McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15 Eagle

The F-15 Eagle is undoubtedly an iconic American machine that could be the archetype of the modern multi-role aircraft. If the designers of the plane today had to choose a name for this machine, they would probably choose the word undefeated. It is the only widely deployed type in the US Air Force arsenal that has never been shot down by an enemy aircraft in aerial combat. The F-15 machines of all users keep a score of at least 104 enemy aircraft shot down (if we consider the victories declared by Israeli sources) against zero own losses. This is more than the F-16 or the legendary F-14 were able to achieve, and the figure testifies to the performance of a type that in many respects could not be surpassed by any other aircraft in the world. For comparison, it is suggested that the Russian Su-27/30/35 family did not achieve more than a fifth of the F-15's victories even after the current involvement in the intense conflict in Ukraine. Other F-15 losses caused by ground-based anti-aircraft strikes, technical causes or pilot error are also among the lowest in the class, reaching 125 written-off aircraft, statistically one destroyed F-15 per more than 100,000 flight hours. For comparison, this is a tenth compared to its predecessor in the form of the F-4 type. It is therefore not surprising that the F-15 became, and still is, the backbone of the US Air Force, and the US Air Force will continue to rely on it even after the arrival of the fifth generation machines, just as it is a key type for foreign users. The F-15 was the first aircraft designed specifically to meet the requirements of combat pilots. They participated in the development and even the conceptual specification of the aircraft was created on the basis of detailed theoretical analyzes of the deployment of combat aircraft. The extremely detailed and elaborate assignment, taking into account tactical knowledge from air combats from Vietnam, was reflected in the level of designed on-board equipment and the aerodynamic concept. The F-15s were equipped with very advanced systems from the beginning, and although the initial versions of the F-15A/B were followed by the second generation F-15C/D, the attack F-15E and the latest generation F-15EX, they differ only in the on-board equipment, which logically subject to obsolescence. In fifty years, the F-15's shapes have practically not changed, because there was no reason to. This is further proof of the enormous timelessness of the aircraft, which competing types have not even come close to achieving. After all, the shapes and aerodynamic concept of the F-15 airplane are the result of probably the most demanding and detailed development ever, when the airplane was designed from the beginning with the verification of the wing concept with fixed and variable geometry and with different placement of the engines, with the fact that the results were verified against the single-engine arrangement in parallel. The huge investment in the development and justification of the chosen design clearly paid off. The current generation F-15 is likely to be in production for another decade, and this legendary machine will therefore quite possibly see a hundred years in service from the takeoff of the prototype. On the other hand, the F-15 also showed one huge weakness, namely the price. If, at the time of the creation of the F-15, the air force had room for a lighter type, which later became the F-16, this is no longer the case. While the F-16 has a successor in the form of the widespread F-35 aircraft, the "stealth" F-22 did not become a full-fledged successor to the F-15, mainly for economic reasons. Aircraft of the F-15 category are still reserved only for the richest air forces in the world and nowadays they give way in number to cheaper multi-purpose types, although these represent a compromise in terms of capabilities and in the area of ??air supremacy they do not reach the F-15 in many respects despite their stealth character.

A4 format, 52 pages

The publication is in A4 format, full color on high-quality chalk paper, V2 binding, 52 pages, many color photos, color side views