The nimble F 18 is carrying 12 AAM, compare to it F15-ex is a beasthow it be prove that it can fly with 12 missile all you guys posted just it will be the missiles truck for f-22 and 8 AAMs per jets is more than enough for the enemy
F15-ex loadout will look like this
The reason for carrying so much AAM is to conduct joint strikes with f-35, where f-35 can get close to the target with limited AAM and share information with f15-ex to neutralize them