U.S. Air Force Doubles F-15EX Purchase Plan to 267 Jets in Fiscal 2027 Budget

The F-15EX can carry 12 AIM-120 missiles. The planned F-15EX buy dropped to 80 aircraft in 2023. The F-15EX program was slated to grow from 98 aircraft to 129 in the fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.

Portland, Fresno, New Orleans, and two squadrons at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, were slated to get the F-15EX. The plan for Portland, Fresno, New Orleans, and Kadena would have required 90 jets out of the 98-aircraft inventory.

Adding Michigan and expanding those squadrons to 21 jets would require 126 F-15EX aircraft. Increasing the planned buy to 267 jets opens up the possibility of creating 13 squadrons of 21 jets, with three F-15EXs left over. The F-15E is capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

The F-15E is the first jet certified to employ the newest variant of the B61 tactical nuclear bomb. The F-15E has been upgraded with the Raytheon AN/APG-82(V)1 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. The F-15E has the new Advanced Display Core Processor (ADCP) II.

The F-15E is receiving the Eagle Passive/Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS) self-protection system. The F-15EX has a 20,000-hour airframe service life, according to Boeing. In an official Justification and Approval document from 2020, the Air Force stated that the objective of the F-15EX program is to rapidly develop, integrate, and field the F-15EX weapon system to refresh/replace aging F-15C/D aircraft, and that a decision to also refresh F-15E aircraft has not yet been made but remains an option.

The Air National Guard is pushing Congress to approve multiyear funding for the acquisition of between 72 and 100 new fighters each year. Four F-15EXs assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flew over the Gulf of Mexico. An F-15EX assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flew a training mission over the southeast United States.

Air Force Lt. Col. Matthew Olde exited an F-15EX at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan. An F-15EX fired an AIM-120D missile during a test mission near Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. An F-15E from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, carrying a B61 Joint Test Assembly, departed Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, for the Tonopah Test Range.

An F-15C assigned to the 123rd Fighter Squadron, Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon, taxied to the runway at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. An F-15EX assigned to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, prepared to take off at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. F-15 Eagle Crew Chiefs inspected their aircraft on the flight line at Kadena Air Base, Japan.

The F-15EX sits alongside an F-15E Strike Eagle at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.