An aging warbird, the F-15 Strike Eagle, had served Israel when it first arrived in 1976, and it has fought undefeated in the Middle Eastern wars. In 1998, the jet of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) got a new variant, which is the Ra'am Thunder.
Though there is a new kid on the block, the F-35I Adir fighter, is what will eventually replace them.
Pure and bred to tussle with Russia's best
Sitting inside an F-15 Strike Eagle is like being in a hotrod that was meant for air-to-air dogfight, and it excelled at it. Equipped with a dual jet engine, a single-seater, with an excellent look around using a bubble canopy and other equipment.
When it went up in the air with APG-63 radar, with Aim-7s and Aim-9s at 4 each on the 8-hardpoints, with a Gatling gun for close air combat. Power, it had in abundance with https://www.fi-powerweb.com/Engine/PW-F100.html, that gave it impressive climbing ability. It was an airframe meant to outfight its adversaries like the MiGs, reported Nationalist Org.
Designers made the F-15 Strike Eagle beefy and capable of interceptor and group attack roles, with everything and equipped with air to ground attack missiles. It became the F-15 Strike Eagle, that saw action in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Excellent ground attack and air superiority drew Israeli interest in getting it. When Saddam had his Scud missiles hitting the Jewish nation, the Israeli forces held back because the U.S. told them not to retaliate.
Though the IAF wanted to fight back, the planes they had were sorely lacking in range and reconnaissance to take out Scuds. It was bad for Israel because they are not capable enough for the missions for the lack of a fighter to counter the Scuds.
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The F-15 Strike Eagle acquisition made the IAF deadlier against its Arab neighbors. The twin-engine fighter would have extra fuel tanks added to attack targets at longer ranges. Armed with air-to-air or air-to-ground missiles allowed the plane to go without escorts. Several F-16s were escorted by F-15s to attack the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak, way too many for one mission.
In 1994, the IAF got 25 F-15I ( Ra'am) for their use. Twenty-one of the planes were Peace Fox V while four more were Peace Fox VI. By this time, the F-15 Strike Eagles had been flying for 15 years. Engineers were tasked to do indigenous upgrades for it. When Boeing bought McDonnel Douglas, they made the airframe more potent with added avionics.
The Israeli-tweaked F-15I had features only found on their version. Added was an upgrade central CPU/inertial guidance system, with an Elbit display and sight helmet (DASH). The electronic warfare system was part of the delivery, but the IAF EWS was not used for it.
The Ra'am can use all F-15A weapons on its hardpoints, and more weapons too. Starting with the AIM-9L Sidewinder and Python infrared-guided short-range missiles, until Pythons were left on it.
Included in its loadout is the aged Aim-7 and newer AIM-120 AMRAAM as it added other air-to-air weapons. A suite of air to ground weapons were available for use.
From the first variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle to the Ra'am variant, Israel has won conflicts with the old warbird. But, the F-35 may soon be flying with it as the Eagle is still capable.
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