The U.S. Air Force expects to receive its first operational F-15E Strike Eagle upgraded with an advanced electronic warfare system this summer.
In a statement to Defense News on Thursday, Air Force spokesperson Maj. Alli Stormer said eight Boeing-made F-15E jets are undergoing modifications with the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System, or EPAWSS. The work is taking place at the company’s facility in San Antonio, Texas, the service said.
EPAWSS will come standard on F-15EX Eagle II fighters, also made by Boeing, and will be added to some F-15Es. BAE Systems, which makes EPAWSS, said the technology will allow those F-15s to monitor, jam and deceive threats in highly contested environments as well as provide radar warning, geolocation, situational awareness and self-defense capabilities with an array of sensors, electronic countermeasures and algorithms.
The delivery of the first F-15Es with upgraded electronic warfare capabilities would mark a major step forward in the Air Force’s effort to modernize these fourth-generation aircraft and prepare them for a possible war against an advanced adversary, such as China.
Boeing started installing the EPAWSS on operational F-15Es in San Antonio in July 2022, the Air Force said in a previous statement that year. Boeing also awarded BAE a contract in September 2022 to produce the second EPAWSS lot for new F-15EXs and as many as 43 F-15Es there were already operational. The Air Force now has roughly 218 F-15E jets.