The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is a fighter pilot's dream. The F-15C Eagle is fast, amazingly agile, and climbs like a rocket. It has the best combat Radar in the world, and can detect and destroy enemies way beyond the vision of it's pilot. At the same time, its maneuverability makes the F-15 a ferocious dogfighter when the fighting gets close and dirty. Even today, over 20 years after its first flight, few aircraft can match the Eagle in combat.
Table of Contents
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Design
Single seat Air superiority fighter
Features
Weapons Systems
One 20-mm M-61A-1 rotary cannon
Four Raytheon AIM-7F Sparrow AAM
Four Raytheon AIM-9L Sidewinder AAM
Combat History
In spite of Rivals to its position, the F-15 remains the most successful air superiority fighter in service. nearly 100 enemy aircraft have fallen to F-15s, but no Eagle has ever been lost to aerial combat.
The first Eagles to see combat were blooded by Israel on 27 June 1979 when they claimed five Syrian MiG-21s. Four F-15s were delivered to Israel during 1976 under Operation Peace Fox III, and these were later joined by 19 refurbished F15As and a pair of F-15Bs. Ten more ex-Air National Guard F-15As were supplied after Desert Storm in return for Israel’s co-operation during the Gulf War.
On the 5th June 1984, two Saudi Arabian F-15Cs shot down two Iranian F-4 Phantoms over the Persian Gulf. Possibly the only recorded time that one McDonnell fighter has scored an aerial victory over another.