The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is without doubt one of the United States’ most iconic fighter jets. They first entered service within the mid-Nineteen Seventies, and over the course of their manufacturing within the U.S., McDonnell Douglas manufactured at the very least 1,198 of them. Whereas the F-15 Eagle is a fourth-generation fighter that is outmatched by superior fifth-generation plane, it stays an vital air superiority fighter all through the world. The U.S. started the plan to switch its outdated fleet of older F-15s, swapping out the older planes for newer fashions.
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The most recent mannequin, which was licensed to Boeing, the F-15EX Eagle II, was tasked with taking on the slack. The brand new mannequin will stay in service till someday within the 2030s, and within the meantime, the F-15 stays one of many U.S.’ most-used air superiority fighters. After all, like lots of the arms produced within the U.S., the F-15 has been bought to a number of allied nations, they usually’ve developed fairly an air power of F-15s world wide. A number of the nations using the F-15 are Saudi Arabia, Japan, Israel, and others.
After all, the U.S. additionally continues to fly F-15s, so with a plethora of those planes working world wide, it is truthful to marvel who operates essentially the most. The straightforward reply to that query is the U.S., which maintains a power of 395 energetic F-15s of varied fashions with extra on order. That is essentially the most in any nation’s air power, however another nations come shut. Listed here are all of the nations that fly the F-15 Eagle of their militaries and what number of they’ve operational.
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Nations with essentially the most F-15s
World Air Forces 2024 has a full breakdown of the world’s air power energy, together with each variant of the F-15, so it is pretty straightforward to find out which nation has essentially the most through the downloadable PDF. The nation with essentially the most F-15s in its navy is the USA, which operates 395 operational F-15s of various fashions. These embody 377 F-15 C/E/EXs with 102 extra on order and one other 18 F-15Ds used for coaching.
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The nation with the following highest variety of F-15s is Saudi Arabia, which flies 211 F-15C/S/SA, with the F-15SA being a closely upgraded model of the F-15S Strike Eagle. Japan operates the following largest air power of F-15s through the Japan Air Self-Protection Drive (JASDF), which flies 155 of the modified F-15J.
Japan’s fighter is predicated on the F-15C, although it has been modified closely over its Western counterpart. The U.S. licensed Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to fabricate its personal F-15Js, inserting everything of Japan’s procurement within the fingers of Japanese manufacturing. Conversely, the F-15SA, operated by the Royal Saudi Air Drive (RSAF), is manufactured within the U.S. by Boeing, although the fleet is maintained by the RSAF.
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The F-15 Eagle has had main upgrades
It is vital to know what an F-15 is as a result of the aircraft that exists at the moment is much superior to the one launched within the ’70s. It is a pretty commonplace follow to constantly replace and improve plane within the U.S. navy, and the F-15 is not any exception. Since its introduction, the F-15 has undergone quite a few refits and upgrades, leading to quite a few variants able to collaborating in a number of missions for the U.S. and its allies.
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At its core, the F-15 is a twin-engine, all-weather fighter able to partaking in dogfights, taking out targets on the bottom with the F-15E Strike Eagle configuration, or flying air superiority missions in contested areas. So far, no F-15 has been shot down in air-to-air fight, and the Israeli Air Drive has racked up quite a few victories flying the fighter. There are single and double-seat variations of the plane, so it is extremely versatile and has a historical past of confirmed fight efficiency.
Whereas there are a lot of configurations of armament and ordnance, most variations have related weapon methods put in. F-15s include an M-61A1 20 mm, six-barrel cannon and are able to firing the AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. They’ve a spread of three,450 miles, can attain a ceiling of 65,000 toes, and relying on the variant, they’ll fly quicker than Mach 2, reaching 1,875 mph, with the F-15EX Eagle II managing to come back near Mach 3 by hitting its “not-to-exceed” pace of two,225 mph, making it one of many quickest manufacturing fighter jets on this planet.
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Nations with the fewest F-15s
There isn’t any denying that the highest three nations fly loads of F-15s concerning the planet, however that is not all the fighters in operation. 5 extra nations fly variations of the F-15 of their respective air forces, although the numbers pale compared to the highest three operators. The Israeli Protection Drive (IDF) flies 86 F-15s in whole, with 66 F-15/A/CI/I in operation. The IDF continues to acquire and improve its fighters and can incorporate the newer mannequin F-15IA into its fleet as they change into out there.
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After Israel, Qatar is the next-highest operator, with 33 F-15QA Ababils presently in operation, and one other 36 are on order. After Qatar, South Korea operates 59 of the F-15K Slam Eagle variants, that are flown by the Republic of Korea Air Drive (ROKAF). Singapore flies practically as many, with 40 operational F-15SG variants flying within the Republic of Singapore Air Drive (RSAF). Lastly, Indonesia would not presently personal and function its personal F-15s however does have 20 on order.
Every of those nations (aside from Japan) procures F-15s immediately from the U.S., manufactured by Boeing at its St. Louis, Missouri, plant. As of 2024, there have been a complete of 1,044 flying for various militaries world wide, and extra are on the way in which. Boeing has plans to proceed producing the plane, with the newest mannequin, the F-15EX Eagle II, making its option to the IDF for conversion to the F-15IA. Procurement plans ought to proceed by way of to the top of FY 2028, although this might prolong properly into the 2030s, making certain the F-15 continues dominating the world’s skies many years after its introduction.
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