“Strike Eagle, Strike Eagle, they name me by identify/I bombed the hell outta Goldwater Vary…” So begins the music that Dick Jonas—Vietnam Conflict fighter pilot turned skilled singer—dedicates to the F-15E Strike Eagle, the successor to the F-4 Phantom that Lt. Col USAF, Ret. Jonas had flown over the jungles of Southeast Asia. And an examination of the F-15E’s historical past makes it abundantly clear why “the fighter pilot’s minstrel” sings concerning the Strike Eagle with such reverence.
“I Totes Extra Bombs Than a B-24…”
The F-15 Eagle collection of fighter jets actually wants no introduction to army aviation historical past buffs, because it has attained an unmatched and mind-boggling 104:0 kill ratio throughout 40-plus years of service, with nary a single loss in air-to-air fight.
The E-series variant specifically made her maiden flight on 11 December 1986, 14 years after the unique F-15 did so.
The Strike Eagle specifically was conceived as a warplane that would really excel in each the air superiority and the bottom assault roles, a twin which the Normal Dynamics F-111 Aardvark had beforehand been supposed to meet however didn’t fairly make it (though, in equity, the Aardvark did carry out fairly effectively throughout Operation Eldorado Canyon, the U.S. bombing mission towards Libya in April 1986). Certainly, by 1996 the F-111 could be retired and fully changed by the F-15E.
What Truley Makes the F-15E Particular
The obvious distinction between the F-15E and earlier fashions is that this one is a two-seater, because the Strike Eagle additionally has a weapons system officer (WSO), recognized affectionately in USAF slang as a “Whizzo” or “GIB (Man/Gal In Again).”
The Whizzo is a essential addition for a number of causes, chief amongst them being the operation of the APG-70 radar system, which, as my 1945 colleague Brent M. Eastwood explains, “has a twin function too. The pilot can use the system to have interaction floor targets whereas the weapons system officer can look out for air targets. The crew can then swap roles relying on whether or not there are new air-to-air threats or completely different targets on the bottom.” As well as, as Brent continues, “The weapons system officer has a fantastic gig as a result of there may be every kind of motion within the again seat. There are 4 screens to peruse. These deal with radar, digital warfare, enemy plane monitoring, weapons standing, threats, and navigation.”
As for the supposed twin function of the aircraft, this warbird can carry a payload of as much as 23,000 kilos (3,628 kilograms) of bombs, with a carrying capability of 15 JDAMs being one of many choices. (Joint Direct Assault Munitions).
To offer the reader a way of perspective and foundation of comparability, the legendary B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, and B-29 Superfortress, all of which had been thought-about “heavy” bombers by WWII requirements, had bomb load capacities of 17,600 kilos (7,800 kilograms), 8,000 kilos (3,600 kilograms), and 20,000 kilos (9,100 kilograms) respectively.
“…And I Laid a Couple in Saddam’s Backdoor”
The F-15E obtained its baptism of fireplace throughout Operation Desert Storm. On the primary evening of that marketing campaign, 24 F-15Es launched an assault on 5 fastened Scud installations in western Iraq. F-15Es struck closely defended targets all through Iraq, prioritizing SCUD missile websites, in addition to embarking on tank plinking missions towards Iraqi automobiles in Kuwait previous to the graduation of the bottom struggle section of the Kuwait liberation effort.
F-15Es additionally destroyed 18 Iraqi Air Drive (IqAF) jets on the bottom utilizing GBU-12s and CBU-87 munitions.
Satirically sufficient, the F-15E would rating its first air-to-air kill, not with its inner gun 20mm gun or its air-to-air missiles…however a laser-guided bomb, particularly a GBU-10.
On Valentine’s Day of 1991, an F-15E crew consisting of then-Captain Tim Bennett, the pilot, and then-Capt. Dan Bakke, the WSO, noticed a Mi-24 Hind helicopter within the means of unloading Iraqi troops which might have posed a menace to a close-by U.S. Special Forces workforce.
As recounted by Tim Bennett himself:
“Dan and I mentioned how we wished to conduct the assault. We determined to hit the lead helicopter with a GBU-10 whereas he was on the bottom. If we hit him, he could be destroyed. If he moved off earlier than the bomb landed, it will nonetheless get the troops he simply left on the bottom. It might additionally give the opposite helicopters one thing to consider, which could give the workforce an opportunity to get away within the confusion…There was a giant flash, and I might see items flying in several instructions. It blew the helicopter to hell, rattling close to vaporized it.”
Strike Eagles would go on so as to add three UAVs to their air-to-air kill tally throughout operations over Syria in 2017 and 2021. So far as the bombing function, the F-15E did this with aplomb, from Operations Deliberate Drive and Allied Drive over the Balkans, to Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (credited with destroying 60% of the Iraqi Medina Republican Guard’s complete drive throughout the latter operation), to the Operation Inherent Resolve. In November 2015, the Strike Eagle bagged her highest-value goal, killing Abu Nabil AKA Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al-Zubaydi, then-leader of Islamic State (ISIS) in Libya.
“…And No person Needs to Depart Me ‘Trigger I’m Too A lot Enjoyable”
Since this text started by quoting the Dick Jonas music, methinks it becoming to conclude this piece accordingly: “Strike Eagle, Strike Eagle, you already know what I imply/I’ll nonetheless be flying in 2019/Yeah, I’ll nonetheless be flying in 2019.”
Right here had been now are in 2022, and she or he’s certainly nonetheless flying.
Christian D. Orr is a former Air Drive officer, Federal legislation enforcement officer, and personal army contractor (with assignments labored in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in Worldwide Relations from the College of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Research (focus in Terrorism Research) from American Army College (AMU). He has additionally been printed in The Each day Torch and The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Safety.
