay longer, deliver a bigger load, and can beat the hell out of anyone who tries to interfere. Their far too few numbers are in such heavy demand around the world that their lives are constantly interrupted by exercises, TDY's, and alerts for each new "crisis of the day". Under such demands, training, proficiency, morale, and the availability of spare parts frequently suffers. Fly Safe, Check 6, and Kick Ass.
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F-15N Video