Will the 25 F-15IAs ordered by the Israeli Air Force be enough to save the Boeing factory in Saint-Louis?
It's finally done. The Israeli Air Force, the famous Kheil HaAvir (air force in Hebrew), has just made official the order for 25 F-15IA, the Israeli version of the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II heavy fighter, with an option for 25 additional aircraft.
Highly anticipated by Boeing and the Saint-Louis assembly plant, whose activity beyond 2027 largely depended on this Israeli order, it will significantly strengthen the IAF's long-range air strike power, just days after carrying out a raid against border installations in Iran.
However, the order book for the American aircraft manufacturer's fighter business remains dramatically reduced, while hopes around the NGAD program and the F/A-XX seem to be postponed, and the F-15EX is still struggling to convince on the international scene. Will the Israeli order be enough to revive the momentum around the Eagle II and preserve the Saint-Louis site?
In this section:
25 new F-15IA for the Israeli Air Force
After ordering a third squadron of F-35i earlier this year, the Israeli Air Force has made official the order for 25 F-15EX Eagle II, named F-15IA, and adapted to the needs and requirements of the Kheil HaAvir, with the American Boeing.
This order is accompanied by an option for 25 additional aircraft, or one squadron, while Boeing's initial offer also included the upgrade of the 25 F-15Is already in service to this standard. The details of the Israeli order, signed this weekend by the Ministry of Defense, have not been communicated, so it is not known whether the modernization of the 25 Ra'am (designation of the Israeli F-15i) is included, or whether it will be the subject of an external order.
As is customary, the F-15IAs will incorporate a number of Israeli technologies and munitions, even if they will remain, for the most part, F-15EX Eagle IIs, the latest evolution of the McDonnell Douglass fighter, which remains, 50 years after its first flight, a reference in terms of combat aircraft.
The new F-15AIs may replace one of the two squadrons still equipped with F-15 Baz, the first version of the American fighter acquired by Tel Aviv in the 70s. Despite several successive modernizations, the Israeli air force is now reluctant to use these aircraft in combat situations, forming only a surplus reserve.
Le Kheil HaAvir wants to strengthen its long-range strike power against Iran
The order for the F-15IA comes at a time when the Israeli army and air force are more tense than ever, engaged simultaneously in Gaza, Lebanon, and sometimes in Syria and Iraq. They also carried out, for the first time, a massive air raid against Iranian infrastructure, 1500 km away, on October 26, mobilizing around a hundred combat aircraft and a large number of drones and support aircraft.
Although it is undoubtedly one of the most experienced air forces on the planet, the Kheil HaAvir is, however, not structured to carry out repeated long-distance raids, lacking the tanker aircraft and heavy fighters for this.
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"It's finally done." Is it you or Boeing who is shouting this? Kind regards.
A bit of both ) But this story has been dragging on for a year, and an order for Boeing was really needed quickly. This is not the time to lose an industrial capacity like Saint-Louis, even across the Atlantic 😉