F-15SA Bristles With A Dozen AIM-120 Missiles During Star Wars Canyon Run

Updated Jun 25, 2018 7:13 PM EDT

Currently, the most advanced F-15 Eagles on the planet belong to the Royal Saudi Air Force which has a decades-long history with the type. In its latest iteration, known as the F-15SA , the mighty Strike Eagle has been vastly upgraded. One of the type’s most prominent new features is the activation of the Eagle’s long-dormant outer-wing stores stations number one and nine. This was made possible with the help of the F-15SA’s new fly-by-wire flight control system.

With this upgrade, the Eagle can fly with a wide array of new weapons configurations, including being able to turn into an air-to-air ‘missile truck’ of sorts. This unique loadout was captured in amazing fashion by aviation photographer Christopher McGreevy as a pair of F-15SA’s blasted through Star Wars Canyon on June 12, 2018.

McGreevy’s photos are stunning and show a pair of F-15SA’s used for testing out of Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, rocketing through the crevasse , one totally clean and the other featuring its current max air-to-air loadout of 12 AIM-120 AMRAAMs. This is four more than any other Eagle has been able to carry in the past. The missiles loaded onto the test F-15SA were inert training rounds, but there is nothing keeping live versions off the jet. A pair of drop tanks, LANTIRN navigation pod, Tiger Eyes IRST , and Sniper targeting pod round-out the test jet’s configuration.

Christopher McGreevy

The Strike Eagle was built for low-level interdiction in any conditions, so a ride through Star Wars Canyon on a sunny day is a particularly normal training operation in the aircraft’s intended operating environment. This mission, in particular, was also a fini-flight—a crewman’s last flight—for a USAF test pilot that had been working on the F-15SA program. The overall gray jet was piloted by a Boeing test pilot.

As for the F-15’s air-to-air missile carrying capabilities, a dozen AIM-120s is very impressive, but with the addition of new launcher-racks called the Advanced Missile and Bomb Ejection Rack (AMBER) that number could end up nearly doubling for the F-15SA and its successors to a whopping 22 missiles in total . Even older F-15 models could be able to lug 16 air-to-air missiles around under the proposed 2040C configuration , which doubles their current missile carrying capabilities. You can read about how such an ability could be used in future combat scenarios here , here , and here .

The next Eagle iteration will be the F-15QA which is destined to Saudi Arabia’s less than loving neighbor Qatar. The F-15QA will be even more advanced than the F-15SA and will include new large-screen cockpit displays, a low-profile HUD, and an entirely new internal wing structure among other enhancements. 36 of the jets are on order with an option for another 36 in hand.

Even though an upgrade program continues on multiple fronts for USAF F-15C/D Eagles , their future is now more in doubt than ever, but the service’s F-15Es are sure to serve long into the future. They are currently receiving new radars and soon they will get one of the most advanced electronic warfare suites on the planet. But even with these enhancements, they won’t compare to the Eagles currently being fielded to Arab states, and it looks very likely that Israel will be putting in an order for similar jets in the very near future.

Author’s note: A huge thanks to Christopher McGreevy for sharing his awesome pictures with us, they are some of the coolest shots we have seen from the canyon yet!

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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更新于美国东部时间2018年6月25日晚上7:13

目前，世界上最先进的F-15“鹰”式战斗机属于沙特皇家空军，该机与F-15的渊源已长达数十年。其最新版本F-15SA经过大幅升级，性能大幅提升。其中一项最显著的改进是重新启用了此前长期处于休眠状态的1号和9号外翼挂架。这得益于F-15SA全新的电传飞行控制系统。

经过此次升级，F-15“鹰”式战斗机可以搭载多种新型武器配置，包括变身为一种空对空“导弹卡车”。2018年6月12日，两架F-15SA战斗机呼啸飞过“星球大战峡谷”，航空摄影师克里斯托弗·麦格里维以惊人的视角捕捉到了这种独特的武器配置。

麦格里维拍摄的照片令人惊叹，照片中两架用于加州帕姆代尔42号工厂测试的F-15SA战斗机正疾驰穿过一道裂缝。其中一架机身干净，另一架则挂载了其目前最大空对空导弹载荷——12枚AIM-120 AMRAAM导弹。这比以往任何一架F-15SA的载弹量都多出4枚。测试用的F-15SA挂载的是惰性训练弹，但没有任何规定阻止它使用实弹。此外，测试机还配备了两个副油箱、LANTIRN导航吊舱、“虎眼”红外搜索跟踪系统（IRST）和“狙击手”瞄准吊舱。

克里斯托弗·麦格里维

“攻击鹰”战斗机专为在任何条件下执行低空拦截任务而设计，因此在晴朗的日子里飞越“星球大战峡谷”是该机型在预期作战环境中进行的一次非常普通的训练。而这次任务的特殊之处在于，它还是美国空军一名曾参与F-15SA项目的试飞员的最后一次飞行。这架通体灰色的喷气式飞机由一名波音公司的试飞员驾驶。

至于F-15的空空导弹携带能力，12枚AIM-120导弹已经非常出色，但如果加装名为“先进导弹和炸弹弹射挂架”（AMBER）的新型发射架，F-15SA及其后续机型的导弹携带量几乎可以翻倍，达到惊人的22枚。即使是较老的F-15机型，在拟议的2040C配置下也能携带16枚空空导弹，使其导弹携带能力翻倍。您可以点击此处、此处和此处了解这种能力在未来作战场景中的应用。

下一代“鹰”式战斗机将是F-15QA，它将交付给沙特阿拉伯关系不太友好的邻国卡塔尔。F-15QA将比F-15SA更加先进，除了其他改进之外，还将配备全新的大屏幕座舱显示器、低矮的平视显示器（HUD）以及全新的内部机翼结构。目前已订购36架，并保留了另外36架的增购选择权。

尽管美国空军的F-15C/D“鹰”式战斗机正在多方面进行升级，但它们的未来比以往任何时候都更加不明朗。不过，空军的F-15E战斗机肯定会在未来很长一段时间内继续服役。它们目前正在加装新型雷达，不久还将配备全球最先进的电子战系统之一。但即便如此，它们也无法与目前部署在阿拉伯国家的“鹰”式战斗机相提并论，而且以色列极有可能在不久的将来订购类似的战机。

作者注：非常感谢 Christopher McGreevy 与我们分享他精彩的照片，这些是我们迄今为止看到的峡谷中最酷的照片之一！

联系作者：Tyler@thedrive.com

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