Contradicting the military? U.S. Think Tank Researcher: The U.S. Air Force's revitalization of the fourth-generation aircraft upgrade F-15EX is a dead end

Source: World Wide Web

The latest F-15EX fighter, which has been modernized and upgraded, is a key model under the future force equipment structure planned by the US Air Force, but the report of senior researchers at the US think tank believes that the F-15EX plan is a "dead end" and that more F-35s should be produced and another low-cost stealth fighter should be developed as a supplement to the NGAD sixth-generation aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force is currently taking two F-15EXs into operations tests

According to defense news reported on October 27, heather Penney, a senior researcher at the Mitchell Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the United States and a former F-16 fighter pilot, said in a paper published on the 25th that the latest modernization and upgrading of the F-15EX "Eagle II" program is a dead end. It's based on outdated technology, isn't suitable for high-end combat, and doesn't save money on the F-35 program. The non-stealthY F-15EX will eventually have only a limited defensive role in the war.

Penney believes the Air Force should abandon its plan to revive fourth-generation fighters through the F-15EX and instead focus on producing more F-35As and develop a new fighter that is affordable, flexible, and stealthy. This new stealth fighter is used as a complement to the U.S. military's future sixth-generation aircraft NGAD program.

Stressing the importance of deploying stealth fighter jets, Penney said that "any modern battlefield requires advanced stealth capabilities" and referred to the U.S. Air Force's recent experience in Syria, where the Air Force can only fight back by deploying F-22 and F-35s because of the presence of Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile system.

Penney also offered to abandon the earlier F-15 and A-10 and continue to modernize the F-16 and F-22 until the NGAD entered service.

According to information released by the U.S. Air Force, the latest modernized F-15EX fighter jet will be part of the "4+1" concept aimed at streamlining the structure of the U.S. fighter fleet along with the F-35, F-16, A-10, and future sixth-generation fighters.

Defense News said several of the Mitchell Institute's "financiers" are U.S. military-industrial enterprises, including Boeing, which makes the F-15EX, and Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-35. However, the institute said the report was funded from its general funding and that no specific businesses provided the fees.