The contemporary stealth fighter is designed in a very strict limitation: the extremes of weapons of the jet turn off stealth benefits. The F-15EX Eagle II is designed on the opposite concept by transporting so much fire power, with enough processing and electronic protection that it can provide mass when other aircrafts are forced to remain “clean.”
Such a design decision is reflected at once in the figures that concern planners, not poster art. The F-15EX is capable of carrying 29,500 pounds of payload (in 23 weapons stations) to carry the aircraft identity as a high-capacity missile truck and heavy strike platform instead of a low-observable penetrator. It is also quick -rated at Mach 2.5 – and it combines that capability with a digital backbone that the jet needs to remain flexible to the changing demands of weapons and sensors.
The engineering myth is that the Eagle II uses computing and integration as a combat multiplier, rather than cockpit comforts. The Advanced Display Core Processor II in the jet is also said to be able to handle 87 billion functions per second which gives it the capacity to consume additional sensor data, control additional weapons and even support more advanced electronic warfare behavior than previous Eagles. This is significant as a non-stealth aircraft can only live to see first, better coordinated and makes the opponent that much harder to kill, particularly when they are bearing an overt external loadout.
One of those equations is electronic warfare. The F-15EX will be equipped with the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS), which is set to aid in the detection of threats, warning the crew, and jamming and deceiving. Combine that with the networking of the jet and an AESA radar, and the niche of the platform is even more evident: it is able to deliver high ton quantities of weapons into a battle and rely on standoff tactics, escort support, and coordinated fire on other platforms.
It is also why the future of the F-15EX is brought up as the future of larger missiles, as opposed to simply more of the standard ones. The Air Force has officially linked the jet to a role of hypersonic carriage, and the then-program manager Col. Sean Dorey said, it can carry hypersonic weapons. A centerline station that is the size of long, heavy stores has already been mentioned by Boeing the very sort of integration detail that makes the difference between “could” and planned. In effect, a high-range, high-speed fighter, with pylons, is a testbed and a possible operational launcher of weapons that smaller stealth jet aircraft can scarcely carry internally.
The F-15EX has some of its charm which is not so futuristic but rather sturdy. The plane has an internal 20mm M61 Vulcan, the sort of crude ability which perseveres through generations due to its ability to cover the same gaps left by missiles. This fact also indicates a divergence in design ideology when compared to other aircrafts such as the J-20 of China that are generally referred to as beyond-visual-range interception and stealth-first combatants as opposed to short-range versatility.
The engineering rationale behind the Eagle II is very simple: stealth aircraft open opportunities and can offer targeting benefits, but cannot always deliver volume. The F-15EX is created with the purpose of adding scale, that is, missiles, bombs, and possibly very large future weapons, but with the help of modern computing, e-warfare, and networking to keep up in the crowded airspace.
