The F-15 Eagle, designed & developed originally by McDonnell Douglas in the late 1960s for aerial superiority (F-15A/C variants) is a special species which first flew in 1972 and entered service in 1976 as a replacement for the USAF's F-4 Phantoms and the F-111 Aardvark tactical fighter bomber. The F-15 Eagle has proven to be the undisputed Master of the skies with its almost unmatched capabilities, including, Mach 2.5 top speed, high thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.07, huge lift surfaces with a blended wing body design with fuselage also providing lift, low wing loading giving the F-15 extreme maneuverability, ability to pull upto 9.5Gs with the Eagle being the first US aircraft to be able to go supersonic in vertical flight, one of the highest service ceiling of 65,000 feet which the Eagle can exhaust in a mere 60 seconds, huge payload capacity for armament at around 23,000 lb and powerful onboard APG-63 radar with a target detection range of 200 miles. The F-15 Eagle has been one of the most successful fighter jets with an unmatched kill ratio of 100 to none with not a single aircraft lost to enemy in aerial combat over the past 5 decades. The F-15 Eagle has been produced in large numbers and exported internationally to the U.S. allies, especially, the F15E Strike Eagle variant developed in the 1980s for ground strike missions. The latest Eagle variant to touch the sky has been the F-15EX. In its latest incarnation, the Eagle takes the aerial predation game to the next level with a fully digital backbone, enhanced firepower with the bomb truck configuration capable of carrying 16 JDAMs.

Audio credits: US Military News   Episode Image: F-15 Eagle.            Image Credits: Pixabay