F-15SA During Maiden Flight ©USAF The U.S. Air Force and Boeing have completed a successful first flight of the new F-15SA advanced fight...
 |
| F-15SA During Maiden Flight |
The F-15SA's maiden flight took place on Feb. 20 at the Boeing facilities in St. Louis. The flight went as planned, meeting all test objectives to support the aircraft's on-schedule development.
The new aircraft is the centerpiece of the Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 Fleet Modernization Program, a wide-ranging $29.4 billion effort that stands as the largest foreign military sale in U.S. history.
The F-15SA brings improved performance, enhanced situational awareness and increased survivability at a lower total life-cycle cost.
Avionics advancements include a Digital Electronic Warfare Suite, Fly-By-Wire flight control system, an Infrared Search and Track system and Active Electronically Scanned Array radar.
Forward and aft cockpits feature advanced displays and Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems. Two additional weapon stations provide increased payload capacity.
The F-15SA flight test program will include three instrumented F-15SAs operating from Boeing facilities in St. Louis and Palmdale, California.
F-15SA new aircraft deliveries to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are scheduled to begin in 2015 and conclude by 2019.
Boeing will equip the F-15SA with General Electric made F-110- GE -129 engines, instead of the 'traditional' Pratt&Whitney F100-PW-220 series engines.
The F-15SA will be equipped with the APG-63(V)3 radar , the newest of the AESA radar developed by Raytheon.
Recently Lockheed Martin was awarded a $253 million contract agreement to begin work on F-15SA pilot and maintenance training systems for the Royal Saudi Air Force.
