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F-15EX set to fire AIM-120D. Air Force photo
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TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The Air Force's newest fighter jet, the F-15EX Eagle II, recently fired a weapon for the first time. The fighter, assigned to the 40th Flight Test Squadron, fired an AIM-120D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile in pursuit of a BQM-167 target drone while flying over the Gulf of Mexico on Jan. 25. The missile release during the Combat Archer air-to-air weapons-system-evaluation program marked the first time a weapon was fired from this type of fighter aircraft and came after over six months of developmental and operational flight testing. The Air Force initially ordered eight Eagle II jets and plans to eventually acquire at least 144 to replace the aging fleet of F-15C/Ds, the average age of which is over 40 years old. The Eagle II is a two-seat aircraft, but it can be flown by a single pilot. (Sources: multiple, including
Air Force,
Business Insider, 01/31/22)
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