F-15 Eagle Dimensions. Engine. Weight. Story. Range of flight
Designed for operations against ground and sea targets located at a considerable distance, as well as for gaining air superiority, escort and interception. In December 1969, after three years of development of the advanced fighter, FX was selected as the prime contractor and received the first order for the production of single-seat F-15A aircraft and two-seat TF-15A (later F-15B) trainers on June 26, 1972, the first prototype aircraft The F-15A rolled out of the St. Louis assembly plant and made its first flight on July 27, 1972. The two-seat prototype first flew on July 7, 1973.
Modifications
- F-35A. The simplest and most widespread modification of the aircraft, intended for the US Air Force and its allies. This fighter uses conventional runways at land-based airfields.
- F-35I. Aircraft developed for the Israeli Air Force. In fact, this is a regular “land” version of the vehicle (F-35A), on which part of the Israeli equipment is installed: avionics, including an electronic warfare system and fire control system, as well as cabin equipment.
- CF-35. Variant of the F-35A aircraft for the Canadian Air Force. It differs from the standard model only in the presence of a braking parachute (due to icy runways) and changes in the air refueling system.
- F-35B. A modification with short (vertical) take-off and vertical landing, developed for the American ILC. They plan to make this aircraft the basis of the strike power of the new America-class landing ships, which are essentially light aircraft carriers. So far, only Italy plans to purchase fighters of this modification, and Great Britain has already officially abandoned it.
- F-35C. A modification of the aircraft developed for the US and British navies. It is designed to take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier using a catapult and land on it using a finisher (the aircraft has a landing hook). This version of the fighter features a larger wing and tail, allowing it to maneuver more confidently at low speeds and increasing its payload. The F-35C has twice the range of the F/A-18C.
All modifications of the F-35 fighter are 70-90% unified.
F-15 fighter - video
One of the main differences between the F-15A and third-generation fighters was its high thrust-to-weight ratio and low specific take-off weight, which made it one of the most maneuverable supersonic fighters of the 1970s. The F-15 fighter is one of the most reliable aircraft in the US Air Force (average accident rate of 3.9 per 10,000 flight hours). The F-15A is built according to a classic design, with a high-mounted trapezoidal wing, a twin-tail tail and two engines in the rear fuselage. The aircraft is equipped with AN/APG-63, AN/ASN-109 radar, ILS, TACAN radio navigation system, on-board computer, and electronic warfare system.
AIM-7 Sparrow missiles can be installed on five suspension corners. AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM with a total weight of up to 7300 kg. In the right wing influx there is a six-barreled M61A1 “Vulcan” cannon (20 mm caliber, 940 rounds of ammunition). In mid-1979, serial construction of a more advanced modification of the single-seat F-15C fighter and its two-seat counterpart began. The new models had increased fuel capacity in the internal tanks, the latest electronic equipment and a conformal container that housed fuel or reconnaissance equipment.
The F-15E Strike Eagle was jointly developed by Hughes. A prototype aircraft converted from an F-15B. made its first flight in August 1981 and the newly built F-15E took to the air in 1986. This two-seat fighter is designed for long-range interceptions in all weather conditions and close maneuver combat. Flight duration without refueling is more than 5 hours.
The F-15E features a redesigned control system, new multi-role cathode beam indicators for the flight navigation system, an improved weapons control system, a wide-angle head-up display, an AN/APG-70 synthetic aperture radar, and the ability to carry the LANTIRN infrared system. for night sighting and low altitude navigation. The gondolas under the fuselage of the F-15E house a FLIR infrared system for viewing the forward hemisphere and a radar to ensure terrain-following flight.
The maximum weapon weight of the F-15E is 11,100 kg, the combat radius is 1,270 km, and the maximum speed is more than 2 M. Serial production is currently ongoing, and the US Air Force plans to increase their number to approximately 1,500 aircraft. F-15 aircraft are in service with the US Air Force. Israel (F-15A.B), Saudi Arabia (F-15C.D) and Japan. The first combat engagement involving F-15s occurred on June 27, 1979 over southern Lebanon, when 6 Israeli F-15A aircraft and 2 Kfir fighters entered into a dogfight with 8 Syrian MiG-21 fighters. According to Israeli data, 6 Syrian fighters were destroyed in the battle. The first F-15A was lost in combat in southern Lebanon in April 1981. The F-15C was one of the stars of the Gulf War (1991). 120 aircraft of this type flew more than 5,900 sorties with an average combat readiness ratio of 94%. F-15C fighters shot down 37 of the 39 aircraft Iraq lost in air combat.
Device
The F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter; during its creation, extensive use was made of the experience gained in the creation of the F-22 Raptor. It should be noted that the F-35 is equipped with more advanced avionics than the Raptor. The fighter's avionics are undoubtedly the most powerful aspect of this combat platform. The F-35 radio-electronic complex includes:
- Multifunctional radar with an active phased array antenna of the second generation AN/APG-81, which can equally effectively detect targets both on the ground and in the air.
- Electro-optical system AN/AAQ-37, which includes six infrared sensors located on different sides of the fuselage. It allows you to detect ballistic missile launches at a distance of 1,300 km, provides navigation when piloting both during the day and at night, warns the pilot about a missile attack, determines the location of anti-aircraft guns, finds air targets and tracks them.
- Passive multi-directional infrared CCD-TV camera with high resolution, which can carry out target designation at significant distances, find enemy objects on the ground and in the air. It also warns the pilot about irradiating the aircraft with a laser beam.
- AN/ASQ-239 individual jamming system.
- A target designation and display system that is integrated into the pilot's helmet and allows him to control the machine using head and eye movements. The F-35 pilot's helmet can generally be called unique: it allows the pilot to see literally through the cockpit. This ability is provided by a large number of video sensors located on the fuselage of the vehicle. Also, systems are built into the helmet that, using images and sound, inform the pilot about flight conditions.
- The cockpit is equipped with a wide-format PCD touchscreen display, which displays information related to the flight and operation of the fighter's systems. It also displays the locations of enemy air defense systems and possible routes to bypass them.
- A voice recognition system that allows pilots to control certain F-35 systems.
- The fighter is equipped with a range of advanced targeting and communications systems. These include the Link 16 data exchange complex, which is often referred to as the “Internet of the Sky.”
Composite materials and the latest technologies are widely used in the aircraft's design. The F-35 is made using stealth technology; the developers have repeatedly stated that its visibility on radar screens is even less than that of the F-22. To reduce the ESR, the aircraft's weapons are located in the internal compartments, although they can also be placed on external hardpoints. The fighter's shape also helps reduce its visibility on radar screens.
It should be noted that the cargo compartment of the F-35B modification is smaller than that of the F-35A and F-35C due to the fan installation.
Modifications of the fighter A and C are equipped with Pratt & Whitney F135 engines - a further development of the F119 model installed on the Raptor. The F-35B is a short take-off version, in the development of which the British company Rolls-Royce Defense took part. Initially, the fighter's developers were not tasked with providing supersonic cruising flight capabilities, but Lockheed Martin management claims that the F-35 is capable of flying at a speed of Mach 1.2 for approximately 240 km.
The design of the power plant of the F-35B modification is interesting. Behind the pilot's cabin there is a fan connected by a rigid transmission to the engine; it is closed at the top and bottom with flaps. During hovering, the fan starts to work, and the engine nozzle deflects down almost at a right angle (95°). The fighter's yaw and roll are controlled using additional nozzles. Takeoff and landing are fully controlled by the on-board computer, which simplifies the pilot’s work.
The F-35B can also take off vertically, albeit with a small combat load and incomplete tanks.
The F-35 uses electrohydrostatic control surface drives, which made it possible to completely abandon the general aircraft hydraulic system and significantly reduce the weight of the fighter.
The F-35 can use a wide range of weapons. All three modifications of the aircraft are armed with an automatic 25-mm GAU-22/A cannon, which is located above the left air intake. Its ammunition load is 180 rounds.
Performance characteristics of the F-15
— Chief designer: D. Graff — First flight: July 27, 1972 — Start of operation: January 9, 1976 — Units produced: 1,500
F-15 cost
— F-15A/B $27.9 million (1998), F-15C/D $29.9 million (1998)
F-15 crew
- 1 person
F-15 Dimensions
— Length: 19.43 m — Wingspan: 13.05 m — Height: 5.63 m — Wing area: 56.5 m² — Leading edge sweep angle: 45o — Wing profile: NACA 64A006.6 wing root, NACA 64A203 tip wing
F-15 weight
— Empty weight: 12700 kg — Curb weight: 20240 kg (with 4 AIM-7 Sparrow missiles) — Maximum take-off weight: 30845 kg (with three anti-tank tanks and two conformal tanks (English) Russian) — Fuel weight in external tanks: 5395 (2×2309) kg - Fuel mass in conformal tanks: 4422 kg
F-15 engines
— 2 two-circuit turbojet with afterburner (TRDDF) Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-100, -220, -229.
Thrust: - 2 × 6655 kgf (65.2 kN) F100-PW-100 - 2 × 7910 kgf (77.62 kN) F100-PW-220, F100-PW-229
Afterburner thrust: - 2 × 10810 kgf (106.0 kN) F100-PW-100 - 2 × 11335 kgf (111.2 kN) F100-PW-220 - 2 × 13250 kgf (130 kN) F100-PW-229
F-15 speed
— Maximum speed at high altitude: 2650 km/h (M=2.5) — Maximum speed at low altitude: 1450 km/h (M=1.2) — Approach speed: 232 km/h — Rate of climb: 254 m/s - Take-off length: 686 m (F100-PW-100 for take-off weight 20240 kg) - Take-off length: 1067 m (without braking parachute)
F-15 range
— Practical range: 1967 km (without PTB, with standard weapons) — Ferry range: 5750 km (with three PTB and conformal tanks)
F-15 service ceiling
— 20000 m
— Aerodynamic quality of the aircraft: ~10 (for F-15A at M = 0.9) [51] — Maximum operational overload: +9.0/−3.0 (for F-15A: +7.3/−3, 0)
Avionics
— Radar: radar with AFAR AN/APG-63(V)2/3/4 — The AN/ALR-56C RWR radiation warning system is part of the TEWS (Tactical Early Warning System) of the F-15C/D.
F-15 weapons
— Six-barrel 20-mm General Electric M-61A1 “Vulcan” cannon, 940 rounds — AIM-9L/AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles: 4 missiles — AIM-7F/AIM-7M Sparrow missiles: 4 missiles — AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles ( F-15C/F-15D) up to 8
Project evaluation
The F-35 program is the most expensive military project in human history. Even this fact alone is already an excellent reason to criticize the aircraft, however, despite billions of dollars spent and years of development, flaws are constantly being discovered in the F-35 design. The problems of the aircraft, which costs more than one hundred million dollars, are particularly acute for the public.
Many experts question the F-35's suitability as a fifth-generation fighter. First of all, this concerns supersonic flight without the use of afterburner. However, the developers have repeatedly stated that the fighter has such a capability. There are also questions about invisibility technologies. In 2022, the F-35 lost a dogfight to the F-15 due to poor-quality stealth coating on the fuselage.
The fighter's operating system raises many questions; during a recent inspection, the military was able to detect 276 potential vulnerabilities in it. However, if the software is improved over time, then there are shortcomings that cannot be corrected. These include the following:
- Insufficient thrust-to-weight ratio (0.8-0.85), which is due to the greatly increased weight of the vehicle during its modification.
- High specific wing load, which significantly reduces the maneuverability of the fighter.
- Relatively small mass of weapons that the aircraft can take into the internal compartments.
- Due to its relatively high minimum speed, small payload, and sensitivity to ground fire, the F-35 may not be effective as a close support aircraft. The old and proven A-10 Thunderbolt looks much more preferable in this regard.
The strengths of the F-35 include low visibility for enemy radar and the aircraft’s most powerful avionics system. However, whether they will help the fighter in a real air battle remains an open question.
In conclusion, we note: despite all the criticism, the F-35 is still a fairly advanced and advanced machine. It couldn’t have been any other way: America invested too many resources – financial, organizational, intellectual – into this project. Most of the F-35's problems were initially inherent in the concept of this aircraft, as well as in the understanding of its place in the structure of the US Air Force's weapons.
Excessive arrogance played a bad joke on the Americans: believing that in the new century they would no longer have worthy opponents, they began to create a fighter for wars like the Balkan or Iraqi campaign, in which the enemy was initially weaker in almost all respects.
However, the situation in the world is developing according to a slightly different scenario, new centers of power are emerging - states that are paying significant attention to the development of the armed forces, including effective aviation. With a high degree of probability, we can say that American pilots in the future will have to meet worthy opponents in the sky. And whether the F-35 can guarantee them victory is a very big question.
