The F-15EX, a 4.5-gen fighter, boasts hypersonic weapons, Mach 2.5 speeds, and advanced computing, challenging 5th-gen adversaries.
By Kris Osborn, Warrior
Pure air speed, sensing, next-gen weapons and expansive payload or merely a few of the attributes understood as part of Boeing's F-15EX, an aircraft thought to bridge a capability gap between 4th and 5th-generation aircraft. While not stealthy, the F-15EX is among the fastest in the world, and it is now engineered with a paradigm-changing high-speed computer called Advanced Display Core Processor II capable of performing billions of tasks per second.
The ability to fire hypersonic weapons, travel at speeds of Mach 2.5 and operate with a computer processor capable of 87 billion functions per-second, are just a few of the breakthrough technologies built into the Air Force’s F-15EX. Perhaps these attributes are part of why a rather surprising Pentagon report several years ago found that the Air Force’s now-emerging 4th-Gen “plus” F-15EX can prove effective in air-to-air combat against 5th-gen aircraft.
Not Stealthy
As a 4th-generation air platform, there is little question that an F-15EX aircraft could add value to an air campaign supporting stealthier 5th-generation aircraft with additional weapons payload capacity. As a 4.5-gen “Plus” fighter, the F-15EX could bring new levels of target identification, high-speed maneuvering and attack missions in a manner similar to or even beyond some 5th-generation aircraft.
In development now for many years, Boeing’s F-15EX integrates a series of new technologies intended to propel the aircraft well-beyond 4th-generation fighter jet capability, as it is built with new radar, weapons applications, avionics, fire control, computing and sensing. A Department of Test & Evaluation report from several years ago highlighted some of the attributes of the F-15EX shown in testing.
“Against the level of threat tested, the F-15EX is operationally effective in all its air superiority roles, including defensive and offensive counter-air against surrogate fifth-generation adversary aircraft, as well as basic air-to-ground capability against the tested threats,” the report states.
F-15EX Speed and Sensing
An examination of available specs indicates several reasons why it may be considered quite realistic that an F-15EX would potentially prove effective in an air-war against 5th-gen aircraft, and they appear to be pure speed, high-speed computing and sensor range and fidelity Several years ago, the F-15 was integrated with the fastest jet-computing processor in the world, called the Advanced Display Core Processor II which, Boeing innovators have explained, does indeed perform 87-billion computing functions per second.
With computing this much faster, many of the distinct F-15EX attributes reside in the areas of networking, computing, EW, radar and threat warning systems, yet the new jet does incorporate several potentially paradigm-changing propulsion technologies and attack weapons possibilities.
This kind of paradigm-changing computing might help explain why the F-15EX may indeed threaten an F-35 or even an F-22 in air combat.
Non-Stealthy F-15EX
What the F-15EX lacks in stealth could perhaps be accounted for by pure speed and F-35-like high-speed computing. The F-15EX is listed as being capable of hitting speeds of Mach 2.5, speeds faster than both the Mach 1.6 F-35 and Mach 2.25 F-22. The F-15EX is not only engineered with new levels of “thrust,” but also carries 12 missiles as well as elements of its existing or well known arsenal including the AIM-120D, AIM-9x and standard JDAMS, among others. While there have been massive software upgrades to the AIM-120D and AIM-9x enabling improved targeting guidance, jamming countermeasures and explosives, some of the newer weapons additions could potentially be even more groundbreaking. The F-15EX will, for example, carry and fire air-launched hypersonic weapons, a decided combat advantage which needs little introduction, as their arrival will naturally transform modern air war when it comes to speed of attack, enemy response time and stand-off attack range. An air fired missile traveling at 5-times the speed of sound would certainly hit an air or ground target operating hundreds of miles away in a matter of minutes, all but eliminating an enemy’s ability to respond in time.
New F-15 Weapons
The Air Force has now also armed its F-15EX with the well known Stormbreaker weapon, a first-of-its kind air dropped bomb able to find, track and destroy moving targets from distances as far as 40 nautical miles in all weather conditions. Not only does the Stormbreaker utilize a two-way data link enabling it to adjust course in flight according to a target’s movements, but the weapon is engineered with an often-discussed tri-mode seeker. The “tri-mode” targeting and sensing technology draws upon millimeter wave, infrared and laser targeting guidance to track and eliminate targets.
The F-15s weapons are engineered to closely align with the kinds of sensing, computing and EW applications known to be fundamental to 5th-Gen assets such as the F-35. However, the DOT&E report does add the caveat that, in the testing, the F-15EX may not have been matched against the most advanced threats available. Therefore, it may not be fully known just how comparable an F-15EX is with an F-35, yet many regard the F-35s advantage as a so-called “flying computer” to reside in the fidelity, range and integration of its sensing, radar, threat warning and information sharing systems. This is quite similar to what is described for the F-15EX.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University