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Boeing delivers second Eagle II to US Air Force

F-15EX
Boeing file photo of the first F-15EX

Boeing has delivered the second F-15EX fighter to the US Air Force, a little over a month after delivering the first airframe.

The aircraft was handed over on Tuesday, arriving at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida to begin testing alongside the first EX.

The delivery follows the official naming of the aircraft by the air force, which announced on April 7 that its new F-15EX fighters would officially be named Eagle II.

“Moving from contract award to delivery in a matter of months enables the US Air Force to get a head start on flight testing and demonstrates our commitment to exceeding expectations,” said Prat Kumar, Boeing vice president and F-15 program manager.

Boeing is delivering the new Eagle IIs under under an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract for up to 200 F-15EXs from July 2020.

The new fighter is replacing the aging F-15C. Initial basing locations for the Eagle IIs will be in Florida and Oregon.

The new fighter is a two-seat aircraft—though operable by a single pilot—with fly-by-wire flight controls, digital cockpit displays, and advanced avionics systems. It features the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System, an electronic warfare upgrade that is also being fielded on F-15E models.

The air force says the F‑15EX provides a cost-effective and expedient solution to refresh the F‑15C/D fleet and augment the F-15E fleet to meet National Defense Strategy capability and capacity requirements.