if I remember right, the early F-22A blocks should be able to carry AIM-120A/B missiles in the bay - just fewer of them (4 x AIM-120A/B vs 6 x AIM-120Cs) because of those missiles’ bigger wings and fins.
But once AIM-120Cs became widely available after 1997-1998 (when the first F-22A entered EMD testing), they basically stopped using the AIM-120A/B versions altogether. That’s probably why I can’t find any old photos of F-22As carrying those 120A/Bs.
The earliest proof we’ve got is this YF-22 test image showing it firing an AIM-120A/B with those larger fins/wings from its weapons bay (see pic below).
I agree. The F-15EX would still remain the best CAS/strike fighter simply because it can carry over 10 air-to-ground munitions. Not only that, it can still pack 12 air-to-air missiles as a standard loadout.
With those new engines, I really hope we’ll see the USAF adopt AMBER racks for all F-15 Eagle models soon. That upgrade could potentially increase the A2A payload from 12 missiles up to 16, maybe even 22.
While the F-22 carries fewer A2A missiles, it’ll always be the top pure dogfighter thanks to its stealth capabilities. The F-15EX will be a support and missile truck fighter.
It’s the F110-GE-132, said to provide more static thrust than the GE-129 does, but it does not come with the first batches of the F-15EX. There is a possibility we could get later batches of the F-15EX with new engines and major upgrades.
Looking back in the past, the early batches of F-15E Strike Eagles rolled out with F100-PW-220 engines, while later batches were upgraded to the F100-PW-229s.
You know what they say - history repeats itself. We’ll probably see the same thing happen with the F-15EX when future batches eventually get those GE-132 engines.
Yep. The EX would then be able to supercruise and reach higher altitudes even faster being able to launch 12 AMRAAMs at Mach 1.6 at 10000 meters (this is the parameters i’m able to get with the E before launching my amraams at 50 km’s)
Question, are you able to make a suggestion for the f15 ACTIVE? I’ve put in 2 and they’ve been taken down, the first time I get because I didn’t have links but the second one I put a lot of work into and it still got revoked. I can give you the information I got for it if you’d like for a jump start. It hasn’t been suggested already and I read through the entire list of already suggested aircraft
