A second Air Force unit is experiencing the “new” F-15E Strike Eagle, with the addition of the Small Diameter Bomb and Suite 5 hardware and software upgrades. The 391st Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, is joining the 494th FS at RAF Lakenheath, Britain, as operators of newly upgraded F-15Es. “It’s a completely different aircraft,” Capt. Drew Perry, 391st FS plans chief, told Air Force journalist MSgt. Brian Orban. Perry calls the SDB a “very precise, surgical weapon.” As to Suite 5, Perry says, “The ability to confirm targets is incredible.”
The Space Force is playing a key role in planning for “Golden Dome,” President Donald Trump’s initiative for comprehensive air and missile defense of the homeland, leaders said this week. But actually building and fielding the ambitious idea will require a major concerted effort across the Pentagon and intelligence community.