With its South Korean win as a template, Boeing is confident
that the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will follow by
selecting the F-15T Strike Eagle as its new fighter. With heavy
U.S. government support, Boeing clinched the 40-plane, $4.6 billion
deal in Korea two years ago and is set to deliver the F-15Ks
between November next year and August 2008. Various enhancements
and new weapons on the F-15K may also be offered here, in a deal
that would be partly foreign military sales, partly
commercial.
We go faster, farther and with more weapons, claimed F-15T
campaign manager Tom Lillis here yesterday. Example: a 1,000-mile
range mission at high altitude carrying twelve 500-pound JDAMs plus
four air-to-air missiles; a payload of 29,000 pounds if additional
wing stations 1 and 9 are activated (otherwise, still 25,000
pounds); and a list of weapons already integrated that is as long
as your arm, and to which SLAM-ER (standoff land attack missile
extended response) has been added.
Lillis is a former U.S. Air Force jet jockey, and he offered
airshow visitors some advice on how to judge the combat jets flying
here. Our contenders thrust/weight superiority really shows in
the vertical climb, he noted. The Strike Eagle retains all the
air-to-air capability of the F-15C interceptor, he added. But isnt
that an old plane, now? The Strike Eagle is 80 percent different,
and it first flew in 1986, about the same time as our
competitors.
Lillis addressed concerns that the Strike Eagle is expensive to
operate. The new digital map set, mission computer with commercial
off-shelf hardware and APG-63 V3 active array radar (if selected,
would help lower the life-cycle costs. Furthermore, Singapore
could opt for a single-pilot operation on some missions to save on
crew costs. An existing international customer is already
examining that option (this can mean only Israel, Korea or Saudi
Arabia).
What about that perennial issue, source code? Singapore is bound to
push for maximum technology release, including the ability to
reprogram the mission computer in-house. Knowledgeable observers
will recall that the U.S. downgraded the radars and electronic
warfare systems in Saudi Arabias F-15S models for political
reasons. Singapore wants to maintain and adapt the new
fighters
(but) we have to abide by U.S. government rules because it
owns this stuff, not us, Lillis admitted. Earlier, Lillis told
Aviation International News that many of the systems being
proposed for Singapore are more advanced than those currently
installed on U.S. F-15E models.
With plenty of room for growth (55 percent in power and 26 percent
in cooling, and a U.S. Air Force plan to continue flying F-15Es
until at least 2030, Boeing insists that the Strike Eagle still has
a long way to go.
