The F-15A first flew in July 1972. The two-seat F-15B trainer followed in 1973, and the first jet assigned to a combat unit arrived in January 1976. The Air Force built the Eagle for one job above all others: winning air-to-air fights. Extra roles came later. High thrust-to-weight and low wing loading let it turn hard at speed and keep energy, a combination that beat the fighters it was meant to face.

F-15C and two-seat F-15D aircraft began arriving in 1979. They added internal fuel, fittings for conformal tanks, and a higher maximum takeoff weight. A Multistage Improvement Program that started in 1983 brought a faster central computer, stronger electronic warfare gear, and, on the last production aircraft, a new Hughes radar. The pilot sees flight and targeting data on a head-up display in the windscreen and does not have to look down. A pulse-Doppler radar finds both high and low targets without mistaking ground returns for aircraft.

In Operation Desert Storm in 1991, F-15Cs scored 34 of the Air Force’s 37 air-to-air kills. Two-seat F-15Es flew night sorties against Scud launchers and artillery with the LANTIRN system. The type later flew over Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Across its service life the Eagle still has no confirmed losses in air-to-air combat, a record unmatched among modern fighters.

Aircraft: F-15C/D Eagle

• Length: 63.8 ft (19.4 m)
• Wingspan: 42.8 ft (13.0 m)
• Height: 18.5 ft (5.6 m)
• Weight: 31,700 lb (14,379 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 68,000 lb (30,844 kg)
• Engines: two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-100/220/229 turbofans with afterburner, 23,450 lb thrust each
• Top speed: 1,875 mph (Mach 2 class)
• Ferry range: 3,450 mi (3,000 nautical miles) with conformal and external fuel tanks
• Ceiling: 65,000 ft (19,812 m)
• Armament: one internal M61A1 20mm cannon with 940 rounds, plus up to four AIM-9 Sidewinders and four AIM-120 AMRAAMs, or eight AIM-120s
• Crew: 1 (F-15A/C) or 2 (F-15B/D/E)