The West’s Heaviest and Oldest Fighter: Why is Boeing Expanding F-15EX Production?

American aerospace giant Boeing has confirmed plans to intensify production of&nbsp;F-15EX fighter aircraft, with the intention of achieving a steady delivery rate of two aircraft per month by the end of 2026, allowing it to delivery two dozen fighters per year to the U.S. Air Force. Production of the next 90 aircraft is currently planned, with the firm reporting that efficiency and quality control could help to facilitate increased output. “Factory performance has been improving in recent months, with rework and traveled work rates decreasing month over month, enhancing workflow productivity and supporting factory stabilisation,” Boeing’s director of F-15 manufacturing and safety, Tom Altamuro, stated to this effect. Senior officers in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard have for years called for increased acquisitions of the F-15EX, which is currently by far the heaviest and longest ranged fighter class in production anywhere in the Western world. Although lacking the advanced stealth capabilities of the more widely procured F-35, and having higher operational costs and maintenance needs, the F-15EX benefits from carriage of a significantly more powerful radar, a far superior flight performance, and the ability to carry several times as much ordinance in standard configuration.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/19/article_682a79fc32f4d3_84583726.webp" title="F-15EX Carrying 12 AIM-120 Missiles During Pre-Flight Checks">Speaking regarding the procurement of the F-15EX, Commander of the U.S. Air National Guard Lieutenant General Michael Loh in 2022 <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/more-f15ex-needed-ageing-fleet" >stressed</a> that the new F-15 was not “a 1970s-technology aircraft,” highlighting its fifth generation level avionics including its open mission system architecture, Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System electronic warfare suite and the AN/APG-82 AESA radar.&nbsp;The F-15 first flew over&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/f15-half-century-since-first-flight" >50 years ago in 1972</a>, and has served in the U.S. Air Force for half a century, making it the oldest fighter class in production in the world today. Orders have continued to be placed for so long largely due to the&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/25-f22-maiden-flight-looks-like-failure" >failure of the F-22</a>&nbsp;fifth generation fighter program to provide a viable successor, with the F-22 having otherwise been expected to replace the F-15 in production and to phase it out of service entirely. The need for F-15EX fighters has become increasingly urgent as the Air Force has been forced to retire <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/last-f15s-leave-frontline-45yrs" target="_blank">Cold War era F-15C/D</a> airframes, which have aged decades past their intended service lives because they were not replaced by F-22s. With newer F-15E fighters procured in the 1980s and 1990s also expected to begin to be phased out, the need for more F-15EX fighters will only further grow.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/19/article_682a7a25068b25_00187818.jpg" title="F-15C/D Fighters Operating From Kadena Air Force Base – Fighters Which Will Be Replaced By the F-15EX">A production rate of 24 fighters per year will still leave procurement of F-15EX aircraft below the rates Russia has achieved for its own heaviest fighter the Su-34, which saw <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russian-doubled-su34-production" target="_blank">production doubled</a> since the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian War in 2022 to approximately 30 fighters per year. Production will also remain well below that of China’s own heavyweight fourth generation fighter the J-16, which is considered the closest foreign equivalent to the F-15EX in terms of its role and capabilities. Alongside the U.S. Air Force, a derivative of the F-15EX, the F-15IA, is also set to be delivered to the Israeli Air Force, with the approval of the&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/approving-massive-f15-sale-israel-urgent" >sale of up to 50</a>&nbsp;of the fighters having been announced by the U.S. State Department on August 14. This will allow the service to phase out its long since obsolete F-15A/B and F-15C/D fighters procured during the Cold War, complementing its orders for 75 F-35As. It remains uncertain whether any further clients will order the F-15EX, with the Polish Defence Ministry having reportedly <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/poland-f15ex-strike-nuclear" >shown an interest</a> in placing orders.&nbsp;Boeing’s expansion of F-15EX production occurs at a time when the firm is preparing to close its only other fighter production line for the F-18E/F carrier based fighter in 2027. The firm is expected to increasingly focus attentions on development of a new fighter, the F-47, which will provide the Air Force with its first sixth generation combat jet.&nbsp;