F-15EX: The U.S. Air Force Now Has a Real ‘Missile Truck’
From 19FortyFive.com: F-15EX Proving Its Mettle with More Missiles – You want to talk about the biggest load of missiles for an American fighter? Let’s discuss the F-15EX Eagle II because it is becoming quite the missile truck. There are two more weapons stations on the Boeing fighter that were tested with two successful missile launches in late November above the Gulf of Mexico.
- Comparing the Missile Load to Other Fighters –
The F-15EX fired air-to-air missiles in a manner that was deemed satisfactory by the Air Force. This evaluation was noteworthy because now the F-15EX can carry a load of 12 missiles. Other F-15 variants can only deploy eight of the munitions. F-16s have a six air-to-air missile load. Then the F-22 has a capacity for eight missiles, and these are a combination of Sidewinders and AMRAAMs. F-35s have a load of six – four internal and two external. Lockheed Martin plans to increase the missile load with a new F-35 variant. The extra weapons stations will be affixed to the tips of the wings on the F-15EX. This worked well for the 96th Test Wing that ran the evaluation for the firing. One F-15EX launched an AMRAAM and another fired a Sidewinder during the November test. It happened over the Eglin Test and Training Complex’s water range.
