Boeing announced Tuesday that it has received the first modernized radar for the F-15E from Raytheon and is testing the unit at its facility in St. Louis prior to the radar’s integration onto a Strike Eagle for flight evaluations. The Air Force plans to equip all of its F-15Es with Raytheon’s APG-82 (V)1 active electronically scanned array system, replacing the mechanically steered APG-70. Boeing is the prime contractor for this work. The new radar offers tremendous performance and reliability advantages. “One AESA-equipped F-15E can detect and track multiple targets simultaneously and gain the same battle picture and prosecute the same number of attacks that currently require several mechanically scanned radar assets,” said Brad Jones, Boeing’s director of Air Force development programs.
As with previous stealth aircraft unveilings, the Air Force’s imagery of the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter has been doctored to keep adversaries guessing about its true shaping and design philosophy.