Bismillah ir Rahman ar Raheem
From the article 'THE SECRETIVE SUPER EAGLE' (text only, not images), a report on RSAF F-15SAs in the January 2017 issue of Combat Aircraft):
"The F-15SA is described as the most capable version of the Eagle, and as being more advanced than current US Air Force aircraft. It brings improved performance, increased warload, enhanced situational awareness and better survivability — all at a lower total life-cycle cost.
report: Jon Lake
Things are looking good for Boeing’s ‘Advanced F-15’ in the Middle East. The White House approved Qatar’s long-standing request for up to 36 F-15s in September 2016 — the deal now awaits a formal announcement. Meanwhile, there were clear signs that deliveries of the Boeing F-15SA to Saudi Arabia would finally begin in December 2016, some 22 months later than originally planned, and delayed from the revised target date of October 2016.
Reporting such progress is fraught with difficulties, however. Boeing resolutely refuses to talk about the F-15SA, citing customer sensitivities, leaving Combat Aircraft with a real detective job in keeping tabs on this important program.
The F-15SA is based on the two-seat multi-role F-15E Strike Eagle, but incorporates elements from the F-15SE Silent Eagle, albeit not the headline-grabbing LO (low-observable or ‘stealthy’ features) like the conformal weapons bays and canted tail fins. It builds on the F-15K Slam Eagle developed for South Korea, and on Singapore’s F-15SG.
The F-15SA uses the same Raytheon AN/ APG-63(V)3 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar as the F-15SG and some US Air Force F-15C/D fighters. Other ‘Advanced’ Eagles, perhaps including those for Qatar, have been offered with the further-improved AN/APG-82(V)1 (originally known as the APG-63(V)4), which combines the processor of the AN/ APG-79 used on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet with the antenna of the APG-63(V)3, together with a new cooling system and radio-frequency tunable filters (RFTF). The latter allow simultaneous operation of the radar and the electronic warfare (EW) jammers, without degrading each other. The AN/APG-82(V)1 is being retrofitted to USAF F-15Es under the Radar Modernization Program (RMP).
The F-15SA features an upgraded avionics suite, with a digital ‘glass’ cockpit incorporating an 11 x 19in large-area color touch-screen display and a new-generation wide-field-of-view (WFOV) head-up display (HUD) in each cockpit. Both the front and rear cockpits are compatible with helmet-mounted cueing systems, and the updated Digital Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (DJHMCS) is known to have been tested on one of the F-15SA prototypes.
Like the F-15SG, the SA is fitted with a BAE Systems Digital Electronic Warfare System/Common Missile Warning System (DEWS/CMWS). The antennas for this are accommodated on the trailing edges of the tail fins, and in trapezoidal fairings mounted below the rear cockpit.
While the F-15SA continues to use an AN/AAQ-13 LANTIRN navigation pod under the starboard engine intake, this is partnered with a Lockheed Martin Sniper targeting pod, though it remains unclear whether this is the standard Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP), the newer Sniper Extended Range (XR), or the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod — Sensor Enhancement (ATP-SE). The Sniper pylon also incorporates an AN/AAS-42 Tiger Eyes infra-red search and track (IRST) system.
EXTRA STORES CARRIAGE
The Eagle’s two outboard underwing hardpoints (stations 1 and 9) have been activated on the F-15SA. These were originally included to allow the carriage of Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS) pods by the F-15A, but these destabilized the F-15 in pitch so much that the original control system would not have been able to maintain Level 1 flying qualities across a major part of the flight envelope in the event of a failure to the analog control augmentation system (CAS). This was deemed unacceptable, so stations 1 and 9 remained unused.
In order to allow the use of these hardpoints, the F-15SA is fitted with a new Goodrich full-authority digital fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system, with no mechanical back-up. An 18-month test period was initially planned to clear the new system across the entire flight envelope, but unspecified snags with it led to significant program delays.
The F-15SA will be powered by two General Electric F110-GE-129 Improved Performance Engine (IPE) turbofans, like the existing Saudi F-15S aircraft. The F110-GE-129C was selected to re-engine Saudi Arabia’s existing F-15S fleet from 2008, replacing the original Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229s.
Armament for the F-15SA will include AIM-9X and AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, together with a wide assortment of air-to-surface weapons, including a range of laser- and dual-mode laser/ GPS-guided bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) GPS-guided bombs, and CBU-105 cluster bombs. The aircraft will be equipped with AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) and AGM-84L Harpoon Block II anti-ship and surface-attack missiles, giving the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) a robust anti-shipping strike capability for the first time. Saudi Arabia was reported to be negotiating with Boeing for the integration of the Harpoon Block II (AGM-84L) missile on the F-15SA aircraft, with a contract award expected in late 2016. Like the existing F-15S, the F-15SA will use the DB-110 electro-optical reconnaissance pod for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) — indeed, testing was noted in October.
An F-15SA has been used for ‘product photography’ to support marketing of the ‘Advanced F-15’, carrying a variety of weapon configurations. This is perhaps unsurprising, as Boeing’s descriptions of its new export offering make it clear that the two aircraft are almost identical in configuration and equipment fit, though the ‘Advanced F-15’ may come with the latest AN/APG-82(V)1 AESA radar and the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM).
In an all-air-to-air fit, the aircraft can carry eight AIM-120C-7 and eight AIM-9X air-to-air missiles, with four AIM-9Xs on stations 1 and 9 and four missiles (two AIM-120C-7s and two AIM-9Xs) on a new pylon with four launch rails, carried on stations 2 and 8. In a photo showing this load the aircraft appeared to be fitted with a mock-up of an IRST mounted on top of the nose. Saudi F-15SA aircraft may be supplied with the new pylon, but the nose-mounted IRST is unlikely.
EAGLES REBORN
A total of 84 new-build second-generation F-15SAs will be delivered to the RSAF from Boeing’s St Louis, Missouri assembly line. The existing fleet of 68 older, first-generation F-15S Strike Eagle multi-role fighters are to be converted to that standard by the Alsalam Aircraft Company as part of the same overarching $29.4-billion contract, the largest Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal in US history.
The program for the manufacturing of the new forward fuselages and wings for the retrofit — the ‘conversion program’ — is designated F-15SR. Alsalam’s F-15SR program thus produces the forward fuselages and wing sets for the in-country F-15SA conversion program.
A formal order for the 84 new-build F-15SAs was placed in March 2012. That for the conversion of 68 F-15S aircraft to F-15SA status (via the F-15SR program) followed on June 26 that year.
...TEST PROGRAM
Closeting the F-15SA prototypes away at a secure base in the High Desert of California made it even harder for the aviation media to keep track of the program, though hardy spotters and photographers did catch occasional glimpses of the aircraft. On November 27, 2013, the US Department of Defense (DoD) announced a $15.5-million firm fixed-price contract modification for the procurement of a disorientation recovery function capability on the F-15SA.
Sorting out the flight control system seems to have taken most of 2014, but by early 2015 the aircraft were starting to be photographed with underwing stores. The second F-15SA prototype was seen carrying twin AMRAAM launchers on stations 1 and 9 at the start of the year, while 12-1001 was used for testing with heavier loads, flying with two underwing fuel tanks and 12 Mk82 500lb bombs in September 2015.
12-1001 then seemed to take over testing of the new outboard underwing stations, its nose-mounted test instrumentation boom being reinstated for these duties. In October the aircraft was seen with single AIM-120 missiles on stations 1 and 9, and then added two AIM-9Xs on stations 2 and 8.
Meanwhile, 12-1002 was used for testing the ferry configuration, carrying three external fuel tanks in late November 2015.
The third prototype is presumed to have been used for more operationally focused test work, and was seen flying with LANTIRN, Sniper and Tiger Eyes from August 2015. Twelve Mk82 bombs were added by July 2016. More recently, in early October 2016, 12-1001 was photographed carrying two GBU-10 laser-guided bombs on the inboard underwing stations, with single AIM-9X missiles on stations 1 and 9.
PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Production of the F-15SA continued apace even as the test program progressed, with aircraft being completed, test-flown and then stored. Eleven production aircraft have been identified in photographs. Several were spotted flying at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, a civil/military public airport serving Springfield, the capital of Illinois, and home to the Illinois Air National Guard’s 183rd Fighter Wing, a non-flying unit.
Aircraft noted include 12-1004, 12-1016, 12-1017, 12-1019, 12-1020, 12-1023, 12-1025, 12-1027, 12-1028, 12-1030 and 12-1031. 12-1023 and 12-1025 may have been the first two F-15S-to-F-15SA conversions, which were undertaken in St Louis rather than by the Alsalam Aircraft Company in Saudi Arabia. The latter company will be responsible for converting the remaining F-15S aircraft to F-15SA standard, manufacturing new wings and forward fuselage sections for the conversions as well as pylons and pylon adaptors for stations 1 and 9.
New forward fuselages are needed because of the need to accommodate FBW flight control system black boxes, while new displays, avionics and warning systems may need additional power and cooling provision, and the heavy AESA antenna might require a strengthened front bulkhead.
Alsalam signed the F-15SA wing and forward fuselage contract in June 2012. It assigned a leadership team and developed a project plan, including training.In July 2013, then-CEO Mohammed Fallatah said that the company had been ‘undergoing intensive preparations for
the loading of the first component piece into the assembly tooling’. Fallatah said that this marked Alsalam’s ‘transition from conventional maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activity on commercial and military airplanes to a position of creating added value with the assembly of large aircraft components.’
If anything, Fallatah was guilty of understatement. Alsalam is building key sub-assemblies of an important modern fast jet, but those components include the crucial forward fuselage, which will be more densely packed with sophisticated and critical systems than any other part
of the aircraft. It will be using these sub-assemblies as it undertakes what will amount to the final assembly of the newly converted F-15SAs.
Alsalam dispatched two classes of employees to train and work at St Louis, where the first two F-15S-to-F-15SA conversions were undertaken. While a Boeing team converted the first aircraft for validation, an Alsalam team performed this work on the second verification aircraft. The conversion of these two aircraft in Missouri means that Alsalam will only convert 66 aircraft in Riyadh.
There were reports that this first US-based phase ended in December 2015. The following March, Alsalam held a party to celebrate completion of the two-year program to upgrade the first F-15S to F-15SA standard.
On the LinkedIn business networking website, David Mitchell, described as the director of manufacturing operations at Alsalam, noted the completion of the moving line assembly station for its F-15 forward fuselage factory in Riyadh on April 21, 2015.
The US DoD announced on April 1, 2016 that the Alsalam Aircraft Company had received a not-to-exceed $32.5-million ndefinitized contract action for services required for the tear-down and assessment of three F-15S aircraft (identified by Bloomberg as 5502, 9222 and 0613)
and for the modification of one of these airframes (probably 5502) to F-15SA configuration to serve as the prototype Saudi conversion in 2017.
Alsalam delivered its first F-15SA forward fuselage on August 22, 2016. This was quickly accepted and signed off by Boeing and the US government. The second was expected to follow in October 2016, and the first set of wings in November. The conversion program will run from
this year until 2020 or 2021. Yahya Al Ghoraibi, Alsalam’s new president and CEO, described the deliveries as a ‘Very big achievement, we are very proud. I am grateful to the Ministry of Defense for giving Alsalam this work, and for always supporting us to succeed. The Ministry and the Air Force have always been there for us, and have demonstrated this in every aspect of our work.’
FUTURE DEPLOYMENT
It was originally expected that the RSAF would use 12 aircraft to equip a training unit based at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, with the 17th Squadron forming as the first operational unit in Saudi Arabia. These plans are now believed to have been abandoned. Some clarification of the current plan was provided in August 2016 in a Federal Business Opportunities request for information (RFI) for F-15SA support running from March 2017 until March 2021. This document listed the 55th Squadron at King Khalid Air Base (5 Wing, Khamis Mushait) as the Formal Training Unit (FTU), with the currently inactive 29th Squadron — previously a Tornado ADV operator — due to become the first front-line F-15SA unit at King Faisal AB (7 Wing, Tabuk).
The F-15SA will also equip the 6th Squadron at King Khalid AB, and the 92nd Squadron and the Fighter Weapons School at King Abdulaziz AB (3rd Wing, Dhahran). The 6th, 55th and 92nd Squadrons all currently fly the F-15S.
The contracted number of 152 F-15SA and ‘F-15SR’ jets should allow the formation of six 24-aircraft squadrons and an eight-aircraft Fighter Weapons School if the RSAF follows its usual practice. The other two units could include the 93rd Squadron at Prince Sultan AB (Al Kharj), according to some sources, though Al Kharj is not currently a fast jet base, and the 93rd Squadron has never existed.
Perhaps more likely candidates for the new squadrons are the 17th Squadron, which was last active as an F-5 unit at King Fahd AB (2 Wing, Taif), the 15th Squadron which was previously equipped with the F-5E/F at King Khalid AB (5 Wing, Khamis Mushait), the 42nd Squadron, a former F-15C/D operator at King Abdulaziz AB (3 Wing, Dhahran) or the 66th Squadron, formerly a Tornado IDS unit with 11 Wing at King Abdulaziz AB.
Some of the new units are likely to be stationed at the new King Saud AB at King Khalid Military City in Hafr Al Batin province, which is under reconstruction. This base hosted the USAF’s 1703rd Provisional Air Refueling Wing (including the B-52G-equipped 69th Bombardment Squadron) between August 1990 and March 1991, but has been largely inactive since then.
Elsewhere in the region, long-standing interest in St Louis fighters among Gulf Co-operation Council nations finally looks set to result in a number of orders. As this issue closed for press, the US was expected to formally announce the approval of exports of 24 to 36 F-15E ‘Advanced F-15s’ to Qatar, 24 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to Kuwait, and perhaps 30 Block 61 F-16E/Fs to the United Arab Emirates, together with upgrades for the UAE’s other F-16s.
It has been reported that the Pentagon and State Department ‘signed off’ on all of these proposed deals up to two years ago, but that they were delayed pending final approval from the White House.
These delays are understood to have been caused by concerns about the erosion of Israel’s ‘qualitative military edge’ in the region — something that the United States is legally bound to maintain. In Qatar’s case, there were specific Israeli objections to the proposed sale, with fears that the aircraft could be used against Israel, and accusations that the state supports Sunni Islamic extremists.
The Qatari F-15 and Kuwaiti F/A-18 deals were thus put on hold while the US negotiated a 10-year, $38-billion security package with Israel. This included additional F-15s as part of the ‘compensation package’ that was negotiated following the US decision to lift sanctions against Iran as part of its nuclear deal.
By mid-September, however, US government and industry sources were saying that agreements were expected ‘imminently’. Shelley Lavender, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, repeated in late September that the fighter deals with Qatar and Kuwait were now ‘imminent’ and that they had cleared all regulatory hurdles.On September 28, Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, confirmed that the White House had finally signed off on the package, though the State Department and Pentagon have not yet formally announced the deals with Qatar and Kuwait.
As far as can be ascertained, Qatar originally requested 36 F-15s, with an option to buy up to 36 more. The number required is now understood to be 24 aircraft, with 12 options. The Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) is undergoing a major transformation, modernization and expansion program, under which its current fighter force of 12 Mirage 2000s (nine single-seat Mirage 2000-5EDAs and three two-seat Mirage 2000-5DDAs) will be replaced by around 72 new aircraft.
But rather than buying a single fighter type, Qatar is believed to be looking at splitting the buy three ways — eventually fielding three expanded squadrons (each of 24 aircraft, like RSAF units), each equipped with a different type. While this is far from being the most cost-effective solution, it could offer a useful mix of complementary capabilities, and promises to buy influence with three different suppliers, making the air arm less vulnerable to unilateral arms embargoes. It could also allow the QEAF to forge links and gain valuable expertise from three separate user communities.
Accordingly, Qatar concluded a deal with France for the supply of 24 Dassault Rafales (with options on 12 more) on March 29, 2016 — the opening day of the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference. Many expect Qatar to sign a similar-sized order for Eurofighter Typhoons after the F-15 deal is concluded. Following the signature of the Rafale deal, United Kingdom defense secretary Michael Fallon said that the proposal to sell the Typhoon to Qatar was ‘definitely still on the table’, and that it had not been killed off by Qatar’s decision to buy 24 Rafales. Fallon stated that discussions on a possible Typhoon sale to Qatar were still ongoing.
There were suggestions in some newspapers that the F-15 deal was ‘unblocked’ as a result of Qatari pressure, a Qatar Airways deal for Boeing commercial airliners worth $18.6 billion supposedly being withheld until the fighter deal was cleared. Akbar Al Baker, the head of Qatar Airways, categorically denied this, although the contract for 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 10 Boeing 777ERs was announced just over a week after the F-15 deal cleared. This was followed by an additional letter of intent to purchase 60 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
However it was arrived at, the Qatari Strike Eagle order should allow Boeing to keep the F-15 production line going well beyond 2020, after the delivery of the last of 84 aircraft for Saudi Arabia in 2019 and following the completion of an undeclared top-up buy of F-15SGs for Singapore. The existing Qatari Mirage 2000-5s will be sold, possibly to Pakistan.
And there could be further F-15 sales in the region. At Farnborough in 2012, sources close to Boeing’s campaign in Kuwait predicted that the F-15 would be chosen rather than the Super Hornet. While this hope proved misplaced, the company is still hopeful that the United Arab Emirates could plump for the ‘Advanced Eagle’ to meet its longstanding requirement for a new tactical fighter."
