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McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
| F-15 Eagle | |
|---|---|
 USAF F-15C, 44th Fighter Squadron, 2019 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Air superiority fighter |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | United States Air Force |
| Number built | F-15A/B/C/D/J/DJ: 1,198[1] |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1972–1997 |
| Introduction date | 9 January 1976[2] |
| First flight | 27 July 1972 |
| Variants | |
| Developed into | |
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's design in 1969 to meet the service's need for a dedicated air superiority fighter. The Eagle took its maiden flight in July 1972, and entered service in 1976. It is among the most successful modern fighters, with over 100 victories and no losses in aerial combat, with the majority of the kills by the Israeli Air Force.[3][4]
The Eagle has been exported to many countries, including Israel, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Although the F-15 was originally envisioned as a pure air superiority fighter, its design included a secondary ground-attack capability that was largely unused. It proved flexible enough that an improved all-weather strike derivative, the F-15E Strike Eagle, was later developed, entered service in 1989 and has been exported to several nations. Several additional Eagle and Strike Eagle subvariants have been produced for foreign customers, with production of enhanced variants ongoing.
The F-15 was the principal air superiority fighter of the USAF and U.S. allies during the late Cold War and the 1990s, replacing the F-4 Phantom II. The Eagle was first used in combat by the Israeli Air Force in 1979 and saw extensive action in the 1982 Lebanon War. In USAF service, the aircraft saw combat action in the 1991 Gulf War and the conflict over Yugoslavia. The USAF had planned to replace all of its air superiority F-15A/B/C/D with the F-22 Raptor by the 2010s, but the severely reduced procurement pushed the F-15C/D retirement to 2026 and forced the service to supplement the F-22 with an advanced Eagle variant, the F-15EX, in order to retain an adequate number of air superiority fighters. The F-15 remains in service with numerous countries, and the Strike Eagle variant is expected to continue operating in the USAF into the 2030s.
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