David Axe
Security,
The U.S. Air Force could arm new F-15 Eagles with a hypersonic missile. That is, assuming Congress lets the flying branch buy the upgraded fighters.
New Eagles could be launch platforms for "stand-off weapons, hypersonics," Air Force major general David Krumm, the service's director of strategic plans and requirements, told Air Force magazine reporters John Tirpak and Brian Everstine.
"They can go a long ways to assist the penetrating forces," Krumm said of the new F-15s.
It remains to be seen whether Krumm's argument will sway skeptics.
The latest F-15EX variant of the five-decade-old Eagle design has been the subject of simmering controversy in the media and in Washington, D.C when in mid-2018 news first leaked that the Pentagon planned to buy from Boeing as many as 144 of the twin-engine planes.
Critics in the media pointed out that the Air Force didn't actually want the new F-15s. Instead, the U.S. Defense Department's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, one of the military's many analytical organizations, convinced the office of acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan to add eight F-15EXs to the department's 2020 budget proposal.
Shanahan is a former Boeing executive. Shanahan's spokesperson Joe Buccino said Shanahan has recused himself from any procurement decisions involving Boeing, but at least one ethics group has filed a formal complaint accusing Shanahan of favoring the Chicago plane-maker.
The Defense Department compelled the Air Force to request eight F-15EXs as part of the flying branch's 2020 budget request. The eight planes would cost $1.2 billion.
The Air Force reportedly would buy another 136 F-15EXs through the mid-2020s. The new Eagles would replace 1980s-vintage F-15Cs in some or all of the nine squadrons that fly the older type -- three in the active force and six in the Air National Guard.
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