Boeing is proposing to build a more powerful electronic warfare version of its new F-15EX “Eagle II” fighter, providing yet another argument in favor of the twin-engine, supersonic F-15EX variant of the classic F-15 Eagle as the Air Force struggles to contain costs for its future fleet programs.
When equipped with additional jamming gear and other electronic warfare equipment, the F-15EX — known in Air Force parlance as the EF-15EX — is a long-delayed replacement for the General Dynamics Grumman EF-111 Raven, which jammed enemy radars until the Air Force retired the type, some say prematurely, in 1998.
Jamming is, in some ways, an alternative to stealth, another key capability of the U.S. Air Force. Simply put, an aircraft can remain invisible to enemy radar screens by using its shape and materials to block radio energy from reflecting off it, or it can mask the enemy radar picture with powerful transmissions from a jammer.
In fact, the Air Force is looking at stealth and and However, in recent years, the former has been emphasized at the expense of the latter. A new fleet of EF-15EXs could change this.
Boeing began studying an electronic warfare version of the F-15EX this summer.
“Modern air combat requires control of the electromagnetic spectrum, and this platform will lead the way for the next decade or two,” said Rob Novotny, Boeing’s executive director of business development.
The idea was to transplant a system already installed on the U.S. Navy’s jamming aircraft, the Boeing EA-18G Growler, onto a modified F-15 Eagle II airframe. The EA-18G became the U.S. military’s only dedicated high-speed jamming aircraft following the retirement of the EF-111 and its Navy counterpart, the Grumman EA-6B.
The Navy’s Growler force is made up of just 150 or so jets, stretching its resources to defend not only U.S. forces but allied forces as well. Aside from the EA-18Gs, the only other dedicated fast jamming jets in NATO countries are about 40 Tornado electronic warfare reconnaissance jets owned by Germany and Italy. Non-NATO U.S. allies have only 12 jamming fast jets, including 12 Australian Growlers.
The Air Force’s purchase of the EF-15EX would bolster this much-needed electronic warfare force, and it would also help the service compensate for the potential loss of some stealth capability if it were to acquire the jamming-optimized EF-15EX, equipped with highly sensitive receivers to detect enemy radars and powerful radio noisemakers to jam those same radars.
Earlier this spring, the Air Force announced plans to replace its current fleet of 180 Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors with new, radar-evading, sixth-generation fighter jets as part of its Next Generation Air Superiority program.
But as the Air Force piled on premium features, like new, more powerful engines, the NGAD jets became so expensive that officials recently walked away from the program, citing the potential costs of each jet running into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Air Force has already purchased about 100 F-15EXs to replace aging F-15s used to fly defensive patrols along the U.S. border. While the F-15EX is not cheap at $100 million apiece, it is still much cheaper than any version of the NGAD.
If the Air Force decides to cancel or postpone the NGAD effort, buying F-15EXs in bulk is an option. The stocky F-15EX is not stealthy, so it may need additional protection from airborne countermeasures. The Navy’s Growlers are already busy. A fleet-within-fleet fleet of EF-15EXs flying into battle alongside the F-15EXs could fill the new demand.
This would be a new approach to aerial combat for the Air Force. Older It’s an approach to air combat that, unlike the current stealth-focused approach, could actually be affordable.
