USAF Starts F-15EX Buying Process
Posted: 27 Mar 2020, 21:40
The Air Force has launched the process of buying new F-15EX fighters with dual pre-solicitation notices from the Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
The notices, dated Jan. 28, announce USAF’s intention to purchase F-15EX jets from Boeing and F110-129 engines from General Electric Aviation, with both companies as sole source suppliers.
The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts are labeled as a “refresh to the F-15C/D/E fleet” as well as to “augment” the F-15C/D/E fleet with new airplanes. A contract is anticipated in May.
Although Pratt & Whitney also makes an engine that could power the F-15EX, its powerplant is not certified for the airframes the EX model is based on, which Boeing is building for Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Air Force’s desire to obtain speedy delivery of the jets rules out a test program for the Pratt & Whitney engine, which has not been evaluated with the digital, fly-by-wire F-15EX, an Air Force acquisition official explained. Each F-15EX requires two engines, and USAF will also buy spares, for a package of up to 480 of the powerplants. Some of those may power older F-15s.
The GE F110-129 powers more than half of Air Force F-16s and more than 80 percent of USAF’s F-15E strike aircraft.
The new airplane have a substantially more powerful mission computer, new cockpit displays, a digital backbone, and the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS)—an electronic warfare and threat identification system.
The F-15EX, carrying 22 missiles, is the tactical fighter that provides the payload, range, and speed the F-35 cannot. It’s also the perfect fighter to carry and deploy the future hypersonic weapons systems that cannot fit inside the internal bays of fighters like the F-35.
https://www.boeing.com/defense/f-15ex/#/advanced
The notices, dated Jan. 28, announce USAF’s intention to purchase F-15EX jets from Boeing and F110-129 engines from General Electric Aviation, with both companies as sole source suppliers.
The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts are labeled as a “refresh to the F-15C/D/E fleet” as well as to “augment” the F-15C/D/E fleet with new airplanes. A contract is anticipated in May.
Although Pratt & Whitney also makes an engine that could power the F-15EX, its powerplant is not certified for the airframes the EX model is based on, which Boeing is building for Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Air Force’s desire to obtain speedy delivery of the jets rules out a test program for the Pratt & Whitney engine, which has not been evaluated with the digital, fly-by-wire F-15EX, an Air Force acquisition official explained. Each F-15EX requires two engines, and USAF will also buy spares, for a package of up to 480 of the powerplants. Some of those may power older F-15s.
The GE F110-129 powers more than half of Air Force F-16s and more than 80 percent of USAF’s F-15E strike aircraft.
The new airplane have a substantially more powerful mission computer, new cockpit displays, a digital backbone, and the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS)—an electronic warfare and threat identification system.
The F-15EX, carrying 22 missiles, is the tactical fighter that provides the payload, range, and speed the F-35 cannot. It’s also the perfect fighter to carry and deploy the future hypersonic weapons systems that cannot fit inside the internal bays of fighters like the F-35.
https://www.boeing.com/defense/f-15ex/#/advanced