Boeing Flies F-15 Silent Eagle

Boeing has flown the interim version of the Silent Eagle, a company-funded effort to generate further export sales of the F-15 Strike Eagle.

The demonstrator, designated F-15E1, took off from St. Louis for an 80-minute flight, during which the doors of the new conformal weapons bay were cycled. The bay is a development of the F-15E’s existing conformal fuel tank that allows internal (and therefore more stealthy) weapons carriage. On the first test flight the Silent Eagle demonstrator contained an instrumented AIM-120 AMRAAM. The launch of one of these missiles from the F-15E1 will be soon be demonstrated on the Pacific Missile Test Range, said Boeing program director Brad Jones. Development of a definitive Silent Eagle–including AESA radar, large-screen cockpit display, digital electronic warfare system and canted tails–awaits customer funding.

Korea has “great interest” in the Silent Eagle, Jones said last month.