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Topic: Air Warfare Blog Brand: The Buzz Region: Americas Tags: F-15 Eagle, F-35 Lightning II, F-47, Fighter Jets, North America, United States, and US Air Force The F-15 Eagle Is Now America’s “Forever Fighter” January 24, 2026 By: Brandon J. Weichert
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Owing to shortcomings in the F-35 program—and its F-47 successor—the F-15 Eagle will remain in service with the US Air Force at least into the 2040s.
The F-15 Eagle is slowly becoming America’s “Forever Fighter.” That’s because, despite decades of talk regarding the retirement of these fourth-generation warplanes, the United States Air Force just can’t seem to quit these magnificent birds.
The F-15 Eagle’s Specifications (Original)
- Year Introduced: 1976
- Number Built: 1,500+ (all variants, including F-15C/D/E)
- Length: 63 ft 9 in (19.43 m)
- Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.63 m)
- Wingspan: 42 ft 10 in (13.05 m)
- Weight: ~28,000 lb (12,700 kg) empty; ~68,000 lb (30,845 kg) MTOW
- Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-100/220/229 afterburning turbofans (~23,770–29,000 lbf thrust each, depending on variant)
- Top Speed: ~1,650+ mph (2,655 km/h; Mach 2.5 at altitude)
- Range: ~1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,150 mi) combat radius with external tanks
- Service Ceiling: ~65,000 ft (20,000 m)
- Loadout: 11 hardpoints; typical load includes AIM-7 Sparrow, AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9 Sidewinder, external fuel tanks, plus optional bombs/precision munitions (in Strike Eagle variants)
- Aircrew: 1-2, depending on variant
The Eagle That Won’t Stop Flying
America’s old F-15 is not only being maintained well beyond when the Air Force originally planned for its retirement. The F-15 ecosystem itself is expanding. In fact, Simple Flying assesses that America’s F-15 fleet will be flying well into the 2040s! Bear in mind that the first iconic F-15 flew on July 27, 1972.
In other words, the F-15s will defend American airspace and interests nearly 70 years since it first flew!
What fifth-generation or sixth-generation bird do you think will be able to lay claim to such an honor? Think about it: after 20 years and nearly $2 trillion, the F-35 fleet’s combat readiness is barely at 50 percent. That’s well below the minimum threshold the US military has for their warplanes to be considered “combat effective.”
And let’s get even realer here: the only reason that the US military is stretching the aging F-15s are having their lifespans extended years after they were intended to be retired is because of the lackluster performance of America’s fifth-generation warplane fleet (notably the F-35).
So, the Pentagon is splurging to keep the F-35 program going despite its subpar performance, while blowing tax dollars on the F-47 sixth-generation warplane (which will only be a marginal improvement in capabilities over the existing fifth-generation fleet of warplanes), all while committing resources to ensuring the old F-15 fleet can still fly into the 2040s.
Anyway, back to the Forever Fighter.
America’s Allies Love the F-15, Too
Beyond the United States’ extension of the F-15 service life, there are plenty of foreign allies who want to sustain the program. The Israelis are among the biggest foreign allies who are diehard fans of the F-15. Recently, Jerusalem put in an order for 25 brand-new F-15IA warplanes. This keeps the industrial base undergirding the overall F-15 program in St. Louis operating at peak efficiency well into the 2030s.
As an aside, the new F-15IA deal between Boeing and the Israeli Air Force (IAF) is worth around $8.6 billion. The plan is to run the assembly line through until at least 2035. This would, therefore, preserve skilled labor and tooling in the Boeing plant in St. Louis that is needed to maintain the newer F-15EX and any future variants of the F-15.
Let that sink in, too. Not only are America’s most advanced allies clamoring for the F-15, but the Pentagon turned around and created a new, more advanced variant of the F-15 (the F-15EX).
It did this at a time in which the Air Force was intended to phase out the F-15s in their fleet.
The Air Force Is Still Thinking of New F-15 Innovations
Meanwhile, the US Air Force is rewriting the way in which they utilize the aging fourth-generation warplane. Apparently, Big Blue is no longer treating the F-15 as purely an air superiority, dogfighter. Instead, it’s converting these planes into what are basically just missile trucks. The Air Force is now loading these birds down with more than a dozen AMRAAMs and some have speculated that the military wants to deploy future hypersonic weapons from them.
The F-15EX, meanwhile, is structurally rated for 16,000 to 20,000 flight hours. Its digital architecture allows continuous upgrades without redesign. Oh, and it has lower maneuver stress, meaning its service life will be even longer. Hence why military planners are serious when they say the F-15s—at least the F-15EXs—will fly beyond the year 2040.
Relatedly, Warrior Maven reports that the Air Force is selectively preserving and surging parts of the F-15C/D fleet into the 2040s for specific missions. They intend to use these older F-15 variants for reliable homeland defense, NORAD alert roles, training and backfilling when the F-15EX units stand up, and crucially, for surge capacity in the event a high-end war erupts among the great powers of the world system (which seems very likely right now).
The Pentagon’s F-35 (and now F-47) ambitions have been the stuff of wide-eyed fantasy. Of course, the Pentagon is remiss to acknowledge such a tragic reality. So, it relies upon generous funding from the taxpayers, and goads presidents of both parties into supporting these boondoggles with Hollywood-quality PR campaigns.
A Forever Plane for America’s Forever Wars
Sadly, the reality is that the much-ballyhooed sixth-generation fighters will be late (and scarce). Stealth alone doesn’t win wars in which missiles and accurate drones are ubiquitous. Further, and most important, payload, range, speed, and availability still matter.
All this because the defense industrial base cannot afford gaps (which are already appearing as the defense industrial base can’t operate under the increased demand due to the high threat environment globally and military operational tempo).
The F-15EX and F-15IA variants alone are indicators that this fourth-generation “dinosaur” is set to be the backbone of US military aviation for another generation. All because the fifth-generation warplanes have not lived up to their promise (or cost) and because everyone in the Pentagon secretly understands that the sixth-generation will never live up to its promise.
So, the Eagle isn’t refusing to die. The bird is evolving. And because of that, the F-15 is becoming America’s forever fighter. Let’s hope someone eventually holds the defense apparatus accountable for having wasted so much time, money, and resources developing fifth-and-sixth-generation warplanes when they could have just maintained their fourth-generation fleet.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is a senior national security editor at The National Interest. Recently, Weichert became the host of The National Security Hour on America Outloud News and iHeartRadio, where he discusses national security policy every Wednesday at 8pm Eastern. Weichert hosts a companion book talk series on Rumble entitled “National Security Talk.” He is also a contributor at Popular Mechanics and has consulted regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including The Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, and the Asia Times. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / Sirmalis Denis.
The post The F-15 Eagle Is Now America’s “Forever Fighter” appeared first on The National Interest.
Источник: nationalinterest.org