[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] F-15EX Fighter Jet Completes Initial Flight

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Boeing's new F-15EX fighter jet has completed its maiden flight.

According to Boeing on the 6th, the F-15EX fighter jet took off from Lambert International Airport in St. Louis and completed a total of 90 minutes of test flight before landing.

The U.S. Air Force signed a procurement contract worth approximately $22.8 billion (27.506 trillion KRW) with Boeing for the F-15EX fighter jets in July last year. The first order consists of 8 units, with plans to acquire up to 144 units in the future. At that time, Boeing received about $1.2 billion (1.4468 trillion KRW) in advance for the first order of 8 F-15EX jets and prepayment for technology costs.

The F-15EX fighter jets are manufactured at Boeing's St. Louis plant in Missouri, with 2 units delivered to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida in fiscal year 2021, and the remaining 6 units in fiscal year 2023.

The F-15EX fighter jet is based on the F-15 fighter jets exported to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This fighter jet is equipped with an electric flight control system, digital EW suite, infrared search and track (IRST) system, and active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.

It can carry more weapons than other fighters in its class and can launch supersonic missiles weighing 3,100 kg and measuring 6.1 meters in length. Additionally, it will be equipped with a more powerful mission computer than all existing F-15 fighters, a new cockpit display, infrared search and track system, and terrain-following radar.

Prat Kumar, Boeing Vice President, said, "Boeing is pleased to produce a modern fighter jet for the U.S. Air Force," adding, "The digital airframe design and open mission system architecture of the F-15EX are reasons to be confident in the investment decision for the F-15EX."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.