Article Posted on : - Mar 18, 2009

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CHICAGO (BNS): To meet the growing needs of international customers, Boeing unveiled the F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE), a new F-15 configuration, in St Louis on Tuesday.

The company said that it has completed a conceptual prototype of the conformal fuel tanks (CFT) internal-carriage concept, and plans to flight-test a prototype by the first quarter of 2010, including a live missile launch. The design, development, and test of this internal carriage system are available as a collaborative project with an international aerospace partner, Boeing said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mark Bass, F-15 Programme vice president for Boeing, said that the F-15 Silent Eagle is designed to meet international customers’ anticipated need for cost-effective stealth technologies, as well as for large and diverse weapons payloads.

“The innovative Silent Eagle is a balanced, affordable approach designed to meet future survivability needs,” Bass said.

In a statement released to the media, Boeing said that improvements in stealth include coatings and treatments on the aircraft. “With the added advantage of redesigned CFTs that allow for internal weapons carriage, the Silent Eagle becomes a very attractive fighter for Boeing’s international customers,” it said.

Boeing said that depending on the specific mission, the customer could use the CFTs that are designed for internal carriage or change back to the traditional CFTs for optimum fuel capacity and external weapons carriage.

“The Silent Eagle will 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 (JDAM) and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). The standard weapons load used on current versions of the F-15 is available with the traditional CFTs installed,” the company said.

The aircraft’s canted vertical tails improve aerodynamic efficiency, provide lift, and reduce airframe weight. Another aerodynamic improvement is the Digital Flight Control System, which improves the aircraft’s reliability and reduces airframe weight.

Survivability improvements include a BAES Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) working in concert with the Raytheon Advanced Electronic Scanning Array (AESA) radar.