(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 19, 2009: Boeing Co unveiled on Tuesday a new multi-role design of its F-15 combat 
aircraft that would vie for international orders against Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Designated the F-15 Silent Eagle, or F-15SE, it incorporates what Boeing calls cost-effective "stealth" technologies as well as redesigned "conformal" fuel tanks that allow for carrying weapons internally to cut the aircraft's radar cross section.
aircraft that would vie for international orders against Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Designated the F-15 Silent Eagle, or F-15SE, it incorporates what Boeing calls cost-effective "stealth" technologies as well as redesigned "conformal" fuel tanks that allow for carrying weapons internally to cut the aircraft's radar cross section. Paul Lewis, a Boeing spokesman, said the projected price was roughly $100 million per copy, including pilot training, spares and support equipment.
By contrast, the F-35 is expected to cost in the upper $60 million range in adjusted 2014 dollars, when full production is due to start, Lockheed Martin spokesman Chris Geisel said in a Feb. 26 emailed statement.
Lewis said the F-15SE represented "a fundamentally different approach" compared with Lockheed Martin, which designed the F-35 from scratch to minimize radar detection. "We have selectively applied stealth," he said. "You haven't put all your eggs in one basket.
"The aircraft represents "a balanced, affordable approach designed to meet future survivability needs," Mark Bass, a Boeing vice president, added in a statement.
Improvements in stealth, or radar avoidance, include coatings and treatments on the aircraft. The F-15SE would be able to internally carry air-to-air missiles such as the AIM-9 and AIM-120 and air-to-ground weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition and Small Diameter Bomb.Depending on the specific mission, the new F-15 could carry the special fuel tanks designed to create internal weapons bays or swap them out to optimize fuel capacity and external weapons loads, Boeing said.
Richard Abolafia, a fighter-market expert at aerospace consultancy TEAL Group Corp, said the new F-15 had some "strong opportunities, particularly in South Korea, Singapore and Saudi Arabia."
Overseas competitors include Saab AB's Gripen, the Dassault Aviation SA Rafale, Russia's MiG-35 and Sukhoi Su-35, and the Eurofighter Typhoon made by a consortium of British, German, Italian and Spanish companies.Lockheed Martin is developing its F-35 for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps plus eight international partners: Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway.
Jon Schreiber, who heads the F-35 program's international aspects for the Pentagon, told Reuters in an interview Tuesday that he foresaw orders from Israel for an initial 25 F-35s by early next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment