The Air Force marked the 40th anniversary of the first F-15 flight. At Edwards AFB, Calif., on July 27, 1972, an F-15A took to the skies on the type’s inaugural flight, according to an Aug. 1 Edwards release. Prime contractor McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) assembled the airplane at its manufacturing plant in St. Louis. In July 1973, the first flight of the two-seat F-15B variant occurred, states the release. The F-15, the Air Force’s then-new air superiority fighter, entered service some two years later. Over the years, it has evolved from being strictly an elite air-to-air platform into a multirole aircraft with the advent of the F-15E version. Boeing has built more than 1,600 Eagles for the United States, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Singapore, states the release. Air Force F-15s have served in combat since 1991 in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
