ISRAELI STRIKE EAGLE F-15I "Thunder" (Ra'am)

DEVELOPMENT

In 1993, then-Israeli Air Force commander Major General Herzl Budinger raised the spectre of a powerful Iran arming itself with ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs. Budinger wanted an aircraft that could carry out strikes as far away as Teheran. At the time, neither of the two US fighters being offered to Israel (the F-16 and the F/A-18) had that capability.  Budinger wanted the F-15E, and in February 1993 he met with then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin urging him to ask Washington for permission to purchase an export version of it. Rabin was impressed by the agreement of the top defense 'brass' on the need for the jet, and the following month met with President Bill Clinton to gain US approval.

On 27 January 1994, the Israeli government announced that they intended to purchase the F-15I,  an export version of the F-15E Strike Eagle designed specifically for Israel. Under the "Peace Fox VI" program, a contract worth $2 billion US dollars was signed on 12 May 1994 between the United States and Israel authorizing McDonnell Douglas to build 21 F-15Is for the IDF/AF. An option to purchase four additional F-15Is was exercised in February 1996 bringing the total number of Thunders to 25. The cost of the F-15I is approximately $84-$86 million (U.S. dollars) per aircraft, making it one of the most expensive production fighter aircraft in history.

SPECIFICATIONS

The Thunder and the Strike Eagle bear a close resemblance to each other, and were it not for the Thunder's desert tan, brown, and gray paint scheme, they would be virtually indistinguishable with the naked eye.  While similar to the F-15E, the Thunder was designed to utilize Israeli-built avionics and electronic subsystems in place of the F-15E's U.S. avionics. Some other non-avionics subcontracting was also awarded to Israeli companies.  The F-15I industrial cooperation program involved 34 partners in Israel’s aerospace industry.  The Israeli-built subsystems are valued at $500 million of the contract's estimated $2.2 billion cost.  (Note: Of all countries receiving U.S. foreign military aid, only Israel and Egypt are allowed to offset the cost of U.S. hardware purchases with work or services provided by indigenous defense industries. In the case of the F-15I, Israeli defense firms had invaluable access to American technology and were able to save some 25 percent of the F-15I's original purchase price.) The SPS-2100 advanced integrated electronic warfare suite is produced by Elisra, the secure UHF radios are made by Elta, and structural subassemblies are manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries' Lahav Division.

Unlike the F-15E, the Thunder cockpit was designed for use with NVGs, incorporating green floodlights and cockpit warning indicators which are NVG compatible.  The Thunder also has VHF and HF radios in addition to the two UHF units in the F-15E for a total of four comm radios.  The Thunder is equipped with a fully digital moving map display (the F-15E uses a scrolling microfilm cassette) which can be programmed to display threats.  The WSO station also includes improvements over the F-15E, including the ability to use all the APG-70's auto acquisition modes from the HOTAS hand controllers.  The F-15I's version of the APG-70 is slightly "detuned" compared to it's U.S. counterpart in some areas.  In the air to ground radar mode, specifically, it is unable to produce a .67 HRM patch map.

WEAPONS

In addition to the air-to-air weapons carried by the F-15E, the Thunder can also carry the Python III and IV short range, IR-guided missiles.  The aircraft is designed to take advantage of the Python's awesome 90° off-boresight acquisition capability through the use of an Elbit Display And Sight Helmet (DASH) system.

The Thunder retains the F-15E's awesome 20,000# max ordnance load and has added capability over the Strike Eagle as well.  The IDF/AF opted to have wing stations 1 and 9, which are not able to be used in the F-15E, wired for use with A/A missiles and electronic warfare pods. but as of yet this capability has not been used.  Air-to-surface ordnance the Thunder can carry in addition to U.S. F-15E capabilities includes the Rafael Popeye missile (known in the U.S. as AGM-142 HAVE NAP or Raptor), the Guillotine laser guided bomb, and the Opher IR guided bomb.  It's likely that the Thunder will replace the F-4 as the Israelis' preferred nuclear strike aircraft.

DELIVERIES

The first F-15I made its maiden flight on 12 September 1997, with Boeing test pilot Joe Felock and WSO Major Rick Junkin at the controls.  The flight time was one hour and thirteen minutes and the pilot reported that the flight was smooth and the aircraft performed flawlessly.  "During the course of the flight we achieved an altitude of 40,000 feet, reached Mach 2, and pulled some 9 G turns. It was a great flight," Felock said.

The first two F-15Is arrived at Hatzerim Air Force Base west of Beer Sheva, Israel, on 19 January 1998.   The delivery flight took place over a 2 day period, starting with a five hour flight from the McDonnell Douglas factory in St. Louis, Missouri, to RAF Lakenheath, UK. The F-15Is were escorted through Israeli airspace by Israeli F-4 Phantoms. The remaining F-15Is were delivered to Hatzerim in 1998 and 1999.  In transit the aircraft were officially USAF aircraft being flown by USAF aircrews. Though painted in their IAF desert scheme, they carried gray USAF stars and bars in outline on the fuselage along with the fiscal year and serial number on the vertical tail.  The original timetable for completion of all deliveries was by the end of 1998, but the last airframe was delivered to Israel in September 1999.

SERVICE

Israeli F-15Is are all assigned to the 69th Squadron "Ha'patishim" (Hammers).  This is a unit with significant heritage, in the past having flown both the B-17 and F-4. The squadron began training soon after delivery of the first aircraft in January 98, with the first Thunder inflight refueling (from an IDF/AF Boeing 707) occurring in March 1998. The F-15I was intended to reach operational status in late 1998, and training was stepped up following the February 1998 tension in the Persian Gulf.  Finally, on June 24, 1998, the first delivered Thunder was certified as "operational" by senior IDF/AF commanders, and was "ready for any mission."  During October 1998, three F-15Is belonging to the IDF/AF took part in the USAF's Red Flag 99-1 at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The aircraft, which had arrived directly from the McDonnell Douglas production line in St. Louis were flown by Israeli pilots but still carried USAF serial numbers.

Less than six months after getting its first F-15I Thunder, the IDF/AF sent out the F-15I on combat missions.  The Ha'patishim Squadron was declared operational on 1 January 1999, and flew its first operational sortie on January 11th when a pair of F-15Is attacked suspected Hezbullah terrorist targets on the Soujud ridge in southern Lebanon using precision guided munitions. During February 2000 the Thunder again showed it's mettle in battle by prosecuting precision guided bomb attacks on Hezbullah targets in Lebanon.

The first production F-15I (94-0286/I-201) was delivered to the IAF in late 1999 after an extensive flight test program at Edwards AFB in California, USA.  The aircraft may now be on loan to the IAF's 601 Squadron at Hatzor.  The 601 Squadron (normally referred to as MANAT, or Mer-kaz Nisu-yei Ti-sa = "Center for Flight Testing") is dedicated to flight testing and evaluating aircraft and weapons systems for the IDF/AF.  The unit has no dedicated aircraft as such, normally borrowing aircraft as and when needed.

Jane's Defense Weekly reported in December 1999 that Israel plans an attrition buy of at least another five F-15Is from Boeing in order to maintain its 25-unit squadron.

• F-15I Thunder Photo Gallery

Info courtesy Thunder Over Suffolk and Simon Moore