F-15E Armed With Drone Killing Laser-Guided Rockets Appears In Middle East
We now have a picture showing a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle down-range in the Middle East with an air-to-air loadout that includes six seven-shot 70mm rocket pods, as well as four AIM-9X and four AIM-120 missiles. This comes a week after TWZ was the first to report on testing of the laser-guided 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rockets as a new armament option for the F-15E. As we noted at that time, the exact loadout we're now seeing on a deployed Strike Eagle turns the jet into a counter-drone and cruise missile 'weapons truck' with a whopping 50 engagement opportunities, not counting the internal gun.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) posted the picture in question, seen at the top of this story, today on social media with a basic caption offering no additional context. TWZ had reached out to CENTCOM and the Air Force for more information.
U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. pic.twitter.com/xxg6F6LlqB
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 30, 2025
There are indications that the image was taken at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, which has long been a known hub for U.S. F-15E operations in the region.
Picture posted by USCENTCOM Twitter account showing an F-15E with an anti-UAV loadout.Geolocation is: 31.827123, 36.797503 (Muwaffaq Salti AB, Jordan.F-15E is 87-0210 from 389th Fighter Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho.
— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555.bsky.social) 2025-05-30T17:47:36.641Z
The image of the rocket-toting F-15E that had emerged last week via social media channels associated with The Merge military aviation podcast was taken at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, but it remains unclear when.
'The Eglin AFB test community through strong partnerships have aggressively conducted integrated test of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System,' Gabriel Myers, a spokesperson for the 96th Test Wing at Eglin, previously told TWZ when asked for more information about that picture. 'By working at speed to ensure advanced capabilities have the intended effects, we increase warfighter readiness and lethality to meet the global demands of the joint force.'
The U.S. military still does not appear to have officially announced the integration of laser-guided APKWS II onto the F-15E. Originally designed as an air-to-ground munition, APKWS II is cleared for use on Air Force F-16C/D Vipers and A-10 Warthogs, as well as U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers and F/A-18C/D Hornets on the fixed-wing side. The precision-guided rockets are also part of the arsenals available for Marine AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom helicopters, as well as U.S. Navy MH-60R/S Seahawks and U.S. Army AH-64D/E Apaches.
Each APKWS II rocket consists of a laser guidance package inserted between a standard 70mm rocket motor and one of a variety of warhead options.
Regardless, it is not at all surprising that an F-15E with the heavy rocket loadout has now emerged in the Middle East in an operational context. As we previously wrote:
'The Strike Eagle and APKWS II combo's potential in the air-to-air role that is perhaps most exciting. As we noted earlier, Air Force F-16s first began employing the laser-guided rockets in an anti-air optimized configuration to shoot down Houthi drones during operations over and around the Red Sea last year, which TWZ was first to report. The Air Force had announced back in 2019 that it had demonstrated APKWS II's ability to be used as an air-to-air weapon in a test wherein an F-16 downed a surrogate for a subsonic cruise missile, something we were also first to report on. APKWS II is also combat-proven in the surface-to-air role against drones, as well as in air-ground modes and surface-to-surface modes.'
U.S. Fighter aircraft shoot down Iran-backed Houthi one-way-attack drones with AGR-20 FALCO Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) Laser Guided 2.75" Rockets.#HouthisAreTerrorists pic.twitter.com/bDoVnKwotc
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 19, 2025
'Since January, F-16s have been observed flying the Middle East carrying air-to-air loadouts that include one or two seven-shot 70mm rocket pods, as well as traditional air-to-air missiles and LITENING targeting pods. This had already underscored the magazine depth benefits of APKWS II. A typical air-to-air for the Viper consists of six air-to-air missiles. Just having a pair of rocket pods on one pylon effectively triples the number of anti-air engagement opportunities per sortie. The F-15E with six seven-shot rocket pods, along with eight air-to-air missiles, goes far beyond that capacity.'
…
'Together with aerial refueling support, an F-15E armed with APKWS II rockets and traditional air-to-air missiles could provide a far more persistent counter-air screen with a huge magazine depth against drones and some cruise missile types. This kind of general scenario is what Air Force Strike Eagle crews found themselves in on multiple occasions while defending Israel from Iranian attacks last year, during which, running out of missiles became the limiting factor.'
The F-15E also has the advantage of being a two-seat aircraft, which allows the pilot in front to focus on flying the plane while the back-seater engages targets in the air or on the ground and performs other tasks.
It is worth mentioning that Muwaffaq Salti was a major staging point for the aforementioned F-15E sorties in the defense of Israel last year. Stunning accounts of those operations have since emerged. This includes at least one instance in which a Strike Eagle crew switched to the jet's 20mm M61 Vulcan cannon after running out of missiles, but was unable to shoot down anything with the gun. It would make sense that an APKWS II capability for the F-15E, particularly for use in the air-to-air role, would have been rushed into service after those experiences, and subsequently fielded to Strike Eagle units deployed in Jordan.
APKWS II is limited in the air-to-air role to engaging non-reactionary, low-performance targets that fly along relatively steady courses like one-way-attack drones and subsonic cruise missiles. Currently, targets have to be manually designated, or 'lazed,' throughout the entire course of the engagement, as well. APKWS II's prime contractor, BAE Systems, is now working on a dual-mode guidance package that incorporates an infrared seeker that is designed to offer a pseudo-fire-and-forget capability to make it easier to move on from engaging on target to the next, as you can read more about here.
At the same time, the aforementioned magazine depth, together with the lower unit cost of an APKWS II rocket compared to traditional air-to-air missiles, offers clear benefits. The latest variants of the AIM-120 cost around $1 million apiece, while current-generation AIM-9Xs each have a price tag around $450,000. The most expensive part of an APKWS II rocket is the guidance section, which costs between $15,000 and $20,000, with the rocket motor and warhead adding a few thousand dollars more to the total price point.
As shown by the F-15E in the newly released picture, air-to-air loadouts incorporating APKWS II can also still include air-to-air missiles for prosecuting more demanding threats. It remains likely that APKWS II will be integrated onto further fixed-wing aircraft in the future for use in the air-to-air role, such as the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
The Air Force's F-15E Strike Eagle fleet has now gotten a major firepower boost, especially for hunting down incoming drones and cruise missiles.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
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