(ominous music) (jet hovering) - This is the F-15EX, the US Air Force's newest fighter jet. But for the last 20 years, we've been told that the future of Aerial Combat is stealth and unmanned aircraft. So why does the future look like this?
(gearstick swooshing) (jet whooshing) (jet whooshing) To answer that question, we're diving into this jet's history, getting rare access with an F-15 test pilot and ending it all with one of the craziest flights of my life. - All right, Sam, you want to go ahead and fly? - Let's do it.
- All right. (lively music) (engines whooshing) - Oh my God! (engines whooshing) (jet whistles and zooms) Absolutely incredible.
(jet whooshing) (ominous music) (typewriter clacking) (energetic music) So we're about to walk into Building 75, which is Boeing's final assembly, where they finish manufacturing all of their latest aircraft to be delivered to the US Military and allied countries all over the world. Now, it's one of the coolest hangars I've ever seen, and I want to show you why. All right, here we go, safety glasses on.
(lively music) Now back behind me is the F/A-18 Super Hornet, and in front of me is an aircraft I'm seeing for the very first time, the T-7 Red Hawk, which is going to be used to train fighter pilots for years to come. But over this way is the aircraft I'm really excited to introduce you to. It's what the subject of this video is all about, the F-15EX.
(upbeat music) It was built off the design of the F-15E Strike Eagle that first flew back in 1986. And if you put up a photo of the two aircraft side-by-side, to the untrained eye, it looked pretty similar, but that's about where the similarities end, because this EX is by far the most advanced and tricked-out version of the Eagle ever built. To help us learn more about this platform, there's someone I want to introduce you to.
His name is Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Olde, Call Sign Cain, and he knows more about this aircraft and what it's like to fly it than just about anyone else. (energetic music) (electronics bleeping) Lieutenant Colonel Olde, great to meet you. - Good to meet you.
- Now, I want to make sure the viewers understand your job because it's fascinating, right? So, whenever Boeing rolls one of these new EXs off the production line, it first comes to you. You're an Active Duty Air Force pilot, and you get to test this jet, right?
Put it through the wringer to make sure it's ready to be handed off to the Active Duty Air Force, right? Do I have that correct? - Effectively, yeah, after it comes off the assembly line, the Boeing test pilots fly it, and then they hand it to me as the Air Force representative here with my backseater.
And then we flip every switch, we take it to the edge of the envelope, restart motors at the edge of the envelope to make sure that it's ready to go to the United States Air Force. - So, a little bit later on, that is actually the flight. I'm going to be in the backseat with Cain to see what that is like.
But before we do that, I'd love for you to take us on a little bit of a walk-around to learn what makes the EX so unique. - Absolutely. Let's go.
(lively music) The F-15EX is the latest F-15 to be produced here at Boeing St. Louis for the United States Air Force. Previous versions of the F-15 were mechanical flight controls.
So the pilot would actuate an input. The flight controls would be actuated in the direction that the pilot wanted. With Fly-By-Wire, the pilot has a vote.
The computer takes that information, and goes, "I think that the pilot wants to move the jet in this way. " And what that allows for is an incredibly maneuverable F-15, and you'll see that on our flight. - So let's talk about this radar, because I know it's one of the most powerful radars to ever be in an F-15.
What does that allow you guys to do? - Yeah. AESA Radar, it's an electronic beam that is manipulated and moved by the computer.
And so, you effectively turn the corner and you see the entire airspace, all the contacts. When we take off out of St. Louis, we're going to level off and we're going to see every airliner that's out there almost instantly.
(ominous music) Moving on to the weapons on this aircraft, the MGIAI gun, 20-millimeter round that it shoots multiple different kinds of rounds. It can also carry those 12 advanced missiles plus bombs. - So, I'm trying to do the math here.
So for 12, what does that look like? How many on the wings? How many actually are underneath?
- So you're going to have two on the outboard station, two on the inboard station there. That's eight total. And then you're going to have two down here on the shoulder stations, and then two on the other side on the shoulder stations.
So that's 12 total AMRAAMs. - The reason you can carry so many missiles is because you guys aren't trying to be stealthy. - Absolutely.
Nothing carries more than the F-15EX. - So we're now going to take you for a look inside the cockpit, and this is where you can really see the advancements of decades of newer technology over the legacy F-15 Eagle. But I had to stop right here because look at that.
That's what the Boeing team here surprised me with. We've done a lot of flights. I've never had my name actually on the side of the aircraft, which is pretty sweet.
And I realized after we take a look inside, the next time I'll be on this ladder, the stairs walking up, will be for my actual flight. So, better get myself a little bit familiarized. - All right, welcome to the front cockpit of the F-15EX.
It does not look like a legacy F-15 cockpit in any way. This 19-inch-wide, large area display, 1080 all-touchscreen. One of the checks we do is a roller mirror check, and you slam the stick as hard as you can at Mach 0.
95 at low altitude. So 10,000 feet, you're going to get, you know, 8. 8, 8.
9, 9. 0 Gs. You're looking for the jet to protect itself.
Never rip the wings off yet. - Nice. (laughs) It's probably a good time to ask about the backseat.
What's the role of the backseater? Can it do everything you can do here in the front? - So the backseat has full flight controls, a stick and a throttle in the backseat.
The WSO in the backseat's going to manage all the sensors, all the weapons with those two hand controllers. - It's probably as comfy as a ride as you can get in a fighter jet these days, I feel like. - I agree with you.
You got space for some bags if you go cross country. I'm very blessed to be able to do this for as many years as I have, and I wouldn't change anything. - Well, Cain, thank you so much for the tour of this aircraft, and I hope everyone can see just how impressive it is.
But when talking about the EX, you have to go back and talk about the history of the legendary F-15 platform. And there's one record that's so insane, it will absolutely blow your mind. (film clicks and whirs) The F-15 has an air-to-air kill ratio of 106 to zero.
That means the Eagle has shot down 106 enemy aircraft without being shot down itself over the last five decades since this plane first flew. That number is almost hard to comprehend today, and is a stat that's made the F-15 known as one of the most successful fighter jets in history. But to understand why the newest version, the EX, even exists, you have to understand how a jet designed in the late-1960s became so dominant that over 50 years later, Boeing is still building the next evolution of it.
- The airplane we are unveiling today represents a major addition to our foundation of strength. - The F-15A was the original single-seat version of the Eagle that was first introduced to the world back in 1972. - I christen the Eagle, and may you reign in your domain.
(bottle smashes) - This was just five years after the Soviet Union revealed its MiG-25 Foxbat. A high-speed, high-altitude interceptor aircraft that made the United States realize they needed an answer. And did they ever get one?
For the first time, a fighter jet could spot enemy aircraft from far away, could shoot at them before they knew what was coming, could outrun almost anything that tried to escape, and could outmaneuver opponents that tried to fight back. The F-15A was better at basically everything that mattered. Now, in 1979, the single-seat F-15C variant entered production.
It featured a more advanced radar, heavier payloads, and a game-changing piece of technology known as conformal fuel tanks that shaped the aircraft's body to add additional range without sacrificing maneuverability. In 1986, a new version of the F-15 entered the scene. The F-15E Strike Eagle.
With massive conformal fuel tanks for huge range, a backseat weapon systems officer to manage sensors and targeting, and the ability to carry a huge bomb load while still defending itself in combat, the Strike Eagle turned the original F-15 into a true dual-role fighter, which is when something interesting happened. Other countries who had been flying variants of the F-15 for decades expressed interest in a newer, more modern version of this aircraft with some major upgrades. We're talking about AESA radars, digital glass cockpits, fly-by-wire controls, and much more.
These jets became known as the Advanced Eagle Variance. At the same time, back here in the United States, the US Air Force had a problem. Their fleet of F-15Cs were getting old.
So instead of starting from scratch, they made a calculated decision. Take everything learned from the Strike Eagle, take everything learned from the Advanced Eagle program, and put it into one jet. And that's how we arrive here with the F-15EX.
(dramatic music) (jet whooshing) (engines roaring) (upbeat music) Now, if you were paying attention earlier during the walk around, you may have noticed that there was one very important thing we left out. The engines. And I promise you that was intentional.
And you're about to see why. These are two General Electric F110-129 Turbofan after-burning engines, which produce nearly 29,000 pounds of thrust apiece. So when combined, that's about 60,000 pounds of thrust, which is what allows the F-15 to accelerate to two and a half times the speed of sound, and carry roughly 15 tons of weapons.
Now, to really feel that thrust, Boeing is going to show us something that I've never seen before. A full-up engine run with this aircraft strapped down right here in this hangar. (equipment squealing) (gate humming) (lights clicking) Now they call this area the Hush House because this is about 80 feet of hollowed-out tunnel.
And right now, we're directly behind the engines of the F-15. Now, from what I've been told is that when they do the burner run, the plume of the engine of the afterburner actually extends about 20 feet, which is about right here. So I can't imagine how loud this is going to be, but we're going to find out.
The anticipation, I'm nervous. (machinery humming) I didn't even think you could stand this close to a fighter jet at full burner, but here we go. (jet humming) (canopy hissing) (ominous music) (jet whistles and zooms) Oh my God!
(engines whooshing) Oh my God! (engines whooshing and roaring) Let's go! (engines whooshing) Holy (beep) - From that.
- That was insane. Oh (beep) Well, that was crazy. And from what I've been told, the only thing crazier than seeing an F-15 engine run from up close is feeling it from even closer.
So it's about that time. I'm ready to get briefed up, geared up, and strapped in for a backseat ride in the F-15EX. - Quiet on set.
(equipment clattering) (energetic music) - Hack, 10:30, welcome to Mac Flight. The weather's beautiful here. We've got a tap that shows a little bit low cloud.
Today, we're going to do what's called an Acceptance Check Flight. We are going to run the aircraft through its paces, push it to the edge of the envelope, flip every switch, basically flush the aircraft out. Initially, you and I were going to climb high.
We're going to do the mock run. We're going to spiral-descent down into the Mac North, and then we're going to go pull some Gs. We're going to fly high AOA.
We're going to see more than 40 degrees AOA. By the end of the runway, we're going to be fast, so it's going to happen really quick. 45,000 feet, we'll just point straight at the ground, and then we'll just spiral-decent, and just kind of fall like a leaf.
We're going to be screaming, and then keep your legs out of the way because I'm going to jam the stick over to the left. If you did that in a Legacy Eagle, it would bend the wings. It will knock you out.
(laughs) Yeah, it will put you to sleep if you're not careful. What I think Sam can expect on this flight, I've watched his other videos, the Test Pilot School video. I watched the Viper Demo video.
And those are two extremes, but today I think he's going to experience like just pure joy of flying. We're going to go out, it's going to be a beautiful day in a clean Eagle. And we're going to go Mach II.
We're going to go high AOA. We're going to do brake turns. We're going to get some gas, and we're going to do it all over again.
So it's going to be pretty cool. (upbeat music) Viking North with an unrestricted climb up to 25 Block 30, on request. Wave to your fans.
(Sam laughs) - Let's roll. (plane whistles and zooms) (upbeat music) (jet whooshing) I fly a few fighters, but never on a commercial runway here. - I know, you'd see the windows, and I just hope that there's little kids in the windows.
- Right. - Looking and dreaming. With the Viking departure out of here, every single time we fly, we do an unrestricted climb.
It's a rocket ship. And the engines are operating at max thrust on that departure. And so it, it's like nothing he's ever experienced before.
(jet whooshing) (dramatic music) EGTs are stabilizing. (dramatic music) You ready to rock? - I'm ready to rock.
- All right. (engines whooshing) 30 right. Cleared forward takeoff.
374, clear takeoff 30 right. Where am I heading? (indistinct) (radio scratching) (jet whooshing) 50.
- Woo! - 60. 100.
(jet whooshing) - Oh my gosh. (jet whooshing) - Pull (jet drowns out speaker) (jet whooshing) - Woo! (ominous music) (jet whooshing) (laughs) Absolutely incredible.
(dramatic music) - What's up? 374, 3746 (indistinct) (indistinct) 3504. RNAV HAGY runway 29er, cleared for a takeoff.
- Look at that. - The 277 mock 18,000 feet. (radio swooshing) (jet whooshing) (wind whooshing) - Wow, so just like that, we're at 41,000.
(poor sound quality) Pretty cool, huh? - That was incredible. It feels like a Viking.
(laughs) - It is nasty. - I've always heard the F-15 is like a hard jet to fly. Is the EX easy or still pretty difficult?
- The F-15 takes a lot of finesse and technique. Certainly this one does, too, but it is more forgiving which is good because it allows you to focus on employing it as a weapon. (jet whooshing) (tense music) - [Sam] First up on the checklist is a test of raw speed.
We have to prove this new airframe can handle the intense stress. So Cain is about to push the F-15EX beyond Mach II to make sure it handles supersonic speeds without tearing itself apart. - Just let me know when you want to start doing your speed run.
Are you ready to stop the Mach run? - Dude, let's do it. About to go super, we're up 0.
5, mill power. (jet whooshing) - All right, 1. 0 Mach.
- All right, we're officially supersonic. - Are you ready to go Mach II? - Let's do it.
- All right, max AB. (lever clicking) (jet whooshing) (dramatic music) Coming up on 2 Mach. (jet whooshing) All right, so I will bring the power back to min AB.
- Whoa. - Diesel. - It's crazy, huh?
(inside jet ambience) - With the speed run checked off, Cain is taking us into the most unpredictable phase of the flight. A deliberate spiraling free fall. We're dropping 20,000 feet straight out of the sky to prove that the jet's flight computers and engines can survive the absolute worst aerodynamic conditions.
- All right, you ready? Here's our spiral descent. - Let's do it.
[Matthew] All right, kick the boards out so we don't go super. . .
. (inside jet ambience) - What? - 42,000 feet, and just dropping.
(equipment clattering) (jet whooshing) (tense music) (pilot vocalizing) (siren wailing) (jet whooshing) (tense music) (pilot vocalizing) (siren wailing) (jet whooshing) (radio scratching) - Pretty cool, huh? - Yeah, it's not often you're pointing straight at the ground. - [Cain] Yeah, from 45,000 feet.
Exactly. Remember I told you how this thing doesn't like to slow down? All right, man, the first one's going to be the nose high-low speed recovery like we briefed.
- Okay. The nose high-low speed recovery, essentially, we're flying this $100 million fighter jet into a dead stall. At this extreme pitch in low speed, the wings lose all lift, leaving our survival in the hands of the flight computers.
- All right, you ready? - Let's do it. (jet zooms) - Max, ready, ready, now.
(jet whooshing) Idle. Up to about six nose high. 100 knots.
And jet's covering itself basically. - [Sam] Yeah, wow. - Next one's going to be 12,000 feet, 200 knots.
- [Sam] With the jet recovering and what felt like the blink of an eye, it was then onto the next item on our checklist. Basic fighter maneuvers, also known as Dogfighting. We'd be simulating flying slow, low to the ground with an enemy right on our tail.
To survive, Cain is going to intentionally upset the aerodynamics of the EX, snapping the tail to make the aircraft violently jerk and break the enemy's weapon tracking. - Ready, ready. .
. Now. (tense music) (jet whooshing) And then duck.
- Whoa. Woo! - [Cain] Back the other direction.
And then we told him, "I'd come out straight ahead. " (inside jet ambience) - Oh, wow. - [Voice Over] Bingo, fuel.
Bingo, fuel. - All right. Tally the tankers.
- Hey man, just in time, we need some gas. (energetic music) (lever whirring) (lively music) ♪ Come on, come on, say that you love me ♪ - [Sam] Aerial refueling. One of the most critical capabilities in modern air power and a vital system to test before signing off a new aircraft.
It allows the F-15EX to stay airborne longer, fly farther, and reach the fight without stopping to refuel on the ground. So, as we've linked up with the nearby KC-135 Stratotanker, it was time for Cain to show me exactly how it's done. - The control stick is moving just a tiniest bit as I make all these little tiny, tiny, tiny corrections.
♪ Me understand ♪ - Five, four- - Three, two. ♪ Calling me only ♪ - There we go. - Tanker two, contact.
- Simple. - And we're popping. - [Sam] It's so wild.
- [Cain] Can you feel the jet get heavier if you take on a lot? - Yeah. Absolutely.
That's a 1,000. - [Pilot] Word, thank you, disconnect. (lively music) Happy flying, boys.
- Appreciate that. (lively music) (jet whooshing) We're going to shut down the motor. Are you ready to shut down a motor?
- All right, let's shut down an engine. Normally, you don't want to hear that, but that's what you guys got to check for, huh? - That's correct.
- All these are just crazy. (Sam laughs) It sounds like an insane idea, but as an acceptance test pilot, Cain has to prove that if an engine ever fails in combat, it can safely be restarted in mid-air. - All right, guard the right side, left side's coming off.
Fuel flow going down to zero. - [Voice Over] Caution. Caution.
- And 50%. Easy-peasy, pretty benign. Tip's coming up, fuel flows up, RPM's up.
Feel that motor kind of kick in. - Yeah. - All right.
Motor left side is now matched to the right. All right, Sam, you want to go ahead and fly? - Let's do it.
- All right. - Red from blue backseat's going to fly for a few minutes. You guys ready?
- [Pilot] Copy that, and backing off. - [Cain] 14,000 feet, about 320 knots, your jets. - All right, I have the aircraft.
- All right, roll left, man. Make sure you go left. - Here we go.
Three, two, one. ♪ 'Til your love is real ♪ - [Cain] Hard, harder, harder. (singer vocalizing) There you go.
- Thanks. Last time I did that, the pilot was telling me to go slow. You're like, "Go harder, harder.
" (laughs) - Oh, no, watch, watch. My jet. Your jet, your jet.
- [Cain] Watch this. (lever clatters) - Whoa. Okay.
All right. All right, show off. (laughs) That's what you got to do.
A little harder. All right, your jet. - All right, I have the aircraft.
- Your aircraft. You want to try a brake turn? - Yeah, walk me through it.
- All right, about 400 knots, you're going to roll about a 90 to 110 degrees of bank. And then you are going to pull as hard as you can straight back. - [Sam] Cain is telling me to pull back on the stick as hard as I can.
In older jets, doing that could literally rip the wings off the aircraft. We're testing the over-G protection software, proving that no matter how hard or violently I wrench this stick, the flight computer will step in, cap the G-forces, and protect both the airframe and my life. At least, that's what's supposed to happen.
If there's a flaw, Cain and I are about to find it the hard way. Okay. - I'll help you walk through it, you ready?
- Okay. - All right. Roll left.
(jet whooshing) ♪ Will you love me still ♪ (Sam groans) AGs, A1. ♪ And I love you ♪ (jet whooshing) (singer vocalizing) Let's speed these up. - Whoa.
You're good. (laughs) That was 8Gs, not bad. (Sam laughs) Only about 83, that was a little bit fast.
- Wow. (laughs) That was insane. I was like graying out.
The onset's crazy. It's just like- - It's almost instantaneous. - I did it in the Sim once, so you don't feel the Gs.
It's completely different. - Yeah, exactly. Good job, though.
- Thanks. - That was awesome. You could not have done that in a Mac Eagle because you might have over-G'ed.
- Yeah, I was going to say, yeah, normally it's not pulling as hard as you can. I was like, "All right. " (jet zooms) So what role do you see the F-15EX playing in this era where we hear a fifth-generation stealth fighter jets?
This isn't that, but it's still pretty damn impressive. - It's got wall-to-wall missiles, plus air-to-surface bombs, gas for days, and with an incredible radar. All those things combined, it's going to be a formidable addition to the overall Cal Fleet.
DCMA is responsible for every step along the assembly line. I represent the 10,000 folks across the agency. - Right.
- This is just one piece of that overall process of delivering the combat capability to the DOW. This jet's going to go to my brothers and sisters in the fight, and we want to make sure it is the right piece of equipment at the right time. - I think that sums it up perfectly.
I mean, it's a fun job, but it's a job with a ton of responsibility. (pensive music) So do you ever get tempted to fly through the arch? - [Cain] All the time.
(Sam laughs) (jet whooshing) - [Sam] It was time to head back to base and call it a day. But before we touched down, Cain had one last surprise in store. - [Cain] Clear visual approach runway three drill, left runway, three drill left clear to lane.
(lively music) Up and out. (jet whooshing) - Woo! (laughs) (jet whooshing) (lively music) How many more of those you got, I mean?
(laughs) (jet whooshing) (lively music) Wow. - It was fun, huh? - Yeah.
(laughs) (radio scratching) I bet that was allowed on the ground. - [Cain] That's the point. (lively music) (jet whooshing) - So at the very beginning of this video, I said it was our goal to answer the question about why the future looks like this.
It's true, this jet doesn't win by being stealthy or being invisible, but it wins by carrying more, flying faster, and outlasting pretty much everything else in the sky. Cain, that was incredible, man. So what do you say?
Did this jet pass the test? Is the Air Force ready for it? - We will buy it, test.
- Heck yeah, man, well, I got one more thing for you. Figured I'd just do a little swap here, pull that off. Put the Access Granite patch on.
- Nice. - We did it, man. Thanks so much for having me.
- Thank you. Hope you guys enjoyed. We'll catch you next time.
