Since breaking the F-15X story last July, pretty much everything our original exposé discussed has come true. After many discounted that original report, last December Bloomberg reported that the F-15X would indeed appear as a procurement program of record for the Pentagon's 2020 budget proposal, which is due to be released at any time. Comments by heads of the USAF and industry have since confirmed this eventuality. Still, that report was thin on details, leading to quite a bit of confusion about what would be included in the USAF's initial investment into the F-15X and what was exactly planned for the program overall. With that in mind, we have new details that answer some of these questions and paint a finer picture of what the F-15X will look like when it rolls off the production line, in one of two distinct forms, as well as what the new Eagle variant will mean for the United States Air Force.

Editor's note: Please read our original feature on the F-15X to understand its genesis, capabilities, and purpose, as well as this update to get up to speed on the concept if you have not already. First off, we still haven't seen the final draft of the Pentagon's proposed 2020 budget. Things can change, but many of the details we are about to unveil aren't dependent on the exact dollar figure the Air Force sets aside for F-15X. Also, I can't stress enough that, just as I originally discussed in detail, the F-15X is not a Boeing ploy to disrupt the F-35A program. The USAF's top uniformed officer and the CEO of Lockheed have both confirmed this as fact, echoing exactly what I wrote last summer. Many media outlets will continue to blindly pit the two programs against one another as if it is a competition, but it's not. The USAF's target inventory goals for the F-35 will be unaffected by the limited scope of the F-15X initiative. Once again, don't take my word for this, take it from Lockheed's own CEO, Marillyn Hewson, who said the following during an earnings call last week:

“If they choose to have an order of the F-15, it won’t be at the expense of F-35 quantities... I'm hearing that directly from leadership in the Pentagon, and I think that's an important point for me to make. It's not just our suspicion, but I've been told that directly.”

The Air Force's Chief of Staff, General David Goldfein, offered more detail and further underscored this reality in statements made to Defense News's Jeff Martin:

...Goldfein said Saturday that the decision to possibly refresh the F-15 fleet comes down to the need for more fighters in service, regardless of generation. “They complement each other,” he said. “They each make each other better.” When asked if that meant compromising for quantity over quality, he said that would not be the case. “We’ve got to refresh the F-15C fleet because I can’t afford to not have that capacity to do the job and the missions.” Goldfein explained. “That’s what this is all about. If we’re refreshing the F-15C fleet, as we’re building up the F-35 fleet, this is not about any kind of a trade.” He added that Air Force needs to buy 72 fighters a year to get to the amount they need in the future — and to drive average aircraft age down from 28 years to 15 years. And while Goldfein might want all 72 to be fifth generation F-35s, budgetary concerns likely won’t let that happen. “If we had the money, those would be 72 F-35s. But we’ve gotta look at this from a cost/business case.” he explained. “An F-15 will never be an F-35. Never. But I need capacity.”

So, buying a few F-15Xs now to begin recapping the F-15C/D fleet, the youngest of which is now well over three decades old, will have no impact on the future F-35A force structure. The idea that advanced Eagles complement F-35s, and vice versa, isn't just held by some in the top rungs of the USAF, either.

DoD Capt. Andrew “Dojo” Olson, F-35 Heritage Flight Team pilot and commander poses for a photo with Gen. David Goldfein, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Marillyn Hewson, chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin July 13, 2018 during the annual Royal International Air Tattoo at Royal Air Force Fairford, England. RIAT 2018. Both leaders have made statements that should dispell the impression that the F-15X will compete for funds with the F-35A.