Aircraft
USAF F-15EX Ignites Renewed Interest in the Boeing Fighter
Boeing plans to deliver the third F-15EX to the USAF soon to accelerate Eagle II testing
Boeing F-15EX
Boeing is demonstrating the power and maneuverability of the F-15EX Eagle II and export Advanced Eagle during the Dubai Airshow flying display using an F-15QA of the Qatar Emiri Air Force. (Photo: David McIntosh)

Boeing will soon fly the third F-15EX Eagle II development aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, having rolled out the fighter from its St. Louis factory in August. That event occurred more than two years since the first two F-15EXs went to the U.S. Air Force in early 2021 to begin testing.

While Boeing attributed some of the delay to supply chain issues, the urgent nature of the USAF’s program was the main reason. The initial aircraft—EX-1 and EX-2—were Advanced Eagle airframes already in production for Qatar but reassigned to the U.S. Air Force to get testing underway at the earliest possible date.

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