Latest news with #IRST
India.com
4 days ago
- Business
- India.com
India Gives Nod To AMCA: Know The Nation's First Stealth Fighter Jet That Is Likely Redifine Air Combat
New Delhi: With an aim to bolster national security and strengthen indigenous defence manufacturing, the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday approved the development of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) – a fifth generation stealth fighter jet. The programme will be implemented by the Aeronautical Development Agency in collaboration with industry partners. The decision has enabled India enter the elite club of countries that develop the medium-weight and multi-role aircraft – which will be capable of carrying out deep-strike missions. The AMCA will be equipped with low observable technologies to lessen its radar signature. It will help the aircraft evade infrared tracking system and enemy's radar. The technology will allow it to operate with least chances of detection and high degree of survivability in a contested environment. The jet will use radar-absorbent material and have a stealth-optimised airframe and internal weapons bay to further reduce the chances of radar detection. Apart from its stealth capabilities, the AMCA will feature advanced avionics – including electronic warfare systems and sensor fusion. It will also have artificial intelligence-supported flight systems, infrared search and track (IRST) system and active electronically scanned array (AESA). It is expected that the fighter will offer supercruise capability that will enable it to fly at supersonic speeds even without using afterburners. The jet will be capable of carrying air-to-ground and air-to-air weaponry. It can be upgraded in future – with provisions of directed energy weapons and for integration of unmanned systems. The AMCA project is strategically seen as a response to evolving regional security challenges – especially in the context of reports about stealth air cooperation between Pakistan and China. The project is aimed at enhancing India's ability to maintain air dominance and carry out precision operations across a wide range of threat environments. It also reflects India's commitment to self-reliance in defence manufacturing sector. Both public and private sectors will take part in the project under a competitive bidding model that will support the growth of domestic aerospace ecosystem. The estimated expenditure on the initial development phase has been calculated at around Rs 15,000 crore. The AMCA is a long desired requirement of the Indian Air Force.
Asia Times
24-04-2025
- Business
- Asia Times
Outgunned on NGAD, Lockheed doubles down on F-35
Bested at the next-generation US fighter competition, Lockheed Martin is betting big on turning the F-35 into a 'fifth-gen-plus' fighter — retrofitting tomorrow's tech into yesterday's jet to stay in the game. This month, multiple media sources reported that Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet announced that the defense giant will not challenge the US Air Force's decision to award the US$20 billion Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter contract to rival defense contractor Boeing. The company said it plans to integrate technologies from its unsuccessful NGAD bid into upgraded versions of its F-35 and F-22 fighters. During an earnings call, Taiclet said Lockheed aims to deliver '80% of sixth-generation capability at 50% of the cost' by transforming the F-35 into a fifth-gen-plus fighter. Enhancements will include stealth, passive infrared sensors and advanced tracking and missile systems — some already in development under the F-35 Block 4 upgrade. Lockheed executives said the company intends to export some of these improvements, subject to US government approval. With a projected global fleet of 3,500 F-35s, Lockheed hopes its upgraded jets will offer a cost-effective alternative to the yet-undefined, potentially multi-hundred-million-dollar NGAD aircraft. The NGAD decision, announced in March 2025 by US President Donald Trump, leaves Lockheed temporarily sidelined from all publicly known advanced fighter programs. The US Air Force confirmed Boeing offered the 'best overall value' for NGAD. Naval News mentions in a March 2025 article that under the Next Gen 2.0 OML Coating Program, the F-35 would receive a new mirror coating designed to improve maintainability and survivability, critical for the harsh corrosive maritime environment involved in aircraft carrier-based operations. Further, David Cenciotti and Stefano D'Urso mention in an August 2022 article for The Aviationist that the mirror coating could hide the F-35 from infrared search and tracking (IRST) systems or protect the aircraft from low-power lasers. In terms of propulsion upgrades, John Tirpak mentions in an October 2024 article for Air & Space Forces Magazine that the F-35 Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) is intended to increase the durability and life expectancy of the F-35's Pratt and Whitney F135 engines, which has suffered in recent years due to increased and new equipment installed on the aircraft. Tirpak notes that the ECU upgrade supports the cooling, performance and electrical power requirements for the F-35's Block 4 upgrade. While the F-35 is different from most US fighters as it was designed with an Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) IRST system from the start, the Advanced Electro-Optical Targeting System (A-EOTS) upgrade offers improved resolution, multi-spectral range, greater reliability and reduced costs per operating hour. In addition to A-EOTS, TWZ reported in January 2023 that the new AN/APG-85 radar, which is most likely a gallium nitride (GaN)-based system, could drastically increase the F-35's radar range and resolution and support more dynamic electronic warfare tactics. Combined with the Distributed Aperture System (DAS) that provides F-35 pilots a 360-degree view through the aircraft, the A-EOTS + AN/APG-85 + DAS combination can give the aircraft a substantial 'see-first shoot-first' advantage. New armaments, such as the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), could give the F-35 a substantial range and lethality upgrade over the legacy AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) in US military service, though much of the secretive weapon's capabilities are classified, as stated by TWZ in a February 2025 article. However, integration constraints mean upgrades will be evolutionary, not revolutionary – the F-35 must work within the physical and technical bounds set years ago. For example, the US Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) FY2024 Annual Report mentions that integrating the Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3) avionics upgrade, essential for Block 4 mission capabilities, has encountered substantial hardware and software issues. According to the report, these problems forced the program to delay the delivery of aircraft equipped with TR-3, resulting in newly produced planes being placed in long-term parking due to inadequate mission systems software performance. It says the F-35's existing TR-2 architecture's constraints compounded these issues, limiting the scope of feasible enhancements and highlighting inherent limitations established by legacy design choices. The Asia Live mentions that some analysts say sixth-generation fighters involve fundamental design changes that can't be replicated by upgrading existing platforms, such as the F-35. According to the report, these include airframe shapes for better stealth, adaptive engines for optimized performance and a 'digital first' architecture designed with AI integration from the ground up. In addition to those challenges, the F-35's reliability issues, if not addressed, would leave upgrades pointless. The US DOT&E FY2024 Annual Report says that the US F-35 fleet falls short of several reliability requirements defined in the Joint Strike Fighter Operational Requirements Document (JSF ORD). It states that in FY23, the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C did not meet key thresholds for mean flight hours between critical failures (MFHBCF), which measures how often serious failures occur that prevent mission completion or compromise flight safety. Additionally, the report mentions that trends in the mean time to repair (MTTR) and mean corrective maintenance time for critical failures (MCMTCF) have shown little improvement, indicating ongoing difficulties in maintaining aircraft readiness. Lockheed Martin's push to retrofit the F-35 with some sixth-generation technology could make it a viable alternative for other upcoming sixth-generation aircraft. For instance, the UK's Future Combat Air System (FCAS) received a red rating in the country's Annual Report on Major Projects 2023-2024. According to the report, a red rating means the success of the project appears to be unachievable, with major issues appearing unmanageable or unresolvable. Further, in an April 2023 article for the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Justin Bronk mentions that the UK-Italy-Japan Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) is unlikely to produce a product more competitive than the F-35. The GCAP is a component of the UK's FCAS. The former is an international collaboration, while the latter is a UK initiative that aims to leverage its partners' technology and industrial expertise for advancement. While Bronk points out that the F-35 is far from a perfect program, decades of US expertise and investment in state-of-the-art sensors, weapons, electronic warfare, stealth, constant upgrades and retrofitting have produced undeniable results. He mentions that every air force that has tested the F-35 versus European or US competitors picked the F-35, as its ability to operate in contested airspace is unparalleled. Bronk assesses that if the GCAP is built in the 2030s, it would not compete with current-generation F-35s. However, Lockheed Martin's evolutionary approach towards the F-35 program may not be sufficient against adversaries who prefer technology leapfrogging. Even with 3,500 F-35s eligible for the fifth-generation-plus upgrade, China may have already flown prototype sixth-generation fighters and could be gearing up for serial production, making such improvements too slow, too little and too late.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Yahoo
Canopy Seen Clearly On China's Next Gen Tailless Stealth Fighter For First Time
China's next-generation tailless heavy fighter from the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation seemed to have taken a months-long hiatus between its first known flight and its second. Since then, it has been seen in the skies at an increasing rate. New images and video coming out of China show the jet – referred to unofficially by a number of designations, including J-XDS and J-50 – on another recent test sortie, with clearer shots of the enigmatic stealth fighter than ever before. This includes what appears to be our first real view of its cockpit canopy. The aircraft's canopy has been of particular interest since the plane first appeared to the public on December 26th, 2024. Up until now, no images have clearly shown it. The plane's broad nose, paired with the ground-based perspective of the photos, and their low quality, previously made only what may have been a part of a canopy visible in imagery. This led to the question of whether the heavy fighter-sized aircraft was crewed at all. J-XX/Shengad may have flown again today — 東風 (@eastwind6699) April 16, 2025 Our very in-depth analysis on this aircraft, and its larger tri-engined Chengdu Aircraft Corporation counterpart, came to the conclusion that the aircraft was almost certainly crewed. With this latest imagery, we can finally put that question to rest conclusively. One image shows a side-on view of the aircraft, providing a new perspective to analyze. Above all else, it depicts a very streamlined bubble canopy that blends closely with the upper fuselage. Canopies and cockpits can be a major hot spot for radar reflections. Minimizing their return is critical to the survivability of a low-observable crewed aircraft. In this case, for the same reasons that the canopy was so hard for us to see until now — it is difficult to view from lower aspects — also helps with keeping it out of line-of-sight of radar systems positioned below it. These can be on the surface or lower-flying aircraft. The service ceiling of the fighter is unknown, but it should be quite high in order to maximize its performance, as well as its sensor and weapons reach. It remains unknown if the jet has one or two crew. The canopy does look quite long, which could possibly accommodate a tandem crew layout. As it seems, we finally have a quite decent side shot of SAC's J-XDS from its flight today and also for the first time a clearer proof it has indeed a canopy. — @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) April 16, 2025 This side view also provides a bit better sense of scale and form of the new jet. Its diamond-shaped forward fuselage with a prominent chine line high up near the cockpit is also readily visible. The blister under the nose that could represent a faceted aperture for an electro-optical targeting and/or infrared search and track (IRST) system, similar to what's found on the J-20 and the U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is also visible. Another angle from the lower rear gives us a clearer view of the aircraft's exhausts. As expected, they are 2-D and likely thrust vectoring types, very similar to the U.S. F-22 Raptor's arrangement. This configuration would balance low observability, performance, agility, and especially stability, considering just how unstable a tailless tactical jet like this would be. China has been displaying its thrust vectoring engine concepts since at least 2022, with the one subscale model on the show floor at Zhuhai looking very similar to what we see in the latest imagery. We also see the unique swiveling wingtip control surfaces in action here, with the right side one highly deflected. Airshow China 2022: #China displays thrust vectoring engineshttps:// #airshowchina2022 #airshow #airdefence — Janes (@JanesINTEL) November 14, 2022 With each passing week, we are getting more and more detailed imagery of Shenyang's tailless stealth fighter, just as expected. If the flights continue, we should have a much better understanding of the aircraft's observable features by summer. Contact the author: Tyler@
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sale Of Advanced F-16s To The Philippines Moves Forward Amid Deepening U.S. Ties
The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of 20 F-16C/D Block 70/72 fighters to the Philippines, the latest turn in a long-running saga as Manila seeks to revamp its air force. The announcement comes as the United States reinforces military ties with the Southeast Asian country, with a recent visit there by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the forthcoming deployment of U.S. anti-ship and land-attack missile systems for a military drill. The approved Foreign Military Sale package, which has an estimated cost of $5.58 billion, covers 16 single-seat F-16C and four two-seat F-16D versions. As well as the aircraft and engines, the package includes AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radars (SABR), AN/AAQ-33 Sniper advanced targeting pods, AN/ALQ-254 Viper Shield electronic warfare or equivalent systems, Scorpion Hybrid Optical-based Inertial Trackers (HObIT) or Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems II (JHMCS II) helmet-mounted displays, and undisclosed infrared search and track (IRST) systems. The IRST system could be a version of Lockheed Martin's Legion, a pod-mounted sensor that is also offered in miniaturized form for the F-16 Block 70/72 as the Legion-Embedded System (ES). Legion pods are fitted on the left underside of the forward fuselage, on the chin hardpoint. An alternative could be the Northrop Grumman OpenPod, a modular, open-architecture design, equipped with Leonardo's SkyWard IRST sensor. This pod might be more likely for export to the Philippines and is notably already used Top Aces, a private adversary air company. An IRST of any kind is especially useful as an additional way of detecting and tracking other aircraft at long ranges, including ones that employ stealth technology to hide from radar. The pod can also provide targeting information so the pilot can engage an enemy passively, without emitting any electromagnetic energy. You can read more about the capabilities that the Legion pod offers here. Air-to-air weapons are set to be provided in the form of up to 112 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) and 40 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missiles. Offensive weapons in the package comprise 36 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), 60 Mk 82 500-pound general-purpose bombs, 60 Mk 84 2,000-pound general-purpose bombs, 30 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits for the GBU-38 or GBU-54 Laser JDAM, and 30 kits for GBU-50 Enhanced Paveway II precision-guided bombs. Overall, the total number of munitions included is relatively tiny, for a deal of this kind. At this point, it's worth noting that the State Department announcement is not final. The quantities of aircraft and other equipment and the costs involved could all change. Potentially, lawmakers could also move to block the deal within the next 30 days, although that is unlikely. 'The proposed sale will enhance the Philippine Air Force's ability to conduct maritime domain awareness and close air support missions and enhance its suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and aerial interdiction capabilities,' the U.S. State Department said in a statement. 'This sale will also increase the ability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to protect vital interests and territory, as well as expand interoperability with the U.S. forces. The Philippines will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.' Previously, back in 2021, the Philippines had been approved for another F-16 Block 70/72 sale, this time involving 10 F-16Cs and two F-16Ds, valued at a total of $2.43 billion. In the event, the Philippines didn't proceed with that deal, having only allocated $1.1 billion for the acquisition. Notably, that earlier package didn't include IRST systems, but the Philippines was approved to buy 12 AGM-84L-1 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles. The Philippine Air Force retired its veteran fleet of Northrop F-5A/B Freedom Fighters in 2005. As long ago as the 1990s, efforts were being made to introduce new fighters, but so far the only new jets for the service have been 12 Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50PH light combat jets acquired from Seoul. One of those has since crashed. The Philippine Air Force's combat fleet also includes six Embraer A-29B Super Tucano turboprop light attack aircraft. Compared to anything else in the inventory, the F-16 represents a huge advance in capability, not just in terms of performance, but also in the advanced sensors and precision-guided weaponry it will carry. Currently, for example, the Philippine Air Force doesn't have any aircraft armed with beyond-visual-range missiles. These, combined with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, will represent a step-change in terms of air-to-air capabilities alone. Last year, the Philippine Secretary of National Defense, Gilberto Teodoro, outlined plans to buy 40 fighter jets as part of a major military modernization effort. Known as Horizon 3, the fighter acquisition would be worth $33.6 billion over the next 10 years, provided it's fully approved. However realistic that plan, it's clear that Manila is set on rebuilding its armed forces to better face off against the growing Chinese threat in the region. Reflecting the increasing strategic significance that Washington is assigning to the Philippines, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the archipelago nation last week, as part of a wider Indo-Pacific trip. 'It's a strong message to China on solid bilateral relations' between the U.S. and the Philippines,' Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez told The Associated Press, ahead of Hegseth's visit. On the agenda were joint measures that can be taken to enhance deterrence against Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea, almost the entirety of which is claimed by China. The Philippines is one of several regional nations that also have overlapping claims on these highly strategic waters. Romualdez also highlighted the possibility of 'more significant support' from the United States in this regard. U.S. defense policy in relation to the Philippines has become a more important topic in the last couple of years, as confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces in the South China Sea have become increasingly tense. In response to clashes between Chinese and Philippine forces in these waters, the previous Biden administration issued repeated warnings to Beijing. These included the fact that the United States is obliged to help defend the Philippines if its ships or aircraft come under armed attack anywhere in the wider region. Such statements from Washington prompt predictably hostile reactions from Beijing, but currently, it seems, the defense relationship between the United States and the Philippines is only set to be reinforced. In addition to the possible sale of F-16s, which would mark a significant advance in capabilities for the Philippine Air Force, Manila's armed forces are also deeply involved in joint exercises with those of the United States and other allies. The most significant of these drills is the Balikatan exercise, the 2025 edition of which kicks off later this month and which also features forces from Australia and Japan. The 2025 exercise is especially notable since it will feature two recently inducted types of U.S. missile systems. While the U.S. Army has said it will not conduct live-fire drills of its Typhon in Exercise Balikatan, the deployment of the system to the Philippines is already a big deal and one that has been criticized by China. Typhon was first deployed to the Philippines during last year's Exercise Salaknib and has remained in the country since then. Typhon can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 multi-purpose missiles. The latest Tomahawk cruise missiles have land attack and anti-ship capabilities, while the SM-6 missiles are intended to be employed primarily against targets ashore and at sea, essentially as a short-range ballistic missile. The Army has also described it in the past as a 'strategic' weapon system that would be used against higher-value targets like air defense assets and command and control nodes. With Tomahawk's range of roughly 1,000 miles, Typhon is highly relevant in this context. From a location in the middle of Northern Luzon in the Philippines, it has more than enough range to reach the southeastern corner of mainland China, as well as Hainan Island with its key naval and other bases. Chinese man-made outposts across the South China Sea would also be within range. Meanwhile, Balikatan will see the U.S. Marine Corps deploy its Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) anti-ship missile system for the first time operationally in the region. The complete NMESIS system consists of the uncrewed Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), also known as the Remotely Operated Ground Unit Expeditionary-Fires (ROGUE-Fires), and a launcher with two ready-to-fire Naval Strike Missiles (NSM). The NSM is a stealthy anti-ship cruise missile with a secondary land-attack capability. The NSM is capable of hitting targets 115 miles away. 'The more security cooperation, the better,' U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth reflected in a press conference with his Filipino counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, last week. 'The more strategic dilemmas for our adversaries, the better.' The inclusion of Typhon and NMESIS in the upcoming Balikatan drills is a very visible indicator of this strategy. As the United States forges expanded defense ties with the Philippines, the likely transfer of F-16s is very much a logical next step. Contact the author: thomas@
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Yahoo
F-15 Nose-Mounted Infrared Search And Track Sensor Hinted At In New Boeing Photo
A new photo published by Boeing shows one of its F-15 Advanced Eagle series fighters fitted with what looks like a previously unseen infrared search and track (IRST) sensor ahead of the cockpit. While F-15s already use IRST sensors in service, so far, operational IRSTs have been limited to pods and pylon-installed types. An internal version installed atop the nose would offer several key advantages. The photo in question was recently published by Boeing on the social media site X. It was not captioned but presented to illustrate a media release concerning a contract awarded to Boeing's subsidiary, Tapestry Solutions. The contract will provide the Air Force with mission-planning software solutions for a variety of combat aircraft types, including the F-15. The F-15 in the photo is fully in shadow but has the various hallmarks of one of Boeing's F-15 Advanced Eagle fighters, although it's not immediately clear which particular variant it is or whether it's a company testbed, which would seem most likely. However, the most notable visible feature of the aircraft is the small fairing ahead of the windshield, which is almost certainly an IRST sensor. At the same time, there's no way to know whether the fairing is a real-life IRST sensor that was fitted for testing of some kind or whether it's a mock-up of a possible sensor housing. Boeing has responded to our inquiry and confirmed it is indeed real and not a Photoshop representation. At the very least, it would indicate that Boeing has been looking at the possibility of installing this kind of technology directly in its latest F-15 variants. As noted earlier, operational F-15s of different flavors have been fitted with IRSTs before, but not in this location. Derived from the AN/AAS-42 supplied for the F-14D Tomcat, an IRST known as Tiger Eyes is installed on some of the more modern Strike Eagle export models, including Singapore's F-15SG and South Korea's F-15K, being housed inside the left-hand intake pylon that carries the aircraft's targeting pod. Tiger Eyes is also installed in export versions of the F-15 Advanced Eagle, namely Saudi Arabia's F-15SA and Qatar's F-15QA. Also developed from the AN/AAS-42 is the AN/ASG-34, the sensor at the heart of the IRST21 system used in Lockheed Martin's Legion Pod. You can read much more about the IRST21, its predecessors, and the capabilities IRST sensors offer, in general, here. As for the Legion Pod, this is used on U.S. Air Force F-15C 'legacy' Eagles and is also part of the sensor suite on the newer F-15EX Eagle II. The pod is carried on the centerline station below the fuselage. In June last year, the Air Force explained to TWZ that the Legion Pod was being evaluated on the F-15EX, with the plan to employ the system immediately after the jet entered Air National Guard squadron service. 'Legion is a sensor that operates in a different wave band to the radar,' explained Maj. Aaron 'Kamikazze' Eshkenazi, an F-15EX pilot assigned to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) 'Skulls' at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. 'It is long-wave infrared that helps you detect platforms outside of the X-band, which is typically where the radar is detecting. The F-15C units are already using Legion, and so the intent is to ensure that the F-15EX is able to carry and use that same pod.' In fact, there has been at least one previous effort to field a nose-mounted IRST on an F-15. This was a Japanese effort that led to the installation of an IRST on at least one F-15J, on an experimental basis. Rare F-15J Experimented With A IRST Sensor In around May 2008, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries began testing the installation of the IRST (Infrared Search and Track) system on the F-15J as part of its modernization plan. The IRST system, mounted on the nose of the… — I_NAMELESS_I (@NAMELESS_JSDF) June 2, 2024 Eventually, the IRST was removed from Japan's F-15J upgrade program, which is now known as the Japan Super Interceptor (JSI). It's also worth considering the possibility, far less likely, bordering on remote, that the sensor is something similar to the AN/AAQ-32 Internal FLIR Targeting System (IFTS) found on the United Arab Emirates F-16E/F Desert Falcon. This unique infrared targeting and navigation suite includes a FLIR system ahead of the windscreen that provides a video feed into the F-16E/F pilot's head-up display, and it can also be shown on the displays in the rear cockpit of the F-model. It provides a superior forward view at night and in poor weather. The F-15 already has a similar option to IFTS available in the form of its AN/AAQ-13 LANTIRN navigation pod. In general, an IRST provides a pilot with an important additional way to detect and track other aircraft at significant ranges. Significantly, the IRST offers an alternative to the radar in electronic warfare-heavy (jamming) combat environments, and since it depends on the hostile aircraft's infrared signature alone, it is unaffected by radar-evading design features on stealth aircraft. Furthermore, the IRST is able to spot, track, and help engage aircraft entirely passively. This eliminates the chance of alerting potential opponents that they've been detected, unlike radar, which can give away the attacking aircraft's presence and even its location. In practical terms, an IRST allows the pilot to quickly spot and track multiple targets at far beyond visual range. It also provides actual targeting information so the pilot can engage threats using the IRST for targeting alone or in conjunction with other sensors, especially the radar, which offers important advantages. So far, however, production IRST sensors for F-15s are installed below the fuselage, either on a pylon or, in the case of Tiger Eyes, embedded in a pylon. While this kind of attachment is easier to integrate, it does have significant disadvantages, especially in terms of the field of regard. Simply put, having an IRST positioned on the top of the nose means it is much better able to look up, tracking threats above the F-15. This is of particular importance for higher-flying targets. At the same time, a sensor in this position also has a good field of view down and to either side, aided by the slope of the nose. Sensors below the jet do have some limitations due to being blocked by the aircraft's structure. While not as much of an issue for targets at long ranges, it is still a limitation. Additionally, having an integrally mounted IRST, wherever it may be located on the airframe, frees up an additional stores hardpoint when compared with the Legion Pod. This is of notable importance when magazine depth is at a premium — the ability of an aircraft to carry a considerable number of external weapons, something the F-15EX, in particular, is prized for. More so, it's important for retaining the ability to carry a centerline fuel tank, which is a popular combat configuration for air superiority-tasked F-15s. It also means the jet would not need to carry its dedicated targeting pod pylon to accommodate the Tiger Eyes option. The big question is whether this apparent program was aimed at meeting a potential U.S. Air Force requirement or if it was geared toward export-oriented Advanced Eagles. With growing interest in IRST sensors, there are a variety of possibilities when it comes to Eagle operators who might be interested in such a product. At the same time, it appears that the Advanced Eagle in the photo has Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) sensors, which are notably absent from the U.S. Air Force F-15EX. Advanced Eagles are still being ordered by foreign customers, most recently by Israel, which signed up for 25 F-15IA versions last November. Once again, at this early stage, we don't know exactly why Boeing might have put an IRST — or a mock-up of one — on one of its F-15 Advanced Eagles. While we have asked Boeing for more information, there is no doubt that compelling arguments do exist for just such a feature. Contact the author: thomas@
