TITLE:
BOEING
(McDONNELL DOUGLAS) F-15C/D 'Eagle'
Israel
Defence Force name: Baz (Falcon)
TYPE:
Twin-turbofan
air superiority fighter with secondary attack role.
PROGRAMME:
First
flight of YF-15 27 July 1972; first F-15C (78-468) 26 February 1979; first
F-15D 19 June 1979; P&W F100-PW-220 standard since 1985; last of 894
F-15A/B/C/Ds delivered 3 November 1989; production restarted during 1991 to
produce five for Israel and 12 for Saudi Arabia; production now concentrated on
F-15E.
DESIGN
FEATURES:
NACA 64A
aerofoil section with conical camber on leading-edge; sweepback 38 degrees 42'
at quarter-chord; thickness/chord ratio 6.6 per cent at root, 3 per cent at
tip; anhedral 1 degree; incidence 0 degrees. Twin fins positioned to receive
vortex off wing and maintain directional stability at high angles of attack.
Straight two-dimensional external compression engine air inlet each side of
fuselage. Air inlet controllers by Hamilton Standard. Air inlet actuators by
National Water Lift.
STRUCTURE:
Wing
based on torque box with integrally machine skins and ribs of light alloy and
titanium; aluminium honeycomb wingtips, flaps and ailerons; airbrake panel of
titanium, aluminium honeycomb and graphite/epoxy composites skin.
LANDING
GEAR:
Hydraulically
retractable tricycle type, with single wheel on each unit. All units retract
forward. Cleveland nose and main units, each incorporating an oleo-pneumatic
shock absorber. Nosewheel and tyre by Goodyear, size 22 x 6.6-10, pressure
17.93 bars (260 lb/sq in). Mainwheels by Bendix, with Goodyear tyres size 34.5
x 9.75-18, pressure 23.44 bars (340 lb/sq in). Bendix carbon heat-sink brakes.
Hydro-Aire wheel braking skid control system.
POWER
PLANT:
Two
Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 turbofans, each rated at 105.7 kN (23,770 lb
st) with afterburning for take-off. Internal fuel in eight Goodyear fuselage
tanks, total capacity 7836 litres (2070 US gallons; 1724 Imp gallons). Simmonds
fuel gauge system. Optional conformal fuel tanks attached to side of engine air
intakes, beneath wing, each containing 2839 litres (750 US gallons; 624 Imp
gallons). Provision for up to three additional 2309 litre (610 US gallon; 508
Imp gallon) external fuel tanks. Max total internal and external fuel capacity
20,441 litres (5400 US gallons; 4496 Imp gallons).
ACCOMMODATION:
Pilot
only, on McDonnell Douglas ACES II ejection seat. Stretched acrylic canopy and
windscreen. Windscreen anti-icing valve by Dynasciences Corporation.
AVIONICS:
General
Electric automatic analogue flight control system standard. Hughes Aircraft
AN/APG-63 X-band pulse Doppler radar (upgraded to AN/APG-70 under MSIP),
equipped since 1980 with a Hughes Aircraft programmable signal processor,
provides long-range detection and tracking of small high-speed targets
operating at all altitudes to treetop level, and feeds accurate tracking
information to the IBM CP-1075 96K (24K on early F-15C/Ds) central computer to
ensure effective launch of the aircraft's missiles or the firing of its
internal gun. For close-in dogfights, the radar acquires the target
automatically and the steering/weapon system information is displayed on a
McDonnell Douglas Electronics AN/AVQ-20 head-up display. A Teledyne Electronics
AN/APX-101 IFF transponder informs ground stations and other suitably equipped
aircraft that the F-15 is friendly. It also supplies data on the F-15's range,
azimuth, altitude and identification to air traffic controllers. A Hazeltine
AN/APX-76 IFF interrogator informs the pilot if an aircraft seen visually or on
radar is friendly. A Litton reply evaluator for the IFF system operates with
the AN/APX-76. A Honeywell vertical situation display set, using a cathode ray
tube to present radar, electro-optical identification and attitude director
indicator formats to the pilot, permits inputs received from the aircraft's
sensors and the central computer to be visible to the pilot under any light
conditions.
ARMAMENT:
Provision
for carriage and launch of a variety of air-to-air weapons over short and
medium ranges, including four AIM-9L/M Sidewinders, four AIM-7F/M Sparrows or
eight AIM-120 AMRAAM, and a 20 mm M61A1 six-barrel gun with 940 rounds of
ammunition. General Electric lead-computing gyro. A Dynamic Controls Corporation
armament control system keeps the pilot informed of weapons status and provides
for their management. Three air-to-surface weapon stations (five if configured
with conformal fuel tanks) allow for the carriage of up to 10,705 kg (23,600
lb) of bombs, rockets or additional ECM equipment. AN/AWG-20 armament control
system.
DIMENSIONS
EXTERNAL:
Wingspan:
13.05 m (42 ft 9 3/4 in)
Wing
aspect ratio: 3.01
Length
overall: 19.43 m (63 ft 9 in)
Height
overall: 5.63 m (18 ft 5 1/2 in)
Tailplane
span: 8.61 m (28 ft 3 in)
WEIGHTS
AND LOADINGS:
Weight
empty, equipped (no fuel, ammunition, pylons or external stores): 12,973kg
(28,600 lb)
Max fuel
load: internal: 6103 kg (13,455 lb)
CFTs
(two total): 4422.5 kg (9750 lb)
Auxiliary
tanks (three total): 5395.5 kg (11,895 lb)
Max
internal and external: 15,921 kg (35,100 lb)
Max T-O
weight with CFTs: 30,845 kg (68,000 lb)
Max wing
loading: 546.1 kg/m/2 (111.8 lb/sq ft)
Max
power loading: 147.87 kg/kN (1.45 lb/lb st)
PERFORMANCE:
Max
level speed: more than Mach 2.5 800 knots (1482 km/h; 921 mph) CAS
Approach
speed: 125 knots (232 km/h; 144 mph) CAS
Service
ceiling: 18,300 m (60,000 ft)
Ferry
range: with external tanks, without CFTs: more than 2500 nm (4631 km; 2878
miles) with CFTs: 3100 nm (5745 km; 3570 miles)
Max
endurance: with in-flight refuelling: 15 h unrefuelled, with CFTs: 5 h 15 min
Design g
limits: +9/-3
LENGTH
(m): 19.43
HEIGHT
(m): 5.63
WINGSPAN
(m): 13.05
MAX T-O
WEIGHT (kg): 30,845
MAX WING
LOAD (kg/m/2): 546.10
MAX
LEVEL SPEED (knots): 800
SERVICE
CEILING (m): 18,300
T-O RUN
(m): 274
LANDING
RUN (m): 1067