Equipped with new electronic warfare systems: In the USA, they are testing updated versions of 4th generation fighters

After the appearance of models with the EX index, we can say that the F-15C and F-15E will become some kind of intermediate modifications, and the Boeing Corporation, in cooperation with BAE Systems (a division of Electronic Systems), will concentrate efforts on finalizing the latest avionics options and Electronic warfare. The only flying pair of F-15EX fighters so far has arrived for operational tests at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Testers already realize that they are dealing with a more modern version than the old F-15C, which uses a hydromechanical flight control system. Now the electronic “fly-by-wire” system is connected to the operation of the control units; in addition, a new generation of electronic protection against weapons with radar guidance - so the coherence of all digital assistants will be tested by pilots in various flight modes. The testing program for new versions of the 4th generation of fighters is designed for at least a week.

Experienced pilots were entrusted with testing new fighters. Major Kevin Hand is pinning his hopes on the updated Eagle Passive / Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWS) electronic warfare system - the developers have promised that the capabilities of the improved equipment should provide a higher level of survivability during attack and defense in most anticipated air situations. Major Hand hopes that after confirming the inherent characteristics, the novelty will be introduced into mass production.

Lt. Col. Kenneth Juhl is responsible for overseeing the testing of equipment responsible for air-to-air and ground-to-air communications with the command center. A test in practice showed that information from pilots about the behavior of an aircraft in the air does not always and does not fully correspond to the readings recorded by the on-board digital assistants. Experts from the ground part of the test team must understand the reasons and eliminate all contradictions.

It should be clarified that the new fighters have already been in the sky before. The plane with the number “001” was delivered to the Eglin base in Florida in March of this year, and the plane “002” was brought up in April. Both modernized Eagles were handed over to the Team 6 of the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center. Already in May, the planes showed themselves at the Northern Edge joint exercise in Alaska: this was the first test of the operability of GPS, radar and other complexes in the mode of overcoming electronic interference.

After testing at Nellis, the F-15EX will return to Eglin, where the necessary adjustments will be made based on the results of the tests carried out. The head of the testing project, Colton Myers, does not exclude that in addition to the corrected and supplemented software on the fighters, the weapons systems will be upgraded. Up to the ability to use hypersonic "ammunition". The problem is that there are no such weapons in the United States yet ...

Lieutenant Colonel Jul has already been informed of further plans: next year he plans to bring the F-15EX to the large-scale Red Flag-Nellis exercise.

History The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle has been in production since 1972. The first aircraft entered service with the US Air Force in 1976, and McDonnell Douglas supplied the Pentagon until 1996 - until it was swallowed up by Boeing. Production of the F-15 and its modifications continued until 2019. Apparently, it was decided to give a second life to the proven family of air veterans - the old electronic warfare package for the F-15 ALQ-135 family no longer met modern requirements, and now the development of the EPAWS system from the BAE Systems laboratory came in handy.

Elements of the updated electronic warfare system are also present in the modifications of the F-35: specialists from BAE Systems have already concluded a deal for 77,5 million dollars. According to unofficial data, due to some slippages in the schedule of the management of Lockheed Martin for the further implementation of the F-35, it was decided to initiate in parallel work on a modified version of avionics for the F-15EX. The equipment is being integrated into a separate modification of the F-15 Advanced Eagle, designed for Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Comments

[Uncle lee]

there is no such weapon in the United States yet ...

Apparently on the way ... Peacekeepers are arming themselves!

[knn54]

At least somehow resist, for example. Su-35.

[bayard]

What is the opposition of the Su-35?
These aircraft are used by the US National Guard, and these are the continental forces, the air force of which plays the role of mainly air defense.
Yes, and they missed the F-35 - the station wagon did not come out.
But the modernized F-15 turned out completely, and first of all, as an air defense aircraft, which is stealthy unnecessarily, but a very large arsenal of explosive missiles, very good radar and other avionics.

[rocket757]

Equipped with new electronic warfare systems: In the USA, they are testing updated versions of 4th generation fighters

And what is wrong? Passions, and even more so, euphoria, around the "penguin" subsided, while the army and flyers thought about a reliable, working, more economically convenient workhorse.

[Hexenmeister]

in addition, a new generation of electronic protection against radar-guided weapons appeared on board the F-15EX ...
hopes for the updated Eagle Passive / Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWS) ...
Elements of the updated electronic warfare system are also present in the modifications of the F-35 ...

That is, it turns out that there is essentially no hope for the effectiveness of the newfangled method of counteraction through the afar antenna of the radar, and a separate complex of counteraction to the enemy radar is put in place.

[voyaka uh]

The F-15 does not have the same AFAR as the F-35 - with built-in electronic warfare.
Therefore, as on the F-16, Typhoons and others - electronic warfare in a suspended container.

[Hexenmeister]

The article does not say that this system will be in a hanging container. In addition, it is separately indicated that "Elements of the updated electronic warfare system are also present in the modifications of the F-35", so why put them, everything gives an afar solution? It means that either not everything gives, or does not have the required efficiency.

[voyaka uh]

And there is no room inside the fuselage.
AFAR with built-in electronic warfare was invented by Lockheed.
And the F-15 is Boeing's favorite child.

This is a universal Jamming Pod - for F-15, F-16, F-18.
In the picture - near the blue number 29

[Hexenmeister]

In the picture - near the blue number 29

It is clear that in the picture above the article he does not hang on the plane

[And Us Rat]

Quote: voyaka uh

AFAR with built-in electronic warfare was invented by Lockheed.

Not certainly in that way.
In general, almost any AFAR today can perform the functions of electronic warfare in the presence of the appropriate software. Emitters both there and there, in principle, do not differ from the point of view of mechanics and physics. The question is in the software.
In particular, the APG-82 (V) 1 radar is declared by the manufacturer as having electronic warfare functions.
https://www.militaryaerospace.com/sensors/article/14204976/radar-upgrades-f15

[KKND]

Quote: Hexenmeister

That is, it turns out that there is essentially no hope for the effectiveness of the newfangled method of counteraction through the afar antenna of the radar, and a separate complex of counteraction to the enemy radar is put in place.

So afar radar in a limited sector ahead can work. Directional antenna. And they can irradiate from anywhere.

[Hexenmeister]

With the radar antenna, it’s clear that a flat stationary canvas and everything accompanying it, only the one that is suspended on the nacelle (in the picture voyaka uh), the viewing angles will also not be very large due to the shielding of the container by the aircraft body.

[zwlad]

Nice car, not like a "penguin".

[Bradley]

The F-15 is a very beautiful aircraft, however, as time has shown, not only beautiful, but also effective!
Not a single air defeat, he always came out victorious in air battles. It says a lot.
It's a pity that his time is running out ...

[Hexenmeister]

Not a single air defeat, he always came out victorious in air battles. It says a lot.

Not everything was so clear with him ...
https://naukatehnika.com/radiolokaczionnaya-stancziya-istrebitelej.html

But all defects could not be eliminated. In particular, the overload experienced by the aircraft led to the "lag" and "hang" of the antenna scanning mechanism. In addition, the combat use of IV generation F-15A aircraft with this radar in the Israeli Air Force against the III generation MiG-23ML aircraft with the RP-23ML (N008) radar did not show its expected advantages in selectivity, versatility, operation against the background of the ground and stability of tracking, and highlighting targets ...
In the early 1990s, when the unification of Germany happened and the Air Force of the FRG as NATO countries got MiG-29 aircraft with N009 radar, their comparative tests were carried out with F-15 aircraft with AN / APG-63 radar, which showed that The use of a high PRF as the main mode of operation has a significant drawback: the station N009 of the MiG-29 aircraft operating at an average PRI is a source of insurmountable interference for the American radar, while maintaining the stability of its work. It was not possible to get rid of this shortcoming by finalizing the radar ...
AN / APG-63 (V) 2 serial. Disadvantages of the station: low noise immunity; high cost that does not pay off the benefits.

[bayard]

They knocked him down. And in air battles and air defense systems.
But the plane is good, especially in the latest modification.

[Bradley]

They knocked him down. And in air battles

Where and when? Or are you talking about the case when a P-60 flew into the nozzle and Eagle then sat down at the airfield?

[bayard]

No, this is the case when the F-15 was shot down by the Syrian MiG-25, in response to the MiG-25 shot down earlier by the Israeli "Needle". He was lured into an attack on a substituted plane and was shot down by the second, who attacked him in pursuit, already over the sea. A fished out ejection seat was the confirmation.
But Israel certainly does not recognize this case.
The "Igla" guns shot down by air defense systems were also captured in photos and videos, but this was already on other theaters.

Quote: Bradley

R-60 flew into the nozzle

The R-60 flew into the nozzle to many people, but the power of the warhead was not always enough to defeat. Not always.

[Bradley]

The Sirians never provided Needle's wreckage. They shot down Phantoms more than once, which then flew in Israel.
I'm not saying that the Phantoms did not shoot down, I mean that the Syrians often lied.

And I don’t deny losses from air defense. I wrote about air battles.

The R-60 flew into the nozzle to many people, but the power of the warhead was not always enough to defeat. Not always.

Exactly. If there were debris from the AIM-9 and R-73, then after the R-60 there were emergency landings.

[bayard]

Quote: Bradley

The Sirians never provided Needle's wreckage.

There are great depths. The helicopter took the pilot, the ejection seat was found and provided. And the MiG-25 attacked him by no means the R-60, but if memory serves, the R-40. And it is designed for the B-52.

[Bradley]

There are great depths. The helicopter took the pilot, the ejection seat was found and provided. And the MiG-25 attacked him by no means the R-60, but if memory serves, the R-40. And it is designed for the B-52.

Alas, there are no proofs, except for the chair.

[bayard]

It just so happened that the F-15 has never met in a real battle with an equal opponent - an aircraft of the 4th generation. Serbian MiG-29s are not counted - they were beaten on takeoff on guidance from AWACS. But in training battles with other aircraft, they were defeated more than once. And from the Su-27, and from the MiG-29, and from the Su-30 of the Indian Air Force, and from some aircraft of NATO countries.
The aircraft is good, and first of all, because it became the first aircraft of the 4th generation (the F-14 was still a fighter of the Navy) and became, as it were, a trendsetter and a reference point for the rest.
So, having learned about the characteristics of the F-15 shown in the first test flights, Sukhoi radically altered the airframe of his Su-27, improved the characteristics of the wing, developed slats appeared, and radically improved maneuverability.
The Su-27 has more powerful engines, but it is also heavier, so the best maneuvering characteristics are achieved precisely due to the characteristics of the airframe. The glider of the Su-27 is much more perfect.
And static instability.
But if Sukhoi hadn't found out about the F-15 in time, the Su-27 would have gone to the troops at the same time as the F-15 ... with a wing like the Tu-144 and noticeably worse characteristics.
At the same time, the F-15 began to be designed in keeping with the MiG-25, but the stake was placed on maneuverability and thrust-to-weight ratio. And we got a great plane.

[Bradley]

It just so happened that the F-15 with a real battle with an equal rival - an aircraft of the 4th generation, never met. Serbian MiG-29s are not counted - they were beaten on takeoff on guidance from AWACS.

These are not Eagle's problems.

But in training battles with other aircraft, they were defeated more than once. And from the Su-27, and from the MiG-29, and from the Su-30 of the Indian Air Force, and from some aircraft of NATO countries.

Especially India. The needles were limited in height and AIM-9M missiles, while the Indian Su-30 had no restrictions and were on their own territory. And when they offered to participate in the Red Flag, the Indians merged, citing the secrecy of the radar.
And where was the Su-27? Was it 92 in Langley? So there was a joint maneuvering, and not a training battle, where the Su-27 fell out of order and worked and sat on six at the Igla.

So, having learned about the characteristics of the F-15 shown in the first test flights, Sukhoi radically altered the glider of his Su-27

The T-10 did not suit the customer in the form of the USSR Air Force, therefore it was converted into the T-10S. Eagle, of course, influenced, but the T-10 would have been exactly altered.