Wait, it’s not another Phantom Phix Thursday? No, today it’s that other air superiority fighter, the one which, in improved form is still rolling off the assembly line in St. Louis, and likely will continue to do so for at least another ten years.
The USAF is planning on purchasing at least 144 new F-15EX to replace their existing F-15C and F-15D airframes over the next few years. Considering that many of the F-15C/D airframes are nearly forty years old, the F-15EX may well ensure that this design operates for over a century.
Meanwhile, the JASDF is looking to upgrade their existing F-15J airframes in much the same way they did with the F-4EJ Kai update. These aircraft too may well soldier through five or six decades of life