Brian Everstine
Boeing on June 6 delivered the first operational F-15EX Eagle II to the U.S. Air National Guard—the seventh of the type to be handed over to the U.S. Air Force.
The Eagle, painted with the 142nd Wing’s Eagle tail flash, arrived at Portland International Airport in Oregon. The same day, Boeing showed the eighth F-15EX preparing to fly to Portland. The previous six F-15EXs have been delivered to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for operational and developmental test.
The F-15EX will replace the wing’s aging F-15C/D fleet for homeland defense. The delivery came about eight months later than expected, due to problems with Boeing in-sourcing forward fuselage production. The F-15QA, on which the EX is based, had its forward fuselage produced by Korea Aerospace Industries. For the Eagle II, Boeing is using its full-size determinant assembly (FSDA) process to build the forward fuselage in St. Louis.
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