My only experience with the F-15E was for three months at Dhahran AB in Saudi Arabia. I was there as part of the 4404^th Provisional Wing. I came there with the EF-111As of the 42^nd Electronic Combat Squadron RAF Upper Heyford, UK. Seymour Johnson AFB in NC had came with there F-15Es and we were all one happy maintenance family while TDY. The Strike Eagle was a dream to work on. The aircraft were so new at that time that we were the first people to open some of those panels. Not one single stuck screw!!. It was also neat because all the other F-15s I had worked were all air to air. I had never worked on one that had air to ground capability.

The F-15E was the winner of a 1980s fly-off with the F-16XL for a follow-on to the F-111 in the deep interdiction role (fast, low, deep strike). The differences it has with basic air to air Eagles can be found in full-time use of conformal fuel tanks, a much-improved radar, LANTIRN (Low Altitude Navigation & Targeting Infrared for Night) targeting and navigation pods and a "Glass Cockpit". It retains the air to air supremacy the Eagle was originally built for while having the added capability of being a superior air to ground platform. It can carry laser guided "smart" bombs and unguided bombs.

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Last updated: August 07, 2001